The position of your boat can be the key to catching fish around docks. When you pull up to a dock the first thing that appears is the corners of the boat dock, this is always the place that you should start. Position the boat as parallel to the corner as you can so you can hit both sides of the corner. Next if the dock is a floating type look for the open areas between the floats, or the open areas between the pylons if it's a wood driven dock. These are the shaded areas and are giving the bass shade from the sun. Here your boat should be parallel to the open area, so you can place your bait into the shaded water. If the bass are active it's not unusual for them to chase baits out a few feet from the shaded area.
The best area that I have found if the water is deep enough is the back corner where the boathouse forms a "L" shape with the dock walkway and the bank. This is a "must" area to fish, work it thoroughly, as bass love to hold on the back end of the dock near the bank where the bait can hide from the wind and they can get shade from both sides. If it's deep water, the docks around deep water do not protrude out but 4 to 7 feet from the bank and that makes for a great target zone with shade. Your boat here should be kitty corner so you can hit both corners with your bait.
Lastly, over hanging jet-ski lifts, is as good as it gets. The over hang produces shade, the bass can position themselves to ambush bait as its gets pushed by the wind or the current. A bass can hang at the corner of the shaded area and get a full view of the bait.
Always stay a good 10 feet if possible from the area your throwing at so you don't spook the bass.