One of the most successful anglers on Lake of the Ozarks, Dennis Berhorst has finished in the top five in the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Ozark Division points seven times and made eight All-Americans. You don’t get all that success without some versatility, but when you call Lake of the Ozarks home, you’re also regularly fishing a lake with around 75,000 docks — so, you’d better get good at it.
In the most recent Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats event at Lake of the Ozarks, Berhorst finished second, running docks with a swim jig and a Brush Hog. Below are a few choice cuts of dock fishing info from the expert angler, the sort of thing that might help you put a few more fish in the boat on derby day.
Understand the environment to narrow your focus
When Berhorst is on a good dock bite, he frequently has only a few rods on deck. Ideally, that focus is extended to his targets, too. In this most recent Toyota Series event, he focused on the front and sides of docks, only rarely venturing around to the back. Practice told him where to fish, and the behavior of the bass related to the forage.
“The difference for me when I’m fishing boat docks is where the forage is, where the shad are,” said the Missouri angler. “Typically, when the gizzard shad get on the bank and you can see them up there swimming around, those bass are really close to the bank.”
That sort of scenario could find Berhorst fishing the backs of docks with a jig or maybe even a topwater. When the gizzard shad aren’t on the bank, a different game plan is the order of the day.
“Right now, those shad are in the middle of the pockets,” Berhorst said. “They’re not on the bank. So, what happens? Those fish, they just suspend out there underneath the docks, on the sides and in the front. And when they see something go by, they ambush it.”
During last month’s Ozarks event, Jared Lintner won fishing the front of docks (for the most part), and Berhorst was right behind him running a similar program. While Berhorst did dip into a few docks that were not on the exact pattern, he mostly kept rolling with what was working.
“Ninety percent of the fish I was fishing for were suspended around the docks, because that’s where the shad were, out in front of them docks,” Berhorst said. “I just dialed it in to where I wouldn’t have to mess around going behind the docks flipping. Fish the front of the dock, the side of the dock, and keep moving.”
Magic docks are a real thing
The concept of a magic dock is common enough in bass fishing, and tournaments at Lake of the Ozarks seem to prove it true pretty consistently. In 2012, when Berhorst won the EverStart Series event on Lake of the Ozarks, he caught a 5-pounder out of the same hole on the same dock every day. Last year, Travis Harriman caught four for 18 pounds off two docks to help him win the Toyota Series event — also pretty magical.
“You know and I know that there are special docks,” Berhorst said. “What makes them special? I can’t tell you that, because there’s six docks past it and four before you get to it.”
Identifying a special dock is not a science — you’ve got to fish for them. Like any local, Berhorst has some he returns to time and again. Some pay off, some don’t.
“There’s nothing special underneath them,” Berhorst said. “It’s just the way the fish like to set up, I would say. There’s something about that dock — you could catch a 5-pounder, haul it 20 miles away and the next day catch another one there.
“So, there’s something about that dock,” he continued. “When one moves out, one moves in. Maybe like deer. You know, if you kill a big buck in an area, well, there’s gonna be another buck moving into that area.”
Perfect your presentations
If you were raised within 100 miles of Osage Beach or Lake Norman, you could probably skip a jig by preschool. But, for some, it’s a skill that needs to be worked on.
Berhorst favors a 7-foot-4, heavy-power, fast-action rod from St. Croix with 20-pound Gamma Edge, which runs maybe a little heavier than some other fluorocarbon on the market.
He also exclusively pitches docks. From a range, he may roll a sidearm cast, but for really targeted applications, he’s going to be putting a bait in on a pendulum.
“I can almost flip it up in there as far as I could skip it up in there because I raise that rod tip up,” Berhorst said. “Whether it’s that brush hog going in there or that jig going in there, it gets back in there quite a ways. It’s just something that I’ve always done.”
If anyone has watched Bryan Thrift skip a jig, you know he does it sidearm. But, if that’s not working for you, know that there are options — Berhorst is proof that there are many ways to master a technique.
Fool me twice
Be it practice or tournament day, there are plenty of times when Berhorst will miss a fish or note one following a bait out from under a dock. Obviously, that merits a waypoint on his Garmin. But when he comes back, he’ll always throw a new bait.
“You’re not gonna show them the same thing twice,” he said. “He didn’t eat it the first time because there was something different about it, something that he didn’t like about it.”
A Zoom Brush Hog got the call a lot in the recent Toyota Series event, and Berhorst also really likes a Chompers Salty Sinker or Boss Hawg. While a jig is probably the No. 1 bait for Berhorst on docks, he really likes the larger creature baits – especially with the tips dyed chartreuse, as he thinks they mimic a bluegill well.
Being able to capably dissect docks is a key part of the arsenal for any angler, whether you live at a dock Mecca like Lake of the Ozarks or not. So, if your dock game needs work, consider folding in a few of Berhorst’s insights — they might pay off.