If you love crappie and want to be able to fish for them right from your very own boat dock, then here are some tips on how to attract those tasty pan fish to your dock.
How To Attract Crappie To Your Dock
Go With A Wooden Dock
If you want to attract crappie to your dock, then the very best type of dock to have is a wooden dock. The dock itself needs to be in 4 to 6 feet of water (at least some parts of it.) and is perfect for providing both shades on hot days, and shelter from elements for which crappies tend to seek out in any water they are in. Keep in mind that the most attractive thing to crappie is not the shelter or the shade, but food, so the more minnows you attract around your dock the better your chances are of getting those crappies to see your dock as a place to hang out. Since wooden docks tend to grow algae and plankton, (which is a favorite food of small minnows) then chances are you will be able to keep your minnows hanging around due to the ready food supply.
You can attract crappie to a dock in shallow water if it sits near a channel and forms an entrance to the fishes migratory paths to and from the channel.
In addition, algae tend to grow on wooden docks, which serves as a favorite food for the type of marine life that crappies tend to favor. So the dock itself is one of the most important things necessary to attract crappie to your dock.
While straight docks can attract crappie docks that are L, U or T shaped tend to have more area and therefore may attract more crappie.
What Is Near Your Dock Is Also Important
You will also attract more crappie to your dock if your dock is placed near to some all ready existing brush piles. In the alternative, you can set up your own brush piles near your dock to help provide shelter for those larger crappies. The more brush or fallen trees in the water around your dock the better chance you will have to attract year-round crappie to your dock.
Under the Dock
Some people place pallets or brush under their docks in order to provide for algae growth and thereby more food for the small minnows that get those hungry crappies attention.
Of course, you aren’t going to be attracting any crappie if your dock isn’t in a body of water where crappie lives. So make sure that are crappie in the lake or river before you worry about trying to attract them.
Keep in mind, that while luring crappie to your dock doesn’t take a great deal of money or effort, it is a matter of making sure that you provide the right environment for this fun to catch pan fish to want to hang out. By providing them with adequate shade, shelter, and of course lots of food you should be able to attract those crappies to your dock all year around.
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