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Mercury Report
Mark Zona
Since he was a kid, Mercury Pro Team member Mark Zona has been obsessed with teasing bass from beneath boat docks. To this day, skipping a lure into the darkest shadows of the dock shade is a thrill he relishes.
“When you go poking around in the lion’s den, you might just tangle with a lion,” Zona said with a laugh. “You must put the lure in the beast’s lair to tickle his ribs for a reaction.”
The host of “Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show” still vividly remembers wading the shallow banks of small Michigan lakes near where he grew up, targeting his favorite boat docks. Wade-fishing provided a unique perspective of docks at water level, allowing him to observe bass relating to the structures.
“Wading was my primary bass fishing education,” Zona added. “Being so low to the water, I could skip way back into the hardest-to-reach places. That taught me that getting to the right places was key in getting bit by bigger bass.”
Zona admits that skipping prowess is more challenging from a boat but very rewarding when the perfect skip-cast produces a chunky bass that no one else can reach.
How bass use docks in every season
After years of chasing bass across the country, Zona has found docks to be reliable fish producers all year because they provide everything bass need: cover, food, ambush points and spawning grounds.
“If a lake has docks on it, bass are relating to them,” Zona said. “It does not matter where, when or even what kind of docks they are. Bass use docks. Period.”
In the early spring, docks offer staging areas for the prespawn period. Bass suspend around poles, pilings and cables as they acclimate to warming water. When the spawn begins, bass move to the backsides of docks to seek the security of cables and catwalks. After the spawn, docks provide a haven for bass fry. As the water warms up, shad and bream also gravitate toward docks. This is like a food delivery service for postspawn bass.
How to fish docks in every season
“For me, a dock is basically a large strike zone,” Zona said. “Fish enough strike zones and you’re going to get bites. It’s the law of averages. In doing so, you can use docks as a barometer for what the fish are doing: spawning, guarding fry, wolfing shad or eating bluegills. One thing is for sure: Dock bass tattle on their neighbors; catching one from a dock is a solid clue as to what the others are doing.”
In the colder waters of early spring, Zona targets the fronts of the docks, closer to deeper water. As the waters warm during a fishing season, he focuses his fishing efforts on shallower parts of the docks. By summertime, he moves up to target the shallowest parts of the docks where they connect to the bank.
He notes that many anglers steer clear of docks in the summer because of all the swimming and boating activities around them. They think all that commotion scares the fish away.
“I can assure you that activity doesn’t bother bass one bit,” Zona added. “I have watched them eat my lure with people stomping all around on the docks.”
How to skip a dock with a spinning reel
Zona advises anglers who want to learn the dock-skipping game to start with a spinning outfit. The spinning reel offers much better line control and eliminates the possibility of backlashes, which are more common with baitcasters. Load the spinning reel with 15- to 20-pound-test braided line and tie on a fluorocarbon leader.
Weightless or lightly weighted baits like wacky rigs, Neko rigs and shaky heads are perfect for skipping beginners. He prefers a 7-foot rod. Anglers taller in stature might have to go with a rod that’s a few inches longer to swing the lure closer to the water’s surface.
“The most critical element to look for in a good skipping rod is a fast action with a soft tip and quick backbone,” Zona said. “The tip must be limber in the first 15 to 20 inches to load the bait properly – almost like a slingshot.
“Loading the tip correctly is the key to accuracy and skipping the bait efficiently,” he continued. “The tip should be limber but then transition quickly into a strong backbone for hooksets. The moderate action of a slower rod is too parabolic to get the job done.”
To practice skip-casting without any pressure, Zona suggests getting into a calm pocket and skipping a lure over smooth, open water without docks around. In time, you’ll get a feel for the correct “whipping action” to load the rod tip and then time the release to send the lure low across the water’s surface.
“Don’t force it,” he said. “It’s like skipping stones across the water. It’s not how hard you throw it that counts. It’s how low and parallel to the surface the lure gets that determines how well the lure skips. In time, you get a feel for where that sweet spot is in your skip-cast. As skipping becomes a little easier, test your trajectory on docks to see how low you can go.”
How to skip a dock with a baitcaster
Once confidence has been established skipping docks with a spinning rod, it’s time to graduate up to casting gear for skipping heavier lures such as jigs and hollow-bodied frogs. Due to the free-spooling nature of casting reels, they are prone to backlash in a split second.
“If you keep blowing your reel up like a haystack when trying to skip-cast with a casting reel, be patient,” Zona said. “Trust me, this takes time to learn. One thing that will help is a shallow-spool reel designed for skipping – like the Team Lew’s Pro SP. Also, when first starting, try turning the backlash control, or brakes, up higher to keep backlashes under control. As you get better at it, you can ease off the brakes and let the line flow off the spool for better distance.”
Zona’s favorite skipping bait on a casting rod is a 1/2-ounce Strike King Structure Jig teamed with a Strike King Rage Craw, tied to 20-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon.
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BFHOF Report
Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Museum
The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame kicks of Celebrate Bass Fishing Week Friday with an online auction in preparation for five new members enshrined into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame.
Celebrate Bass Fishing Week culminates with the induction ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 26 at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium, and at the White River Conference Center in Springfield, Mo.
BFHOF Week
Formally inducted into the 2024 Hall of Fame class will be the late Fred Arbogast, inventor of such iconic lures as the Jitterbug and Hula Popper; Mike McKinnis, innovator of breakthrough live video and television coverage of tournament bass fishing as VP of media content for JM Associates; and noted pro angler, tackle designer and promoter Skeet Reese, whose career winnings exceed $4 million. Alfred Williams, a trailblazing angler from Mississippi who was the first African American angler to compete in a Bassmaster Classic, will also be inducted, while Mark Zona will be enshrined as one of the leading voices and personalities in bass fishing as a show host and TV analyst.
“We look forward to hosting this special night for those who enjoy the sport of bass fishing, where we celebrate the Hall’s newest inductees, promote how the industry and anglers come together for this one evening to support a common cause, and provides the Hall’s Board the opportunity to raise funds to help preserve the sport through our conservation efforts,” said John Mazurkiewicz, Hall of Fame board president. “Our induction events have become a must-attend evening in the bass fishing world, those in the room include a who’s who list of past Hall of Fame inductees, leaders in the fishing and boating industries, current B.A.S.S. and MLF pro bass anglers, high school and college bass anglers featured on our new Champion’s Wall, and fans of the sport from across the country.”
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By Louie Stout
Fizzing a bass
We’ve all heard the pros and cons of forward facing sonar (FFS).
“Older anglers don’t want to adapt.”
“It’s not fishing. It’s video gaming.”
“It provides an unfair advantage.”
“It’s boring to watch online or on TV.”
“It’s perfectly legal and enables an angler to fish for fish that were previously unmolested.”
I see both sides, but frankly, there’s an underlying issue that is being overlooked, especially here in Michiana.
Big fish are dying of barotrauma because some anglers using FFS in deep water aren’t taking care of their catch.
Your responsibility does not end just because you got your fish to the weigh-in scales alive.
I don’t fish a lot of tournaments, but there have been released seen fish struggling along the bank at several events where FFS produced top catches.
Those struggling fish were brought to the surface quickly and their swim bladders filled with gasses. When this happens, the fish cannot swim naturally. The ballooned air bladder pushes against the heart and restricts the heart from pumping blood, hence the fish dies.
Of course, there is a solution – fizzing – a delicate practice that needs to be done the moment you see a fish floundering sideways in the livewell.
I fished a weeknight event with a 13-year-old neighbor boy. As I was backing the trailer at the end of the night, the boy was in the water trying to revive a 4 pounder, struggling to swim upright, that someone released off the dock. Another angler was attempting to fizz another 3 pounder – not his - in the darkness with a cellphone flashlight.
The 4 pounder, and likely others, died.
Scoping is a rapidly growing practice among tournament anglers. It’s perfectly legal, but when you multiply this incident times hundreds of other tournaments held in both states, one has to wonder how many bass are dying unnecessarily.
The point is that anglers who learned to utilize the technology have an added responsibility for taking care of their fish.
Especially on smallmouth bass lakes.
Smallmouth are highly susceptible because of their preference to roam, and a lot of giants are being caught from the middle of the lakes. Those fish, along with big largemouth, carry genetics that assure big, quality fish in the future.
Regardless of whether you scope or just fish deep, you need to learn the PROPER method of fizzing a fish that struggles to remain upright in the livewell.
And do it promptly.
Take time to watch this video. A northern BASS Nation Conservation Director, who has dealt with a lot of smallmouth tournaments, explains the truth about barotrauma and demonstrates the proper method for fizzing.