When shooting docks for crappies, pick plastics that cast well and ride horizontally in the water. Use mono line to slow the fall. (Photo courtesy of Z-Man Fishing)
May 28, 2025
By Jim Edlund
It’s that time of year again in the Midwest. Crappies are moving shallow to feed and eventually spawn. Water temperature and length-of-day changes send a signal to crappies to begin these annual movements, which see fish shift away from the deep-water basins they inhabited during winter. As a kid, I heard many old-timers say to keep an eye out for blooming lilacs, which they suggested coincided with the crappie spawn. I remember that advice to this day, and I still love participating in spring’s red-hot crappie action.
This is a fun time of year to get kids and newbies out on the water for some reliable action. Of course, it can be just as fun for experienced anglers looking for fast fishing, too. In either case, you need to know when fish make their move to the shallows, where to find them and, finally, how to catch them. One of my personal favorite spring tactics is a technique commonly employed by Southern crappie anglers but which shines up north, too: dock-shooting.
FIND THE FISH Once the ice goes out, on warm days crappies will move into bays to feed, though not necessarily spawn. That comes later, typically when water temps reach around 58 to 62 degrees. Throughout much of the region, we should be getting close to that now.
Not sure what bays to try? Focus your efforts on northern, northwestern and northeastern ends and offshoots of the main lake, as these are the first areas to warm up. Backwaters and marinas on rivers, and creek channels and coves on reservoirs, can produce, too. Also pay attention to classic pieces of crappie cover such as brush, weeds, wood and other similar structures in bays, creeks and coves. Traditional methods like tossing floats with live bait or plastics, or fishing jigs and plastics, work well in these areas. However, docks offer another prime structure for spring crappies, and it’s here where the tactic of dock-shooting shines.
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This technique is extremely popular in the South, as well as in southern reaches of the Midwest, like at Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks and surrounding reservoirs, which feature thousands of docks. However, dock-shooting will work in the greater Midwest, too. While the tactic is most popular in fall and other cold-weather months, it works all year, and certainly during Midwestern springs.
Crappies love docks that offer lots of shade, especially those in areas that warm more quickly in spring and have vegetation. (Shutterstock) In fact, as a youth, I spent countless days fishing one specific lake in west-central Minnesota that didn’t have any bays to speak of. I’d load up my bike with a 5-gallon bucket, fishing pole and tackle box, and pedal a couple miles to a family friend’s dock. From the time that dock was rolled into position after ice-out in the spring until it was pulled in fall, crappies would load up underneath and around it. I’ve never forgotten that spot, and all the docks that line that corner of the lake hold crappies that congregate there in the absence of classic bays, fingers or connected sloughs. These days, my kids and I work those same docks, but we do it by dock-shooting from the bow of a boat.
SHOOT YOUR SHOT So, what exactly is dock-shooting? Well, as I was taught more than a decade ago by some Southern master crappie anglers, it sort of combines two components. It’s part skipping, like you’d do in bass fishing. However, it’s also part archery in that you grab the bait, pull the line and rod into a bow and fling the jig under and around docks rather than casting.
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Done properly, a dock shot ends with your rod in a slightly upward angle. As soon as you shoot the bait, you elevate the rod tip so that the line becomes parallel to the water. This is advantageous for a few reasons.
First, it lets you keep the lure in the air for as long as possible, rather than skipping it across the water, which creates more disturbance. The bait stays airborne until it reaches the desired spot and you can start your subtle, horizontal retrieve above the fish. Second, it keeps the line level as it goes under the dock, which minimizes the odds of the line tangling in dock structures. Finally, it puts you in perfect position to start the retrieve, as crappies often will hit the jig right away, especially is shallow water.
The best docks hang over key bottom structure, offer ample shaded cover and have nearby brush piles. The far corners are often money for spring crappies, providing lots of shade and hanging out over deeper water, and sometimes points and drop-offs. Docked pontoons and other large boats, walkways and swimming platforms are also big, shaded areas worthy of a cast. Dock braces and cables and boat lifts are other good areas to try, as are the inside corners of individual boat slips. Explore any adjacent brush piles, too. (Illustration by Peter Sucheski) When dock-shooting, most anglers hold the rod in their right hand with the reel bail open and their right-hand pointer finger on the line. They then grab the jig body or hook bend in the left hand between thumb and pointer finger, pick out the target, load the rod from an underhanded position and let the jig fly.
PICK YOUR DOCK Dock-shooting works precisely because you can get your bait to where the crappies are—way back under a platform, nestled along a shade line, pushed up against a boat lift or tucked under a jet ski or pontoon float. This is all prime structure to crappies. Longtime Minnesota guide Brian “Bro” Brosdahl is fond of dock-shooting—in addition to using standard tactics for crappies on spawning bays—and targets docks offering lots of shaded cover.
“I like docks with canopy covers; jet skis, boats and pontoons on lifts; swimming platforms; docks with forks going every which way—basically, anything that provides shade, which is what the crappies want for feeding and resting,” he says. “Boat marinas on larger lakes and rivers, too, can be awesome. Big floating docks hold fish down South, and they will up North, too.”
Good docks can be shallow or deep and can sit over a bottom consisting of mud, sand or a combination of the two, either with or without weeds. However, Brosdahl especially likes transitionary areas of hard to soft bottom with some vegetation, but also pockets of dark bottom, which he says warms quicker and, therefore, draws crappies sooner. He adds that classic crappie spawning bays and docks can often be correlated, so anglers shouldn’t overlook docks in northern bays, which frequently load up with fish. In the absence of true spawning bays, crappies may even spawn around docks.
Electronics can help you pinpoint productive docks more quickly. Brosdahl says forward-facing sonar (FFS) lets anglers rapidly filter through docks, but he still prefers cruising shorelines with docks with side imaging and marking which ones to hit later. If you find a dock with brush or submerged trees, he adds, definitely mark it and fish it.
He says side imaging especially helps reveal key dock structures and nearby cover. It reveals nearby brush and the dock’s support poles, and it shows the fish themselves (usually little white dashes) and their shadows. With this technology, he likes zooming in to get a better look. Determine the distance between the white dashes and the shadows, and you’ll have a rough idea of how far off bottom the fish are in the water column.
Properly executed, dock-shooting allows anglers to slingshot tiny jigs and plastics underneath, in between and around dock structures to crappies waiting below. (Photo courtesy PRADCO Outdoor Brands) Anglers desiring a more interactive experience can also “video game” the fish with live sonar (Brosdahl relies on Humminbird XPLORE and MEGA Live 2). With this technology, you can watch your jig and see how fish respond. For finicky fish, Brosdahl recommends adding a waxworm or maggot to a small hair jig, like Northland Tackle’s Tungsten Crappie King Fly, to seal the deal.
RETRIEVE IT RIGHT Dan Johnston is St. Croix Rods’ director of sales for conventional fishing and a veteran dock shooter. He says that once anglers shoot a bait back into where they want it, they should begin a subtle retrieve rather than jig aggressively.
“They prefer baits more on the slide,” Johnston says. “Sometimes less is more with crappies, and that can be either a horizontal slide, a dead retrieve or a stop-and-go type of retrieve where the jig falls, but it’s falling at you.”
He adds that crappies typically come in level with the bait or up from beneath it. He says this is a big reason why most dock shooters rely on monofilament line, which floats and therefore slows the fall of baits, keeping them above fish longer. He suggests using baits that ride well horizontally in the water, like Bobby Garland’s 3-inch Slab Slay’R and Baby Shad, and avoiding baits with a lot of extra appendages, which are not very aerodynamic for shooting. Whichever retrieval style you choose, Johnston says a general rule of thumb is to always keep your jig above the crappies.
Finally, Johnston mentions that accuracy is more important than distance when it comes to dock-shooting. Focus more on hitting your spot than shooting a jig as far as possible. Be ready for a strike the second the bait hits the water. In the absence of a strike, retrieve the bait slowly.
THINK OF THE FUTURE Anyone who’s been on a very good dock-shooting bite knows the action can be insane. When this happens, especially during the spawn, keep conservation in mind. Brosdahl says it’s perfectly fine to enjoy a few meals of fish, but he suggests throwing bigger crappies—usually egg-laden females—back so they’re able to spawn and so others can catch them. Instead, he recommends keeping smaller, “darkened up” males. He also says to spread your fishing around rather than attacking the same spot day after day. On most good crappie lakes, you should find more fish relatively quickly.
DOCK-SHOOTING DARLINGS Gear to use when dock-shooting crappies on your home waters. Photos courtesy of St. Croix Rods (top); Bass Pro Shops (middle-left); Z-Man Fishing (middle-right, bottom-left); Seven Reels (bottom-right) Crappies aren’t exactly known for pushing tackle to its limits, but some rods, reels, lines and baits are preferred when it comes to dock-shooting. Below are a few good options in each category that I’ve used or that experts have recommended.
RODS: An ultralight- to light-power rod with a fast or extra-fast action provides the right blank bend to effectively shoot baits. Dan Johnston’s choice is St. Croix’s 6-foot-9-inch, medium-light, extra-fast AVID Panfish rod ($215). Brian “Bro” Brosdahl’s go-to is the St. Croix 7-foot, extra-fast-action, light-power Panfish Series rod ($140). Even rods with a little bit more parabolic bend will work, but they should not be too long (stay generally in the 6- to 7-foot range). I’ll sometimes use the shorter 5-foot-1-inch, medium-light Z-Man Drew’s Ultimate Ned Rig Rod ($180) when not using the same rod Johnston recommends.
LINE: There are two options with line choice: monofilament or super line with a fluorocarbon leader. On lakes with zebra mussels that might attach to dock fixtures, Brosdahl recommends the latter, specifically 8-pound Sunline SX1 green braid ($22/125 yards) attached to any 5-pound Sunline fluorocarbon leader . Johnston likes straight 4- or 6-pound yellow, hi-visibility monofilament for keeping baits above fish and detecting bites. Personally, I like Bass Pro Shops’ Crappie Maxx yellow monofilament in 6-pound test ($9/2,040 yards)—a good product that stays straight and flows off the reel well.
REELS: Reels in the 750 to 2000 size with a shallow spool are recommended. You do not have to load the reel with tons of line. No Olympian-style casts are required, just precise shots under cover. Brosdahl and Johnston use SEVIIN GF or GS reels in the 750 and 1000 size ($110–$140). I’m a fan of the Daiwa Fuego LT 1000 ($110).
PLASTICS: Johnston swears by Bobby Garland 3-inch Slab Slay’R ($4/10-pack) and 2-inch Baby Shad ($4/18-pack) bodies. I’ve been a long-time advocate of the Slab Slay’R, but I’m also keen on super-gluing a Z-Man StingerZ ($5/8-pack) micro-finesse bait onto the jig head. This allows me to pull the non-tearable ElazTech body back and not have to handle the hook wire when dock shooting. Color-wise, white, pink and chartreuse are proven staples in all.
JIGS: Various companies make suitable 1/32- to 1/16-ounce jig heads, including those with sickle-style hooks. Bobby Garland’s Head Dockt’R ($7/10-pack) and Z-Man’s Micro Shad HeadZ Jig ($5/4-pack) are especially good. Brosdahl also really likes Northland Tackle’s Tungsten Crappie King Fly jigs ($8/2-pack) with no plastic.
This article was featured in the May 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe .
