Before digging into any discussion about fishing docks, though, it's probably worth acknowledging that working the waters around private docks can be somewhat of a touchy subject. Some dock owners are protective of their backyard waters and may shoo anglers away. Although the actual waters around the docks are usually public and legal for anyone to cast or pitch to, it's not worth arguing with a landowner over the right to fish around his dock. There are too many other fishing holes out there.

More important, anglers need to be respectful of the dock owners' property when they do fish around these structures. Many dock owners who do have "anti-fisherman" sentiments probably have had their attitudes shaped by anglers who talked loudly very early in the morning, left snagged lures on docks, nicked the paint off boats while trying to cast between boat and docks or were otherwise disrespectful.

Courtesy covered, let's dig into exactly how to figure out which docks will serve up the best fishing.

LOCATION, LOCATION, AND . . . LOCATION
The No. 1 factor that separates some docks from others in terms of fish-holding capacity is their location, and there are several aspects of location that anglers should consider. First come big-picture questions about what area of the lake the most fish are using. Are bass feeding best in the creeks or along the main river channel? Up the lake or down the lake? Shallow or deep? With answers to those types of questions, anglers can identify groups of docks to begin exploring. Overall, during the summer, docks in the lower ends of major creeks, in pockets at the lower ends of lakes, and way, way up major tributaries tend to offer some of the best prospects.

Within an area, many location-related factors separate certain docks from others. Some docks extend off the ends of points. Others are in the backs of coves. Still others are close to channels swings or other significant structural features. Even side-by-side docks are often quite different from one another in their offerings to bass because the slope of the bank shifts and one is a shallow dock, while the other is a deep dock.

Anglers must consider conditions and a bass' normal behavior to home in on the docks that are most apt to produce based on location. One helpful trick is to study a good map of a specific area and look for those textbook spots that the bass "should be" using. And then simply see if there is a dock in any of those spots.

CONDITIONAL FACTORS
Certain things don't show up on lake maps, however, including some important steering factors. Among the most significant are the wind, current and the color of the water. If a steady wind has been blowing directly into a pocket, for example, the best docks in that pocket are apt to be in the very back, where the plankton has been blown and the baitfish concentrated.