Fishing Docks

[IowaBasser]

I fish a private lake in southern Iowa - it's about 450 acres. The lake is man-made with a dam and is 70 feet deep at it's deepest point. There are about 500 homes around the lake and most of the shore line is developed with docks and boat lifts.

This past weekend I was fishing their fall tournament with my Dad. We had the third biggest fish (4 pounds) ...of course they pay for 1st and 2nd biggest fish. We also had the fourth heaviest 4-fish bag (10 pounds 2 ounces) ...of course they pay the top 3 places. We finished just out of the money on both accounts. My Dad lost a 2-1/2 or 3 pound fish at the boat while I was getting the net that would have replaced our smallest 1-3/4 bass - that would have certainly gotten us thrid place, and put us about even with 2nd place. (I also caught a 5 pound musky that I thought was nice bass for awhile!)

I caught the 4 pound bass on an errand cast. I was casting a plastic creature bait near a boat-lift. My cast was about 18" off and landed over the support to the lift, but under the boat that was on it. I reeled up slowly trying to retrieve my plastic by pulling it over the support, but it got hung-up. It was actually out of the water so I could see my bait. I gave it some slack and it lowered back into the water then slowly began moving our boat toward the lift to get my bait free. I never felt a pick-up or saw a swirl, but my bait started moving! I set the hook and the fight was on. I saw how big the fish was and started yelling for the net. My line was still over the support for the boat lift, and I ended up netting the fish under the support with my line still looped around it. I had to cut my line once the fish was in the net.

This got my to thinking - obviously on such a small lake on tournament day with not much shore cover besided docks, the docks are going to get a lot of pressure. The larger bass are going to move further back under the bigger docks to the hardest places to cast.

Next tournamet I'm going to fish the really tough places to reach. This means casting in tight spaces: under boats sitting on lifts around all the supports, 6 inch opening between boats and docks, in the middle of U-shaped docks to the small pocket infront of boats, and the shore-side of T or L-shaped docks.

Obviously, if I set the hook on a big bass I'm going to have a fight on my hands and easily could lose a fish. I will likely be fishing OVER docks and or support cables. Any advice besides stout rods, heavy line, and a net with a long handle?

(I know in the big tournaments you're not allowed to leave your boat. In this local tournament I don't think their would be a problem if I got out of the boat and onto the dock to land a fish.)