How to Fish the Toughest Lake in America with Adam
McClellan
Where Does Shooting Docks Pay Off Besides Lake Lanier?
Editor's
Note: Adam McClellan of Cumming, Georgia, fishes the
toughest lake in America just outside Atlanta - Lake
Lanier. "The water clarity on Lake Lanier during
the summer months sometimes exceeds 7 feet," McClellan
says. Lanier is a major recreational lake with plenty
of water skiers, jet skiers, boaters and other outdoor
water recreation activities that can and does interfere
with fishing. This week, we'll see how McClellan not
only fishes this lake, but also successfully catches
fish. Adam and his father, Stokes McClellan, fish the
Southern Crappie Association tournaments, as well as
the Crappie USA tournaments.
Question: Will shooting docks produce crappie on other
lakes besides Lanier? McClellan: Yes, dock shooting
will work on any lake. On professional crappie-fishing
circuits, there are teams of anglers who only shoot
docks and don't fish any other way - no matter the season
or the lake they're fishing. One of these teams has
won the Southern Crappie Angler's Tournament consecutively
for the past three years - Randy Pope and Jerry Pruett
of Hickory and Vail, North Carolina.
Question: Is shooting docks just a clear-water tactic?
McClellan: No, dock shooters use this tactic regardless
of the color of water. In muddy water, some anglers
shoot docks to catch crappie. The real key is finding
docks that have deep water close to them. Even in lakes
where there are only 4 or 5 feet of water around a dock,
if there's deep water close, dock shooting will pay
off. During the spring of the year, in spawning season,
those crappie move into shallow docks. However, they
won't hold in them all year long like they will on the
docks that are in deep-water with drop-offs.
Question: What type of dock is a year-round dock?
McClellan: A year-round dock will be a wooden one. At
Lake Lanier, all of our docks have to be floating ones,
which is a dock that's built on wooden pilings in deep
water. I define deep-water as 20 feet or more deep.
There will be some sort of other structure that makes
the dock effective, like a point in deep water, an old
creek channel that comes into the dock or a river ledge
that runs beside the dock. These factors are all ones
that help a dock produce year-round. What the crappie
are looking for is the cover and the shade that the
pier provides close to deep water that they can use
as a highway to go back and forth from one section of
the lake to the other. A good dock is like a convenience
store sitting on the edge of a major highway where the
crappie can stop to eat
and then get back on the highway to go wherever they
want. This major highway is the route they use to move
from deep water to a spawning area and then back to
deep water again.
Typically, these types of docks support good populations
of crappie throughout the year.
Question: Are you shooting floating docks on Lanier?
McClellan: That's right.
Question: How long does that tactic last?
McClellan: So far, I've been able to shoot docks on
Lake Lanier all
year long. Remember, Lake Lanier is a deep lake. We
have docks that are
25-feet deep all year long, and even though the dock
may only extend 35 feet from the bank, it's still sitting
over deep water. Most docks on this lake are on wheels
with winch cables, so they can move forward and backward
to adjust to the rising and the falling water. These
docks are fishable all year long. The winter months
may be tougher than the spring, summer or fall months.
When you have docks that provide shade and food for
crappie over deep
water, the crappie can position themselves where they
want to be in that water column at any time of the year.
We generally can catch crappie from February through
November around the floating docks at Lanier.
Question: What effect does having cover under or near
that dock have on your ability to catch crappie? McClellan:
Cover is tremendously important. Here, on Lake Lanier,
very few piers or docks don't have cover under or near
them. The cover can be as small as one Christmas tree
that was sunk 2 or 3 years earlier. But, the cover may
be a large amount of brush or possibly a sunken boat.
When you're fishing floating pilings like we fish on
Lake Lanier, very rarely will you find cover under them.
The key to catching crappie on floating docks is to
realize that the crappie are there pretty much because
of the shade and the dock's ability to attract baitfish.
Anytime you can find cover related to shade or under
shade, you have a hot dock to shoot for crappie.
Tomorrow: Stripers on Deep Clear Lakes
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