This Is Why I Love Fishing Docks In The Summer
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
When the water gets hot, fish do not always feed the way we want them to.
They get less aggressive and tuck closer to structure, where they can stay comfortable and ambush easy meals.
That was exactly the situation on this trip.
The tide was not great, the shallow bite never really fired up, and the fish were not chasing much.
But by targeting docks with the right lure setup, I was still able to catch snook, trout, flounder, and grouper in less than 2 hours of fishing.
This was a great case study in why docks can be one of the best places to fish during the summer.
Insiders, if you want to give this rigging a shot for yourself, June’s Tackle Tester is the Hoss Weedless Round Eye Jighead. Claim yours here.
Featured Gear
Deep Structure Setup
- Rod: Slam Stick Medium Heavy
- Reel: Daiwa Saltist 4000
- Line: Daiwa J-Braid 30lb
- Leader: Ande 40 lb Mono
- Lure: Prawn USA Original
- Rigging: 1/4 oz Weedless Round Eye Jighead (4/0 Hook)
Light Tackle Setup
- Rod: Slot Machine Medium Power
- Reel: Otis 2500
- Line: Daiwa J-Braid 10lb
- Leader: Ande 20lb Mono
- Lure: Prawn USA Junior
- Rigging: 1/4 oz Weedless Round Eye Jig Head (3/0 Hook)
Why Docks Matter in the Summer
During the summer, fish often slide deeper and hold tighter to structure.
That does not mean they will not eat.
It just means you usually have to put an easy meal right in front of them.
On this trip, the deeper docks were the most productive area because they had shade, depth, pilings, rubble, grass, and current breaks. That combination gave fish a comfortable place to sit and ambush prey.
The key was getting the lure close to the structure, letting it sink, and slowly bouncing it along the bottom.
The Retrieve That Got The Most Strikes
The best retrieve was simple.
I skipped the lure under the dock, let it get down to the bottom, and worked it back with slow twitches and bottom contact.
Nothing fancy.
The goal was to make it look like an easy meal sitting right in the strike zone.
That slower bottom-bouncing retrieve produced most of the action.
Why The Shallows Did Not Produce
After the dock bite, I moved to shallower oysters and mangroves to try to find redfish.
I did see some fish, but they were very finicky and did not want to commit.
That was a big lesson from this trip.
Even though the tide started moving later, the shallow bite was still not as good as the deeper dock bite during the slower tide window.
When the water is hot, deeper structure can give you a much better chance of getting bites, especially when fish are not aggressive.
Final Thoughts
This trip was a good reminder that summer fishing is not always about covering more water.
Sometimes it is about finding the right structure and slowing down.
If the flats, oysters, or mangroves are not producing, do not be afraid to target deeper docks, bridges, rocks, or other hard structure nearby.
Get your lure down, keep it close to structure, and make it easy for those fish to eat.
That can be the difference between a slow summer trip and a really fun day on the water.
Related categories:
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- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish ever trip
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STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
How do you change the targeted species?
Sometimes certain species will be holding in certain sections of the docks, and sometimes you can go with a bigger or smaller lure to target certain species. But in many cases, you’ll catch a variety of species doing this type of fishing.
Thanks for another wonderful video with a lot of information!
Thanks for making time to post the nice comment Leo.
I’ve gotta commit myself to do some dock work this summer. Thanks for the reminder.
Great video and intel, thanks Luke!
Very well done on the video Luke. I like the way you showed every aspect including the retrieve and rigging. Details matter. On a side note; you did a lesson a while back and mentioned one of the key things about using the non slip loop knot. “It’s the weakest link in your tackle set up”. And will allow that knot to fail if you’re hung up on structure, which will save you from having to replace your leader. I recently skipped the prawn under a dock which had all the right ingredients to catch a big Snook and had action at the surface. I just knew I was going to score, but something under that dock had my prawn and I don’t think it was a fish. Long story short, I lost 2 prawns and round eye jigheads from two different rods, after getting hung up. The old lessons came back to me when I retrieved them back and took good notice at the end of the leader lines. Sure enough, both failed at the loop knot. Thank you so much for instilling the desire with the lessons and reasoning.
Thanks for making time to post the nice comment Jan. I’m glad to see that you’re enjoying this type of fishing… extremely productive in your area given how much of the shoreline is developed.
There’s more than fish under docks when you say “something under that dock had my prawn and I don’t think it was a fish.” Just one is power cables that energize boat lifts and underwater lights. Dragging a prawn on the bottom is a good way to snag ‘em.
Great video! If you had your choice, would you prefer the higher part of the tide cycle or the lower part for docks? Also, do you think about the time of day and where the sun is if you’re going to fish docks? Thanks for the help!
I prefer the lower tides for dock fishing because the lower water pushes most of the fish towards the deepest sections of the dock making them easier to access.
As for sun positioning, this type of fishing is good throughout all times of the day. When fishing them in the middle of the day, it’s smart to favor the shaded sides of the dock in the summer months since the fish will naturally shift there to be less hot.
Great information !! Flounder were a nice bonus
Thanks Roy. Yes, the flounder dinner that night was a great treat.
Fishing weedless do set the hook to the side then srait up
The angle of the hookset doesn’t matter as much as being quick to do a strong hookset given that the hook needs to push through some plastic before it can go into the fish. I like the side set because it allows for the body twist to do most of the work.
Well Luke you know me im a night angler most of the summer months and only stay out in the daylight maybe up to about 11am at the latest because unlike you that is a true southerner im a yankee born in Pennsylvania but moved to mich when I was 2 in 66 then raised there until I turned 18 then joined the navy and finally after 20 years of faithful service retired here in 02 but have been living in northeast fl for 30 plus years but being a yankee I can’t take the heat like you southern daylight anglers can and after finding out long ago when I was still a bass angler how productive night fishing can be so I applied that knowledge to my inshore saltwater fishing and docks are pretty much the majority of the fishing I do at night in fact im getting ready to do my fishing report for this past sun night into mon where I caught 2 nice reds all under 1 dock with green lights close to the water I probably would of caught more under there if it wasn’t for the dock lights being on a timer that shut off at around 330 that mon morning so I definatly know just how productive docks can be especially at night although a little after the topwater bight has shutoff I do fish some docks before heading back to the ramp anyways thanks for the info as usual and all you do😉👍
Yes, the night fishing around docks can be a lot of fun.
So from a kayak, where I am not comfy standing, how would you skip it from closer to the water or do you need to fish differently?
It’s a bit tougher to skip cast while sitting, but it’s still possible as long as you can position to the dock with the nose of the kayak pointing towards it.
This type of fishing is much tougher from a kayak because positioning can be very tough if there’s wind or high current. Also, the bigger fish pull the kayak towards the dock making them very tough to land. If you have foot pedals, it gets much easier.