An additional "extra" that anglers always should be on the lookout for around docks is food for the bass, whether in the form of baitfish schools, bluegills hanging around dock pilings or crawfish tunnels along the banks. If the shad are concentrated in a certain part of a creek, chances are very good that the docks in that same area will hold their share of bass. Likewise, if most of the baitfish are holding in a certain depth range, the most productive docks often will be the ones that have pilings in that specific depth.

Along with considering what is around a dock, anglers ought to pay attention to what is not around a dock. When even a small dock that doesn't have much obvious added draw provides the only cover along a significant stretch of bank, any fish seeking concealment along that bank pretty much have to go under that dock. Lone docks, therefore, sometimes gain a bit of an edge over those that are part of long rows of boat docks.

PHYSICAL FEATURES
Finally, it's important to look at the physical construction of the dock itself and what it offers to the fish in terms of cover to relate to, shade and concealment. Most distinctions are obvious and easy to interpret, but they're important and too often overlooked. Wide docks offer more shade than narrow ones. Docks built on supports -- especially those that have cross bars between the supports -- provide more cover than floating docks. Low docks offer more all-day shade than those that are higher off the water. That factor can be especially important as summer progresses. T- or F-shaped docks and U-shaped boat slips provide more angles for bass to ambush from than straight docks and typically offer more cover in the form of pilings.

The most complicated docks that offer the most interesting cover for bass sometimes are the most difficult to fish effectively. However, that is not all bad. Most anglers will make a single unsuccessful attempt to get a bait to the prime area, make a cast or two along the outside and move on, leaving those fish unpressured and more catchable for anglers who are willing to practice tough deliveries and persist at trying to put their baits in difficult places.

BRINGING IT TOGETHER
As you might guess, there's no single, simple answer to the question of which docks will produce the most fish. The answer varies by lake, by conditions, and even by the mood of the fish. And so, the process of figuring out which docks are the best often calls for experimentation.

Armed with a good understanding of important variables, however, an angler can look at a lake's total offerings, consider the season, conditions and his own history on the lake and begin the process of deciphering docks. The key is to approach dock fishing with an understanding that even neighboring docks are often distinctive from one another and then to pay close attention to distinguishing features of every dock that does produce a strike.