A fluttering jerkbait caught this snook's eye.

For boaters, probably the best approach is via an electric trolling motor. It’s quiet and convenient. I favor the bow-mount types, as you can stand at the bow and fish while running the boat. An extension handle is a nice touch, allowing you to make adjustments in your course without stooping over. A couple of considerations here. One, you’ll have to evaluate how fast the current is moving, and what effect the wind might have on your drift. If the wind is pushing hard toward shore, it’s awfully tough staying in position. That’s where a light anchor, or an electric Power-Pole if the water is shallow enough, really comes in handy. But, the best scenario is light wind, under 10 knots or so, with one exception: Some days in winter, when cold fronts come ripping across the peninsula, you can tuck in tight to the west side of the Indian River, fishing docks in the lee of hard northwest winds.

I often find it’s best to start uptide of a series of docks, drifting most of the way. Unless I have a special dock picked out to fish intensively, I’ll run-and-gun, making a number of prospecting casts while passing through the area. Downtide drift does not mean downtide fishing. As you approach the tip of a dock, make your first few casts across and uptide, working a shoreward arc of about 45 degrees from the axis of your drift. Snook, in particular, are likely to be hanging on the uptide side of the dock, maybe several yards out from the structure. Cast straight for the dock right away and you might land behind the fish, a recipe for failure.

Using the trolling motor, align the drift so that you don’t run into the dock, but instead pass slowly by the end within casting distance. Resist the urge to get close enough to see fish—unless watching fish tails heading quickly away is your objective.

Generally you should try to use the motor as little as possible, both to preserve battery charge and to avoid spooking fish. If you have to keep the prop turning to maintain position, continuous operation at very low speed is far better than stop-and-go pulses at full power.

There’s always the urge to show off your casting skills. A controlled skip-cast is an impressive thing, where you aim for the water a foot or so out from the dock and bounce your lure into the shadows. With cat-like reflexes and heavy tackle, you’ll land a few fish. But you’ll also lose a few. Some days a lot. It’s an exciting game to play. Once you’ve learned about the “thump,” it’s irresistible. But the point is, you don’t have to be a dead-accurate caster to catch fish at the docks. Sometimes the best fish aren’t right under the structure—and even when they are, they’re liable to move a few feet when you ring the dinner bell.

For the real close work—especially when snook are the main players—I favor braided line in the 20- or 30-pound class, and a rod built to handle it. Leaders, too, need to test out to support heavy loads in an abrasive environment. I was debating a friend the other day on the merits of 40-pound fluorocarbon leader. I conceded that perhaps I’d get fewer bites than he would with less-visible 20-pound, but I maintained that I’d land more, and I backed it up by see-sawing a 24-inch gag grouper out from between two barnacle-encrusted pilings. That day I was experimenting with an 8-foot spinning rod, a departure from the knee-jerk comments of angling experts who’ve long stated that short rods are better for dock fishing. The 8-footer with no-stretch line moved fish with crane-like efficiency.

Be stealthy, relying on the trollingmotor only for occasional position adjustments.

There are lots of ways to fish docks, and drifting along while fan-casting is only one of them. A neat wrinkle is to position yourself down-tide of a dock and cast uptide through the pilings—all the way to the other side—with a slow-sinking jig. It feels dangerous, but if you keep a tight line as you bump the jig with the current, you can gain the upper hand. Fish nearly always take a bait facing into the tide. Casting from directly behind that position, at the strike you’re poised to fight the fish with the current, as opposed to wrestling it uptide to the boat. That can make a huge difference. I’ve found this to be a good approach for redfish, which often hold tight to dock pilings.