When the temperature drops and the leaves start changing, bass officially start to move shallower, away from their deep summer haunts, and they strap on the feedbag to fatten up for winter.
During this fall transition, the composition of the grass drastically changes and those lush, green deep weedlines start to thin out. If you’re far enough north, they can die off altogether, and when that happens, bass love to use boat docks as ambush points to crush passing baitfish and bluegill.
Up here in Wisconsin, we already have some grass starting to pull loose, and while that can mat up and make for some great punching, skipping docks is one of my absolute favorite ways to catch fish. On most bodies of water, docks are gonna hold fish, but in the fall, they tend to really transform into high-percentage spots.
But you can’t just cast near the dock… you have to get your bait way underneath it, deep into the darkest shade where those big girls are hiding. Of course, this isn’t exactly easy unless you’ve had a little bit of practice. The last thing you want to do is leave hooks in someone’s dock, or ding up their boat trying to get your bait under there.
So if you want to pull a giant out from under someone’s pontoon boat without snagging their upholstery, you need a bait with a flat, compact profile that skips across the surface of the water like a rock. Here are five of the best baits to tie on for skipping docks this fall:
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1. The Jig
This is the undisputed heavyweight champion of dock skipping. You want a jig specifically designed with a wider, flatter head (usually an Arky-style head) and a stout weedguard. Pair it with a compact, flat trailer like a chunk (colder water) or a craw (warmer water). In the fall, a jig perfectly mimics a bluegill trying to hide around the dock pilings, which is an easy, protein-packed meal for a hungry bass. If you have really shallow water, go for a lighter jig, and if your docks sit in deeper water, you can skip a half ounce really well.
I’m loving that new mini flip jig from the boys at Black Sheep Custom Tackle (just bought 3 more today), but the Kyle Welcher-designed Ace Jig has a really nice, flat head and it is great for skipping around docks too.
Colors: Blue Craw, Orange Craw, Black Blue
Colors: Black, Black Blue, Green Pumpkin Blue
2. The Wacky-Rigged Senko
This is the idiot-proof option. If you are struggling to skip a jig, and believe me., it’s not easy to do without backlashing a ton and smacking into people’s boats, this is where you want to live. If you don’t want to keep ending up with a massive bird’s nest in your reel, tie on a wacky-rigged Senko. A stickbait hooked right through the middle skips beautifully on a spinning rod. Once it gets under the dock, you just let it sink on a slack line and either wait for them to hammer it, or watch that line start to run. The subtle shimmy on the fall is absolutely irresistible to bass that are feeling lazy. You’ll probably do more numbers on a wacky rig compared to the jig as well.
Rig it wacky-style on a size 1 or 1/0 weedless wacky hook.
Colors: Green Pumpkin, Black and Blue, Baby Bass
Colors: Green Pumpkin, Baby Bass, Green Pumpkin Blue
3. The Texas Rig
If you want to skip a Texas rig, it’s best to get something flat, wide, and compact… a creature or beaver-style bait works best. But if you have a confidence flipping bait, you can flip that as well. While not the most optimal skipping bait, the Crush City Bronco Bug is my go-to flipping presentation… it just gets bit, and you can still flip it up under those docks really efficiently. I also love that Berkley Flux Gill. Nice and flat, it skips pretty well, but the glide to the bottom (plus that bluegill profile) is the real money maker.
Colors: Black & Blue Flake, Green Pumpkin Blue, Candy Bug
Colors: Super Bug, Ballistic Bruiser, Green Pumpkin
Colors: Bluegill, Dark Gill, Green Pumpkin Watermelon Red
4. The Urchin Bait
The Coike is all the rage right now, and dock skipping has been arguably the premier presentation for these new urchin baits in the pro fishing world. We’ve seen a number of tournaments won by skipping urchin baits under docks, essentially the same way that you would fish a Senko. Let that subtle fall and those tentacles drive the curiosity, and then give it a few pops to entice the bite. Personally, I prefer a spinning rod for these… it just skips easier.
Of course, the Hideup Coike is the most popular urchin bait, but they’ve been HARD to get so here’s a few others I’ve been using as well:
Colors: Green Pumpkin Blue, Scuppernong, Wagasaki
Colors: Black, Bloodshot, Green Pumpkin
5. The Paddle Tail Swimbait
Since some bass are hyper-focused on chasing shad and minnows in the fall, a swimbait is a must-have. Take a 3-inch or 4-inch paddle tail and rig it weedless on a belly-weighted hook if you have vegetation or lots of cables under there. The weight on the bottom acts like the keel of a boat, allowing the bait to slide effortlessly across the water’s surface and right into the strike zone. If you have relatively clean docks, you can skip it on a regular jig head and reel it out of there… the exposed hook will always give you a bit better hookup ratio.
If you have a lot of space between docks on your body of water, you can efficiently cover water in between them really well with a paddle tail swimbait… much better than the other baits on this list.
Colors: Electric Shad, Shad, Pro Blue Red Pearl
Colors: Pro Blue Red Pearl, Electric Shad, Ayu
