Anglers that are most attentive to the littlest of details are the ones who normally have the biggest and best fishing stories to tell.
I will give you just a few examples of ways that extra attention to detail can make a measurable difference in the day’s catch.
The first would be the basics of fishing lines. Many casual anglers have one or two rod and reel combos that they use for every situation. This compromise will lower your catch and is one of the most common shortcuts that the casual angler will take.
When I am shore fishing on the docks of local lakes, I will be targeting crappies and bluegills that hide in and around the poles and wheels and in the shade created from the structure.
When I do this, I use a rod and reel combo designed for this species and type of fishing. It has a 4-pound test and a very light action rod. This does two things. It makes the little artificial jig and plastic tail dance ever so lightly because the line weight is very thin and the light action rod makes it easier to tell if I have a bite.
When I am really serious, I will make a very strategic dance on each dock. This is a series of close attentions to details all designed to maximize my success. I will start fishing as shallow as possible, in as little as 12 inches of water.
When I catch a fish, I move this hooked fish toward the shore to avoid spooking the other fish that might be close. I work my way toward the deeper end of the dock each time moving toward the shore with a hooked fish to create the least amount of disturbance possible. When I have fished in and around the entire length of the dock with, say, a green jig, I will cut it off and tie on another color.
I figure that every fish that was going to bite on the green one will have done so in the first few minutes. I can often catch several more fish with a different color jig that would not bite on the green one.
I work the dock in the same manner with the new color, and when I have worked the entire dock again, I will move on to the next dock. I always fish under or very near the dock.
Many anglers will be sitting on the end of the dock with their bait worked anywhere from 10 to 30 feet out into the lake. The fish I am targeting are right under their feet. If there are any little kids that have been pounding up and down the dock, I will just move on.
Any fish that were there in this very shallow water environment are long gone by the time I would show up. As I am leaving, the anglers that were there when I got there will all tie on the jig color that I just got done using. They will then catch very little over the next hour.
Tying a quality fishing knot is vital. A snap swivel allows you to remove one jig and put on another without having to retie the knot, but it destroys the live bait or artificial lure’s action and reduces the number of bites that you will get.
Taking the time to retie the knot and avoiding any unnecessary attachment hardware is worth the time and effort.
One other detail that gets by most casual anglers is the fact that the hook size and bobber size should match the bait size.
A really little crappie minnow on a big walleye hook has a less realistic action when suspended below a bobber or when set stationary on the bottom. The same can be said for bobber size. A crappie trying to pull under a big bobber will feel the resistance and let go of the bait.
The bobber has to be so small as to just barely float the hook and bait.
You can take these little tips to whatever level of perfection that you desire. After a while these seemly minute details become habit and quite effortless.
I learned some of the best fishing tricks from a mechanics teacher by the name of Wayne Grantz.
Every time I saw him heading home on his moped with a batch of fish caught from the same area that I had just covered, he shared one little fishing tidbit at time, and over time I did become a better angler.
I have one additional tip: The longer the stretch of calm winds and bright sunny days, the more fish that will be seeking shelter in the shade under docks. The water is generally a few degrees cooler in the shade so this is a great heat of the summer tactic.
Time your dock fishing efforts to coincide with this weather pattern and those should be better than average days at the lake.
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com. or on Twitter @habitat champion.