Throw a green pumpkin or black/blue jig first and skip it tight under the shady dock corners and walkways. After rain, bass often slide to the cleanest, calmest water under docks and want a bait that looks like bluegill or crawfish. Start with a 3/8 oz jig, then if the bite is weak, switch to a black spinnerbait or a soft jerkbait worked with short pauses.
First move
- Bait: Jig first; if the water is stained, add black/blue. In clearer water, use green pumpkin.
- Target zone: the darkest dock shade, rope posts, crossbars, and any dock with a deeper edge.
- Retrieve: let it fall, then do 2–3 small hops and pause.
Why it should work
- Rain usually pushes bass to ambush spots with better cover and slightly cleaner water.
- In late spring, dock fish are often shallow and feeding on bluegill/spawn leftovers.
- Your local weather shows falling pressure and 100% cloud cover, which can keep fish active, but the thunderstorm and gusts near 20 mph mean a compact, accurate lure is safer and easier to control than a bait you have to fish fast.
Videos to look at
- Dock Fishing Bass With Underspin Jigs
- How to Catch Bass Fishing Docks - Practice Casting
- In-Depth Look | How To Skip Docks
- Dock Fishing Bass With Underspin Jigs
Products and lures to look at
- Blackwake Spinnerbait
- Davy Jones’ Buzz for dawn or cloudy low-light
- 4.75” Twitch Jerkbait for skipping under docks and letting it glide
- Bass Mafia Custom Balsa Squarebill Crankbait if you want a moving bait around dock posts
Backup plan
If the jig gets no bites in 10–15 casts, switch to the twitch jerkbait and skip it farther back under the darkest dock; work it with twitch-twitch-pause and longer pauses after each rain-soaked wind push.
