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It’s All In The Tip…
Finding the perfect tool for a specific job is always rewarding. That’s especially so when you’re talking about tools for fishing instead of tools for something like, well, yard work.
That’s why the rod I was given for dock shooting for crappies is a real bonus. It not only is the perfect tool for shooting small jigs under docks and bushes for panfish (or trout), but it also is the perfect rod when you’re still fishing or using small jigs for kokanee.
The reason is the design, and here I have to crappie-talk a bit. Crappies, as you probably know, tend to live and hold around cover, and in many cases, that cover is docks. While these tasty panfish will move out from the cover to feed at times, most of the time, they hold in place well back from the edge. They’ll be about as far back under something as they can get—and as you can imagine, getting a lure back to them can be a challenge.
That is how a technique called “dock shooting” came to be. The fisherman holds the lure, usually a panfish jig, in one hand and then pulls the rod tip back to where the line is parallel to the butt of the rod. When the fisherman gets everything lined up, he releases the jig, and it “shoots” back under the dock.
While that’s a pretty cool technique for critters like trout hiding back under tree limbs and bushes, it’s not something most trout fishermen will ever use.
However, a well-designed dock-shooting rod is perfect for a lot of what trout fishermen do.
Lew’s makes one, the Wally Marshall Signature Lite Series model WML7L-1, that I’ve been using.
It’s a seven-footer, rated as ultralight. However, unlike other ultralight rods I’ve used, it isn’t a soft, wishy-washy rod with no backbone. It has a very soft tip (for the shooting thing), but it has enough strength in the butt to handle about any fish you’re likely to run into on a lake.
The rod is rated for 1/64- to ¼-ounce lures and 2- to 10-pound test line. While the ratings might seem exaggerated, they’re not. You can fish and cast that light a jig or one that heavy. That light-tip, strong-butt design is what makes both rods superb for Northwest trout fishermen. You have an extremely sensitive rod tip that is perfect for still fishing for kokanee or rainbows, yet you can turn around and throw a Krocodile a mile when conditions change.
The blanks are of IM-6 graphite, and the handles are EVA foam.
Another feature worth noting is that these rods are guide-rich. There aren’t many rods, even top-shelf models, where a seven-foot stick comes with nine quality guides.
For more information, go to: www.lews.com.
