Attracting fish is a task that needs one to recreate the marine food chain. These include plants, primary consumers and predators. When you create a familiar ecosystem, only then can you hope to attract fish or any marine life to your dock. So do you know how to attract fish to your dock?
This is why fishing is no easy task at any point in time, day or night. You would have to put in a lot of effort to attract fish to your dock.
Top Tips to Attract Fish to Your Dock
Creating the right ecosystem to attract fish involves tapping into their sensory organs. Here is what you can do.
Eyes Are the Windows to the World
This is true not just for humans but also for fish. Eyes are extremely important for fish and are one of their strongest sensory senses. Some fish can even see through ultraviolet and polarized light so your best bet is to use light in a way that attracts fish efficiently.
The thing that you need to keep in mind is that fish are different from land-based mammals and hence, light affects both these species differently. Water is great at absorbing light and as one moves deeper into the sea or any water body, the intensity decreases.
Green and white light work perfectly well to attract fish and there may be times when one trumps the other but on the whole, both colors are quite effective in attracting fish.
Author Note: A good way to make these colors work would be to try out one color and wait for some time. In the case of no success, you can alternate with another color and that would definitely reap benefits.
To do this, you can buy fish lights that are built in a way to attract fish. These can be purchased from a store or online. These are immensely fun, cheap, and super-efficient. They light up the area around your dock instantly creating a great environment and thereby attracting plenty of fish to your dock.
Is There a Best Light to Attract Fish?
Though fish respond to all lights underwater, fish lights are your best bet. This is because of these reasons:
- These lights work as an aquarium for the fishes. Once some fish start getting attracted to it, more will follow suit.
- They don’t harm the fish or the marine ecosystem in any way.
- They create a beautiful aura in the water that can be deeply satisfying to the eye, both for the fish and for humans on the dock.
Use Sounds to Incite Their Curiosity
Hearing is very well developed in most fish and marine organisms though you can’t always trace their ears on their bodies.
Sounds travel faster in water as opposed to air. But this also makes it harder to locate the source of sound underwater.
Fish have a unique mechanism to locate sounds. They feel sound through the movement in the water, the changes in water pressure and the sudden vibrations. Most fish react differently to sounds but you can be sure of a reaction from most.
The bigger fishes such as whales and sharks may be indifferent to the sound, some fish may turn aggressive while the smaller ones will get really curious and try to flock towards the source of the sound.
Sounds work like a double-edged sword for fish. They may get cautious but also curious. Some fish will respond to this and start following the source of sound thereby giving in to the bait that you have set up. This is the reason anglers are regularly seen running small gasoline engines while catching fish.
You can try the following techniques to lure fish via sound.
- Thumping: This is done by continuously tapping an object with a long handle on the surface of the boat. You can either use the paddle or any other such part of the boat to thump. The vibrations and the sounds made by this thumping are said to attract fish to the dock.
- Choose Artificial Crank Baits: You can use one of the artificial sound makers that use a rattle to create noise to lure and attract fish. You can search for specific noisemakers in the market for this purpose. There are loads available.
Stir Their Olfactory Senses
Fish have a very strong sense of smell. They rely on their sense of smell to find food and detect dangers. They are also very responsive to the smells and odors released by other marine animals.
Author Note: The sense of smell plays a crucial role in keeping them safe from predators and ensuring a steady supply of food that they like and need.
There are certain odors that are repelling to fish. These include gasoline, bug repellents, oil and several fish can smell these from a mile. Certain food items such as onions and garlic, potato wafers, and nicotine may also turn fish off, playing a spoilsport on your plans of fishing.
If you want to attract a lot of fish to your dock, you should use smells to your advantage. Some of the smells that work well include that of white bread or other protein that fish love.
You can even consult a professional to learn more about specific baits for specific fishes. Do not forget that though there can be a few universal baits such as white bread, different fish have different preferences.
For instance, salmon respond exceptionally well to the smell of salmon eggs and catfish prefer the smell of shrimp. You would have to be thorough with your research if you are after a specific species.
All you need to do is to take these baits or fish pellets and cast them in and around the area from where you want to attract the fish. Keep an eye out for the currents in the water and if there are strong currents, you must wait for a while and sprinkle food items only once it settles.
If you get the food item right for your desired species, you will see fish flocking to your dock in some time.
Other Tips to Attract Fish to Your Dock
Appealing to the sensory organs of fish is a great way of luring them to your dock. There are, however, other tips that can prove to be handy in attracting fish to your dock.
Use the Right Aeration
Aeration is the key to ensuring a healthy life for marine animals. This is necessary to keep optimum oxygen levels in the water body. You can opt for artificial aeration products in the quantities you need them in.
Surface aerators promote fish health while also improving the quality of water by aiding the growth of algae and aquatic weeds that keep fish healthy and content.
Create a Natural Environment for Your Fish in Your Dock
If you want to attract more fish to your dock, you need to create a natural environment for them to feel attracted. This is easy to do.
All you have to do is to put some trees around your dock area to make the transition from the water body to your dock seamless for the fish.
You can even use your old Christmas tree for this purpose. This arrangement gives the feel of a protective sanctuary to the fish who will flock in big numbers towards it.
Keep Your Dock Area Clean
Humans have a propensity to underestimate other living organisms. We think it is just our species that find cleanliness attractive. But that’s far from the truth.
Top Tip: If you want to attract fish, you need to keep your dock area clean and free from any debris, muck and silt. Some seasons in the year are more susceptible to getting muddied and you should be more vigilant around these times.
The idea is to keep the shoreline clean because built-up muck will use up the oxygen required for the fish. If this gets too thick, this may also choke fish to death. This makes it crucial to be vigilant about the cleanliness of the dock area.
Ice Is Not Your Friend
You need to keep your dock area free from any ice because this can be potentially toxic. When sea animals or plants die in the water body, they release toxic gases that can get trapped due to the layer of ice on the lake.
Therefore, you need to ensure that the areas in and around your dock are devoid of ice to enable fish to thrive and get attracted to your dock.
If you feel lost, you can take the help of a de-icer that will help you do the task with ease. They are efficient and cheap. They won’t let your pond area freeze and keep all your fish hale and hearty.
The Final Word
Fishing is an activity that many people enjoy. However, not everyone knows the tips and tricks to lure more fish to their docks. With the tips suggested above, you will be able to attract a number of fish to your dock while maintaining an optimum water environment.
Happy Hunting!
