What do you guys think are the best dock flipping baits?
Anything that imitates a crayfish is a good start. This includes craws, beavers, jigs,and flippin' tubes, just to name a few. I really like the look of Craw Tubes, and think they are a good shape the bass don't see very often. A creature bait like a Brush Hog is a good bait to elicit a reaction from the fish as well. You can also skip docks with weightless stick worms or finesse worms rigged wacky style or jigs paired with flat chunks, to get it back to areas where other anglers can't reach.
Hope this helps,
Jake
When I fish docks I'll either use a jig or skip a senko underneath it. I also use xraps for peacocks and have accidently caught some nice bass too.
Senkos, brush hogs and beavers plus Zoom trick worms on a shaky head.
You can also throw a drop shot, too.
In fact, you can throw any plastic you want under and around docks and piers.
This summer try throwing a wacky rigged Junebug finesse worm on a #1 hook with a 1/16 bullet weight on top of the hook tied to 6 or 8 pound fluorocarbon with your medium fast action tip spinning rig. Flip and pitch that sucker all over docks, piers and any cover you can see sticking out of the water.
And use the lightest line you can when flipping and pitching docks and piers.
I normally will pitch a jig under docks, but this year I want to try the Damiki Hydra
I like to skip jigs with something like a pit boss on as a trailer.
Zoom super hawg. There a great bait and i can toss it under a dock and then go right back to pitching and punching the weeds!
Dock fishing you cant beat skipping a jig. whether you fish it on the bottom or swim it out its unbeatable at catching big dock bass.
Sam, what about braid to a 6-8 lb fluoro leader?
On 1/3/2015 at 6:02 AM, GrifGod said:Sam, what about braid to a 6-8 lb fluoro leader?
All my dropshot and shakey head setups have braid with 6 or 8 lb fluoro leader. For a few reasons, better casting distance, no stretch for hook sets, and for me personally, I use a bright colored braid so I can watch my line and detect bites earlier.
I flip docks with a Strike King rodent, or a jig mostly a black/blue jig with a craw style trailer. This past summer I had the most luck on rage rigging a Strike King rage tail lobster.
Craws and senkos.
And the fat ika
A strike king black blue jig with a rage tail trailer.
On 1/3/2015 at 6:35 AM, MainelyBASS said:All my dropshot and shakey head setups have braid with 6 or 8 lb fluoro leader. For a few reasons, better casting distance, no stretch for hook sets, and for me personally, I use a bright colored braid so I can watch my line and detect bites earlier.
How long of a leader do you usually use?
On 1/3/2015 at 2:13 AM, GrifGod said:What do you guys think are the best dock flipping baits?
Jigs, weedless wacky rigged soft stick bait, shaky head and a texas rigged soft plastic of your choice.
I'm partial to rubber skirt arkey head jigs and shaky heads with a jiggly creature like a Flappin Hogg II sloooow dragged and dead stick'd on the bottom in cold water. In warm water I like texas rigged plastics with some type of built in flapping or twisting motion like a Pit Boss or Rage Tail product.
Jigs and beaver baits are the top of my list
On 1/3/2015 at 6:45 AM, Arv said:And the fat ika
Me, too!
Flick Shake works great.
Jigs, tubes, wacky rigs.
I like a 3/8oz BassTEK Tungsten Jig, a weightless Lake Fork Ring Fry or a tube or beaver t-rigged
senkos and arky jigs are my go-to lures for skipping anything
I throw a craw type bait rigged either t rig or on a larger shaky head the most. I throw a drop shot a lot around docks as well, its a great neutral to inactive fish bait that let's me drop it in front of a fish and coax him to bite when they won't hit the craw. When the fish are really active I actually skip the flipping baits and throw a popper and either throw it underneath the dock or along the edge parallel. The active fish really slam the popper and I had multiple trips where I could slam several solid keepers off the dock in a very short amount of time.
Under and around docks is one of my favorite places to throw a Fluke usually pearl.
On 1/3/2015 at 7:32 AM, GrifGod said:How long of a leader do you usually use?
All depends, If I am fishing vertical, for suspending fish I go with a longer leader, maybe even 8ft. A good knot is important due to the fact that it will be going through your guides. 8ft may seem like a bit much to some, but for me, 8ft of leader allows me to break off and re-tie the dropshot without having to tie on another leader. If you like a leader of 6ft normally, and you break off, you might be left with 2ft of leader, and after you tie a palomar knot, youve got a 1ft leader. Thus my reason for longer leaders than normal. If I am throwing at docks, the leader can be shorter because often times the lure won't even make it to the bottom if the cast is anywhere near a dock, therefor making the visibility factor of bright colored braid less of an issue. No wrong way to do it, maybe my way is the wrong way! Just my experiences with tournament fishing.
Theres not a lot of docks where I fish , so I dont have a lot of experience . One day on a rare visit to Table Rock , I could see a keeper bass under a dock. I kept pitching a Larew Salt Craw at it with a spinning rod but it ignored my many offerings. I then camouflaged my line with a black sharpie. I colored the line in two inch black bands , pitched it back in and the bass jumped all over it. So my answer is Salt Craws on camouflaged line .
Beavers, wacky rigs and finesse jigs are what I use primarily