Dock Shooting for Crappie During Prime
Time
My favorite freshwater fishing is dock shooting in the prime
time of crappie spawn in the spring.
Despite all the publications about it be they video or printed in
magazine or online blog or article on dock shooting, there are still tons of “fishermen”
who do not try it or do not know how or cannot do it. Thus there is something about knowing that I
can reach fish that they will not have a shot to get. It has always fascinated me to see other
people going out and giving some half-hearted effort to just fish. Not that there is anything wrong with just
wetting a line without any intention of bringing home fish, just relaxing and
getting away, but the way I fish is very businesslike. I do not go with the intention of just
catching a fish, nor with the intention of catching just any fish. I hit the water hard for a specific time with
a specific plan on how I hope to do that, and I change up quickly if that does
not work. I have in the back of my mind
how many fish it will take to make a meal for my family and I go hard until I
get that. It does not always work out,
but I have a huge sense of personal accomplishment when it does, and then I
know I’ve done that in a way that not many others do. When I first began kayak fishing I used to
love showing fish at the boat ramp and watching the guys in boats scratch their
heads wondering if they would do as well when they hit the water. I now have moved back home and to an area
where there is not nearly enough water to accommodate the amount of people who
want to fish it, and so I don’t show my fish off at the ramp and let anyone
know what I use, or where I caught them or that I even did catch any. If anyone asks me I simply say “I caught a
few small ones”…which I suppose is true if you compare them to salt water fish
and bass. I fish for dinner, and I fish
in places most people deem the dead sea and swear there are no fish.
When the sun comes up and the fish shrink back into the
shade I can bend my fishing rod back and shoot my lure way up into the
underside of a dock and slow reel it back to those fish concentrated in that
shade. That first single THUMP makes all
that early morning rising and all that preparation and work to get to that
first cast just seem like a magic formula.
That THUMP makes me feel a bird dog that first winds a bird slinking
down in the grass and weeds. They are
HERE. I did it right. I found that fish hiding under there. One of
the old men who taught me how to shoot docks told me before he passed away “son
if you feel like you are fishing too slow for crappie, then slow down some more”.
That advice has been gold. Shoot that lure as far as you can get it
under the dock. If you hear it whack the
wood at the back of the dock or metal, then that’s the perfect shot. I carry at least two rods rigged up for
shooting and if I get a bite or catch a fish and then break off a lure I
immediately pick up the second or even third rod sometimes and shoot another
lure right back where the last one came from.
The great thing about crappie is that most of the time if they are in
there, they have buddies. Spring time is
like coming down a ladder with the fish.
The big ones start going shallow, then the medium fish and then the
small fish and then the tiny fish go to the banks. That first round in the spring is usually so
exciting because the fish are generally the biggest consistently that will be
caught through the rest of the year. Big
fish will also come through the rest of the year, but when they concentrate
trying to go shallow and spawn, I tend to catch my biggest fish. I will throw in some different methods during
the spring, but shooting docks just has a hold on me that will not let go.
I generally start my outings at 3 or 4 in the morning due to
my hectic work schedule and I fish until I go to work, which is generally
enough time to fill up my cooler with crappie when they are on the banks in the
spring. I get to see God turn on the
lights and I get to hear the birds wake up and see the fog lift and I’ve
already gotten in my workout for the day and caught my supper for the
evening. I have to just stop at times
and thank God for the opportunity to go, to live in a country that has quality
waters to fish, that has fish species that are choice edible, that allows me to
fish when and where I choose. For the
strong back and body to fish from a kayak, for the mentors that showed me the
ropes on how to find and catch fish, not having to guess with everything. For the job that allowed me to have the
freedom to get the equipment I use. That
first morning light is one of the times I am most thankful to be alive and well
and living where I do.
Genesis
1: 20-21
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