Night Fishing

[jr45]

Anybody here fish a lot at night? I getting ready to fish quite a few little tournaments that are all at night, typically 7PM - 1AM. I fished a little at night last year, but found it tough. I am sure I was probably fishing the wrong spots. Anybody have any night fishing pointers? I'm think of flippin/pitchin the boat docks, what other areas would be good? What do you all throw at night time? I know during the day the fish are very deep, as the water temp. is in the mid to upper 80's, is this still the same at night? As always thanks for the help!

[SmokeRise1]

I fished from 9-12 last night with a black jitterbug and caught bass in every spot I hit. Long casts along the shore and along weed lines with a slow steady gurgling retrive.

[K_Mac]

I am going Thursday night on my first serious night trip of the season. I will have a chatterbait, a big jig and Paca craw, a big (10" or bigger) T-rigged worm, and a buzzbait tied on. My wife will throw a T-rigged plastic or a jitterbug. I have fished the lake enough lately to be very confident that we will catch fish. I am hoping for one >6lb, which is a nice fish on this lake. Grassy points near deep water, and transitional areas from grass to rock near deep water esp if there is wood close will get a lot of attention.

[whitwolf]

I would fish the same places you do during the day. I'm more of a shallow water fisherman for the most part and I rarely fish different areas from daytime to night.

I do tend to fish a little bigger baits at night for a variety of reasons but mostly for a larger profile.

Lastly and this can't be stated enough, thoroughly know the water you're fishing. The lake Is much different with regards to your vision at night.

[WRB]

Catt is the true expert on night fishing and maybe he will see this thread give you some pointers.

What I have learned over the years about bass fishing after dark is to keep everything as simple as possible and as organized as practical. It's easy to break or lose tackle when it's dark, so put away what you are not using at the moment. Make a list of what you need;PFD's, extra clothing, bug spray, extra flash lights, high power beam light and whatever you like to use to light the area around the boat; black lights, under water lights or area flood light. You may need an extra battery to run the night lights and add a jumper cable. Cell phone, GPS and know the area where you are going to fish very well. You may not use an anchore during the day, at night it can help you to keep on outside structure in the wind.

If you are fishing deep structure lakes, the bass tend to move up into shallower water if prey is availble shallower. Lakes with shad populations for example, the bass will go into cover looking for the shad at night. The most predominate night prey for bass are crawdads in deep structure lakes, so jigs, soft plastics fished near or on the bottom will produce well. If the lake has a good frog population, frog lures work the hour before dark and after night fall.

Whenever I fish a tournament that is late evening to after mid ngiht, it requires several types of presentaions. Dusk bass are usually very active; swimbaits, crank baits, chatter baits and buzz baits are my go to lures during that time period. About 1 houir after dark things tend to change and the bass roam more, thats when I go to jigs and T-rigged big worms; I like to fish jigs where it's rocky with spasre brush and worms where the cover is thicker or the bottom is softer. I look for transition areas where the structure makes changes; gravel changing to sand or mud, rocks mxed with clay, deep breaklines, isolated cover like wood or weed beds, etc.

Go with heavier line than you normally use during the day time. Try to fish lakes with good water clarity.

Colors vary with every lake; so keep an open mind.Jigs and worms I like darker colors, reaction baits I use the same colors as daytime.

Good luck.

Tom

[bigbassctchr101]

I fish main channel stuff at night. Most of my summer time tournaments happen at night. Long points, main channel points, hard bends in channel, transition areas. I keep it very simple. Usually two rods will do the trick. One with a jig, greenpumpkin or black/blue. and one with a brush hog or 10+ inch worm. (brush hogs seem to do better at begginning of summer then switch to the worm in hotter periods/ jigs are good year around).

12-15lb flourescent line.

I always found this to be the most productive way of fishing at night. Its simple, it takes out a lot of variables, and you just have to find the fish.

The other baits mentioned work well and are fun to fish too...along with a spinnerbait. I've just found this to work best for me, and it catches keeper and quality fish both.

[Texfisherman]

Black 1/2 ounce spinnerbaits, with a single colorado blade does wonders along weedlines.

Try throwing a T-Rigged Zoom 'Ole Monster, (Junebug or another dark color).

Also, Wacky-Rigging Zoom Trick Worms has always been the most productive for me at night. Put a 1/4 oz nail weight in the head of the worm and you're good to go. Stick with dark colors.

[redboat]

I fished some "working man" tournaments a couple years ago. Every single bass my partner and I caught over 14 inches over a three month period were caught before dark. We could catch little dinks after dark but that was about it. It was like somebody'd flipped the "bass switch".

[AK-Jax86]

I want to go night fishing but I need someone to take me on a boat! I ain't trying to accidentally get bit by a moccasin or rattler while fishing from the shore... they come out at night.

QUESTION:

In Florida do bass stay in the deeper parts of the lake at night or do they come to shallower areas since its cooler at night?

[Bankbeater]

Don't forget the bug spray. You don't want to start getting bit when you are hauling in a lunker.

[GoTakeANap]

I want to go ***ht fishing but I need someone to take me on a boat! I ain't trying to accidentally get bit by a moccasin or rattler while fishing from the shore... they come out at ***ht.

QUESTION:

In Florida do bass stay in the deeper parts of the lake at ***ht or do they come to shallower areas since its cooler at ***ht?

dont know much about bass fishing in FL but im sure bass are just ab the same everywhere. ive had alot more success in my few fishing trips at ***ht catching them in shallower waters around docks and brush piles. Havent caught one bass yet at ***ht in water deeper than 8 feet. so you would probably do very well fishing off the bank at ***ht for bass but like you said, to many snakes in FL. IMO not worth getting bit by a snake. you should buy a little 8-10 foot pond boat and get a trolling motor and use that at ***ht. it would be worth it.

speaking of ***ht fishing. when i was on vacation at the 1st of the month. i talked to a guy who was fishing around my friends lake house we were staying at. he was in a tourney that started at 6pm and ended at 2 am. he caught 6 bass within 20 mins around the dock at my friends lake house and the one next door. he was using a zoom finesse worm. greenpumkin with orange flakes and had a chartreuse marker thats made for coloring bait. he would color the tail about a inch in length. just thought id share this with u!

[AK-Jax86]

dont know much about bass fishing in FL but im sure bass are just ab the same everywhere. ive had alot more success in my few fishing trips at ***ht catching them in shallower waters around docks and brush piles. Havent caught one bass yet at ***ht in water deeper than 8 feet. so you would probably do very well fishing off the bank at ***ht for bass but like you said, to many snakes in FL. IMO not worth getting bit by a snake. you should buy a little 8-10 foot pond boat and get a trolling motor and use that at ***ht. it would be worth it.

speaking of ***ht fishing. when i was on vacation at the 1st of the month. i talked to a guy who was fishing around my friends lake house we were staying at. he was in a tourney that started at 6pm and ended at 2 am. he caught 6 bass within 20 mins around the dock at my friends lake house and the one next door. he was using a zoom finesse worm. greenpumkin with orange flakes and had a chartreuse marker thats made for coloring bait. he would color the tail about a inch in length. just thought id share this with u!

I've been looking for a small boat to put into my backyard pond. Nothing big just a 2 person row boat with a small trolling motor. Idk where to go to find something like that and I am having my first child on Monday so I can not spend too much right now

[GoTakeANap]

I've been looking for a small boat to put into my backyard pond. Nothing big just a 2 person row boat with a small trolling motor. Idk where to go to find something like that and I am having my first child on Monday so I can not spend too much right now

you can find some cheap boats on craiglist or ebay. look in local adds under forsale.

[Bassfishing375]

I want to do more ***ht fishing, I have had some luck but i want to be more consistent. I'm 17 and i live near a lake. I will be fishing from shore there is a weed line with a bunch of logs in the middle of the vegetation. There is a little drop off about 45 feet from shore that goes from 3 feet to 5 feet deep which they move back and forth between the drop off and weedline..

I mostly fish senkos at ***ht but lately i have had little luck. Yesterday I decided to try a spinnerbait i caught some but not many, any tips to help me.

[Busy]

I can understand the need for a language filter at times but seriously? ***HT. N I G H T. Not a bad word. Kind of annoying.

[AK-Jax86]

I can understand the need for a language filter at times but seriously? ***HT. N I G H T. Not a bad word. Kind of annoying.

I was wondering why it was doing that lol ***ht

[GoTakeANap]

I want to do more ***ht fishing, I have had some luck but i want to be more consistent. I'm 17 and i live near a lake. I will be fishing from shore there is a weed line with a bunch of logs in the middle of the vegetation. There is a little drop off about 45 feet from shore that goes from 3 feet to 5 feet deep which they move back and forth between the drop off and weedline..

I mostly fish senkos at ***ht but lately i have had little luck. Yesterday I decided to try a spinnerbait i caught some but not many, any tips to help me.

try using a jig with a trailor. ive had luck fishing it at ***ht with darker colors, zoom finesse worm>>>>> i talked to a guy while he was fishing and caught a few with them. u can always use a dark spinnerbait as well.

[Bassfishing375]

try using a jig with a trailor. ive had luck fishing it at ***ht with darker colors, zoom finesse worm>>>>> i talked to a guy while he was fishing and caught a few with them. u can always use a dark spinnerbait as well.

Thanks i'll try this tonight hopefully, oh do you fish the finesse worm weightless? Because my friend fishes them weighted.

.

[GoTakeANap]

Thanks i'll try this tonight hopefully, oh do you fish the finesse worm weightless? Because my friend fishes them weighted.

.

i fish them with a 1/4 oz weight texas rigged. fish it slow to start off with. if no luck speed it up a little. i catch everything at night fishing everything very slow. just try different speeds and see what works for you.

[Stone Cold]

Love throwing Buzz Baits or any topwater and hearing the explosion...

[dale.m]

I've been looking for a small boat to put into my backyard pond. Nothing big just a 2 person row boat with a small trolling motor. Idk where to go to find something like that and I am having my first child on Monday so I can not spend too much right now

Me and my buddy just bought a boat from some guy on Craigslist for $500. It's a two seater john boat and it came with a Minn Kota trolling motor, a battery, a battery charger, a fishing net, swivel seats, an anchor, and oars. There were many other john boats listed as well, so I am sure you can find a listing in your local area.

[ToddP]

Fishing at night isn't much different than fishing during the day. As far as colors, go with solid dark colors (black, blue). When I fish at night I throw a black buzzbait, black spinner bait w/ 1 colorado blade, or a black jitterbug. My favorite is the buzzbait, caught plenty of nice fish when I lived in Florida. Not anymore, only Northern strain bass now

Big worms also work good, just slow them down. Also, you might want to take the moon phases into consideration when fishing at night. If you senko fish, grab a blacklight so you will be able to see your line, a lot of big fish grab the senko and you'll never fell them. You'll just see your line moving toward the deep or off to the side.

[GoTakeANap]

Fishing at night isn't much different than fishing during the day. As far as colors, go with solid dark colors (black, blue). When I fish at night I throw a black buzzbait, black spinner bait w/ 1 colorado blade, or a black jitterbug. My favorite is the buzzbait, caught plenty of nice fish when I lived in Florida. Not anymore, only Northern strain bass now

Big worms also work good, just slow them down. Also, you might want to take the moon phases into consideration when fishing at night. If you senko fish, grab a blacklight so you will be able to see your line, a lot of big fish grab the senko and you'll never fell them. You'll just see your line moving toward the deep or off to the side.

someone just told me about those blacklights for night fishing. they look cool. some come with white lights built in. pretty good idea for someone to come up with. gonna get me a pair next time im at the store. do you own any of these todd?

[ToddP]

someone just told me about those blacklights for night fishing. they look cool. some come with white lights built in. pretty good idea for someone to come up with. gonna get me a pair next time im at the store. do you own any of these todd?

I use to own one when I lived in Florida and fished from a boat a lot. With me just moving to Nebraska, I fish 100% from the shore as I don't have my boat anymore. So I just go by the good ole moon light now . Plus, I don't fish soft plastics that much at night, so little need for me to be a line watcher at night. All though my eyes stay glued to my line during the day when fishing softies.