Andy Montgomery is more concerned with what’s under a dock than what is above it, most of the time, but said there are some visual clues that he can identify a structure that might convince him to sling a jig or Texas rigged plastic under it.
“A dock off by itself is always going to be a good bet, if it has the right water depth and area around it,” said Montgomery, who guides out of his Rack and Reel Outfitters (704-484-7715) when he’s not fishing bass tournaments. “A dock is basically a big piece of structure; like finding the only laydown in the back of a shady creek, it’s going to concentrate the fish. A lone dock is hard to pass up.”
Montgomery said foot traffic on docks isn’t a problem in the early spring, when most recreational lake usage is still a few months away. He does prefer to fish what he calls “a tight dock”, one that, if it has boats or launching pads for watercraft, are tight together.
“An open bay or open area lets light in, and you’ll find more bass under a dark dock, one where boats or a roof or other stuff blocks out all the sunlight,” he said. “You can look at a dock and tell if the owner has all his stuff packed down tight, and it doesn’t look like anybody has been there since last summer. That can be a real good dock.”
On the other hand, everybody knows what a fishing dock looks like, he said.
“It’s got minnow buckets hanging off of it, and rod holders all around it, and you can bet it’s also got brush under it. Those docks tend to get fished more than some others, and it’ll probably get more foot traffic up top than another dock, but bass love those too because of the structure underneath.”
Be the first to comment