When considering this article I was not sure what the value would be to readers outside Gauteng, reason being that the Vaal River is probably the most prominent venue when it comes to Docks and Piers. But we are seeing more and more development around our precious dams and there are very little venues in Gauteng now where you can go and docks and piers do not play a role in your fishing trip, so I decided to do it anyway. This is probably one of my favorite structures merely because it fits in with my fishing style and there is nothing I enjoy more than pitching at a dock and anticipating the bite!
Perhaps the ultimate cover, boat docks can be counted on to hold bass year round…….
When not in hot pursuit of food, bass normally hold close to some type of structure. In many instances, they prefer to be under cover.
Shade from overhead objects hides the fish and makes them feel secure. Such spots also serve as ambush zones from which bass can dart out and grab passing baitfish. Examples of favorite overhead cover include matted grass, lily pads, sunken brush, flooded willows and the like. And here is another example that exists on virtually every dam in South Africa: Boat Docks.
Boat docks always hold bass, It’s one of the very, very few structure types that attract fish year-round. I fish them summer, winter, pre-spawn, post-spawn, even in the spawning season. There’s never a time that I can’t rely on docks to produce some fish. Boat docks are one of the ultimate cover types. They’re one of the major patterns that I use at all dams. Anytime I travel to a different dam and I see docks, my first re-action is there MUST be some fish there. This is something that I relied for years and it’s consistent.
OVERVIEW OF FISHING DOCKS
There are two main types of docks, stationary docks, which are supported by poles driven into the dam or river bottom, and floating docks which are build on plastic blocks or metal drums and which ride up and down as the water level fluctuates. Both types of docks are attractive to fish for the same reasons. They provide shade, they attract bait fish, they break currents and they offer protection from predators such as fish eating birds and fish catching humans. I personally believe shade is the most important of these attractions. Darkness is a condition any prey or predator feels comfortable with. In darkness or shade, they feel like they’re hidden. If they’re prey, it’s easier to avoid predators. And if they’re predators, they can ambush their prey. This applies to bass, and that’s why boat docks are attractive to the fish.
While docks in many dams have the potential to draw and hold bass, docks in certain kind of dams are usually better than others. The less natural cover a dam has, the better the docks, because they’re the primary cover. Conversely, the more natural cover a dam has, especially aquatic vegetation, the less appealing docks are (we will get back to this statement once I have made my point)
Thick mats of vegetation offer the same cover features as docks (shade, temperature change, current break). What’s more, the vegetation produces oxygen, which is especially critical to bass in warm weather. If a dam has abundant aquatic vegetation, the fish will prefer it over other cover types. One thing to remember, if you can find a combination of a dock and aquatic vegetation, that’s better than either cover type by itself.
How does this relate to two venues most people know? Firstly the Vaal River although the river has a lot of vegetation it is not the type of aquatic vegetation that release oxygen. The dominant vegetation’s are reeds and lily pads. Also the amount of docks on the river makes it one of the dominant structure types on the river. You will always find fish on the docks in the Vaal River.
Bronkies on the other hand has predominantly grass that is the aquatic vegetation that I refer to, that release oxygen. There is also some docks that are adjacent to the vegetation and these docks produce consistently and keeps on reloading.
Bass Insider
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Fishing Boat Docks by Hennie Stolz