Shooting Docks for Crappie
By: Matt Straw
The best docks, year in and year out, are big platform docks – wide ones on pontoons that create maximum shade. (Photo courtesy of In-Fisherman.com)
Every so often, disparate innovations come together to revolutionize a fishing tactic anglers have practiced for many years. Last year, it was shooting crappies.
Actually, the tactic is better known as shooting docks – or slingshotting, skipping, or arrow-casting, depending on where you're from – for crappies lurking beneath. Lew's new Wally Marshall Speed Shooter rods (two models, 6- and 6.5-foot) have IM8 blanks with tapers designed for arrow-casting with greater accuracy. Other rods designed for shooting docks have appeared recently, including the B'n'M Sharpshooter Deluxe 6. They have guides designed for easy line flow, and light blanks with fast recovery for accuracy and distance.
Bobby Garland Crappie Baits recently introduced the Crappie Shooter, a flat-sided lure with a long, flat tail and an accessory called Dock Shoot'R Pull Tabs – flashy little tear-proof "fins" that slip over the hook, providing a positive grip and easy release after drawing the lure back and creating enough tension to skip a bait 30 to 40 feet. Pull Tabs, offered in Natural Fin and Holographic shades, add natural appeal in clear water, and additional flutter and flash in murky water. And they help prevent hooks from penetrating fingers on the release –a point that should appeal to parents of dock-shooting beginners.
READ THE FULL STORY ON IN-FISHERMAN