Story by Todd Goade | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
One of my favorite ways to catch bass is on boat docks. From docks at Lake Keowee in South Carolina to Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri and everywhere in between, docks can be prime spots to catch bass and lots of them. Here are a few things I look for and key on when fishing a lake that has boat docks.
If the dock bite is good, I don’t have that many rods on the deck, because once you pattern how the fish are relating to the dock, it’s pretty much a one or two rod deal.
I look for forage and baitfish around the dock and at what depths they’re in. At Lake of the Ozarks, for example, gizzard shad like to get on the bank around those docks in the fall and you can see them up there swimming around. Most of the time the bass will be on the back corners where they can run out and ambush prey, which narrows your focus and allows you to be casting at high percentage places.
At a lake like Keowee, many times the bait relates to the front or sides of the dock, and they’ll suspend. There my first cast will be to the back corner, then the middle, then the front. I’ll move around the dock and repeat down the other side. That way, I’m efficient and quick but still fishing the dock thoroughly and allowing my bait to be in the strike zone the longest.
Also, any dock that has posts always piques my attention. For some reason bass love posts, especially spotted bass. Posts are always a good target to throw at whether they’re in 5 feet of water or 30.
The main baits I use when fishing docks are a jig, a shakey head, a Ned rig, and a wacky rig. If the fish are aggressive, I’ll use something I can fish faster, like a jerkbait, Pulse Jig, swimbait, or swim jig.
Lastly, become good at casting around docks. I’ve spent years perfecting my casting skills around docks and it’s the casts that reach areas other anglers can’t that catch the most fish. I specifically remember in 2023 at Oklahoma’s Lake Eufaula, I was fishing behind someone that that was not skipping their bait very far underneath the docks and pontoons while I was able to skip my Ned rig under a pontoon boat all the way back to the walkway. I caught a 4 pounder that way!
Try these tips next time you’re out on the water and see if you catch a few more from the boat docks on your lake.
Todd Goade – Angler Profile
