How About A Little Fun , Night Fishing And Being Scared

[jimmykm21]

As we all know we bass fisherman love to fish at night . Whether we chase largemouths ,smallies or stripers off the surf.

I love summer time night fishing . Many times I use to launch at sunset and fish until 1:00 am or later.

Unless I could get a fishing partner on those nights , I fished alone.

I think the most startled I have ever been is one really hot summer night I was fishing alone in a 17 foot canoe.

No wind and no moon on a local 100 acre lake . This is a state owned property so there are no lights or houses on the shore line.

Pitch black and the fish were biting good. I was fishing the shoreline and when I heard some sticks breaking , I thought maybe a dog or coyote was walking through the woods.

I didn't think too much of it and continued to fish. Then all of a sudden I heard the biggest splash next to my canoe. It sounded like a large animal

just jumped in the water next to me. I jumped out of my skin .

I could see an outline or shadow that looked enormous right in front of my canoe.

I was almost to scared to turn my head lamp on but I did

Know what it was ?

A horse

Alright ... lets hear some stories.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

it was most likely a beaver i just got in from my uncles lake theres a huge beaver dam on the east side of the shore and i was fishing off the dock i saw it come from the woodline jump in the water then ever couple of minuntes it sounded like someone was droping a cinder block from the top of a tree

!!

[dale.m]

Hahahahaha! Thats a great story!

I actually have one from tonight! I hit the lake right at sunset and could only fish for about an hour or so. It got dark, but I could still make out objects on the surface. I saw what looked like a beaver swimming across the pond coming towards me. Now I don't know about yall, but I've heard stories of people getting their fingers, toes, nipples, and etc ripped off by beavers. I crawled up high in my boat and watched the beaver swim past. All of the sudden, a huge explosion of water engulfed the beaver and from below came a massive largemouth with his mouth wide open ready to suck in its prey. The beaver disappeared and I never saw it again. I was completely dumfounded and gazed at the spot where the attempted murder took place with an open mouth and wide eyes....kind of like a bass. After a few moments, I let out a huge laugh and decided to call it a night before that same bass tried to take me and my boat out next.

[jimmykm21]

That's crazy .

The fish didn't know what it was trying to tangle with.

I see a lot of beavers at night. The tail slap they do on top of the water will make you jump at night.

[jimmykm21]

it was most likely a beaver i just got in from my uncles lake theres a huge beaver dam on the east side of the shore and i was fishing off the dock i saw it come from the woodline jump in the water then ever couple of minuntes it sounded like someone was droping a cinder block from the top of a tree

!!

yup

That's the tail slap on the water.

[AK-Jax86]

I would feel like a "female dog" if I got attacked by a beaver lol

I do not see a beaver as a Formidable opponent, I'm sure they can pack a punch though

[A-Jay]

Ditto ~

I'd bet there is a good chance that might have been a beaver.

I'm fishing from a canoe and at least 1/2 my trips in the summer are at night - the beaver tail slap gets me every time, especially if you don't already know there's one in the area.

There are a few places I like to probe at night that are good spots but many times Old Buck-Tooth is standing guard. He'll let me know under no uncertain terms that he would prefer that I fish else where.

I hate that !

A-Jay

[Busy]

Not a night time experience, but while shore fishing last year I was standing still and fishing. I hooked a bass and my drag was too light, so I thumbed the spool and looked down to turn the drag wheel a bit and saw a large copperhead sunbathing immediately under me and between my legs. I couldn't really move and didn't want to land the fish very badly because I'd have to move. The fish ended up getting off and I just stood there for about 15 minutes when he finally slithered off. The snake was about 2 and a half feet long. It was a fairly nervous 15 minutes on my end! To top it off that was the only good fish I'd hooked all evening.

[Texfisherman]

The lake my buddy and I fish have a lot of decent-sized alligators in it. We typically do all-nighters this time of year and we had a spot light on the boat. We were about the only people on the lake, there was no moon, and it was pitch black! While we were slowly cruising to our next fishing hole, my buddy turned on that 2 million candle watt spot light and started scanning the surface of the lake with it.

About 200 feet in front of us, was a huge alligator crusing along. The moment the spot light hit that alligator, it did some kind of top water death roll that let out a splash so loud, you'd think a car fell from the sky and landed in the water!!!!!!

I didn't know people could fly, but my buddy proved it is quite possible!!

[Hyrule Bass]

Not a night time experience, but while shore fishing last year I was standing still and fishing. I hooked a bass and my drag was too light, so I thumbed the spool and looked down to turn the drag wheel a bit and saw a large copperhead sunbathing immediately under me and between my legs. I couldn't really move and didn't want to land the fish very badly because I'd have to move. The fish ended up getting off and I just stood there for about 15 minutes when he finally slithered off. The snake was about 2 and a half feet long. It was a fairly nervous 15 minutes on my end! To top it off that was the only good fish I'd hooked all evening.

oh man, i wouldve been terrified to no end. i really really really hate snakes of any kind. i wouldnt have reeled the fish in either. all i could picture is bringing in this flapping fish and the snake going for it and biting me instead...

[SirSnookalot]

I had a similar experience on Lake Anjigami, Hawk Junction Ontario................moose, scared the crap out of me.

[WookieeJedi]

I have had deer swim by. I followed 3 of them once, they were crossing a big part of the lake and swam about a 1/2 mile. That's a swim I would expect from a coastal or marsh deer, but not piney woods deer.

[JeffNJ]

This isnt a night fishing story but i wanted to share also.

I fish out of my kayak a couple days a week in shallow lakes(jersey dosent really have deep lakes) around the jersey shore/central nj area. This one time i was out midday sometime last month. I was driftng into an area i was casting to when all of a sudden my kayak spooked something under th water. All i saw were two light pink flippers that were easily almost 2 feet long each flash under my kayak and flee away. Now ive seen just about everything in the water in my area along with sewer plate sized turtles. But, this was difintely weird and honestly scared me for a couple mins because things in jersey dont typically get that large or pink in freshwater. Also, its not like i was in a large lake boat but rather a 8'3 kayak. BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!

[Broke bass fisherman]

I was fishing late one night, or morning depending how you look at it. I was in a canoe and was fishing out of the bow, not paying much attention to what is going on behind me, when i hear a thump in the conoe and feel the vibration of something moving in the canoe. I am terrified at this moment about what i am about to encounter, I turn around with my flashlight ready for just about anything and what is it in the canoe with me...

A raccoon...

He just sat there cracking shells and eating away. Probably sat there for 15 minutes just staring at me. Finally had to throw him out with the paddle.

[Bankbeater]

Not a night time story, but a couple of years ago I kept hearing something around the seat of the boat. I thought something was loose and moving around. Finally got down to check it out, and a mouse came running out. He went up on the front of the boat and jumped into the water, and I about relieved myself in my pants.

[BassinLou]

Thanks for the stories, keep them coming.

[Bluebasser86]

I would feel like a "female dog" if I got attacked by a beaver lol

I do not see a beaver as a Formidable opponent, I'm sure they can pack a punch though

Yes they can and they get much bigger than people think. We trapped one a few years ago that was almost 70lbs and their teeth can chew through trees so skin and bone isn't any stretch for them.

I thought I'd hooked a new state record night fishing several years ago on a jitterbug. Huge splash and stripping drag but after a few seconds I realized my line was above the water, way above the water. A great horned owl had picked up my jitterbug and was flying off. He ended up crashing into the bushes and pulled the hook out before he flew off. I called it a night after that.

[AK-Jax86]

You caught an owl that is hilarious.

I never caught a bird before but I was using a shiner and it flew off my hook and a bird caught it in mid air.

But to have a bird on your line, let alone an owl, is amazing

[basscrusher]

I once hooked a beaver at night on a jitterbug (totally accidental!) At first I thought I had a monster bass until I heard the thing screech and do the tail slap. Luckily the hooks pulled free. Now if I throw a topwater at night I listen for a few minutes to make sure no beavers are nearby.

I'm sure we've all been dive-bombed by bats while casting at night. I've had them actually run into my line, rod...even my head. Bats don't scare me, but that's freaky no matter how many times it happens. You never get used to that!

[steelslinger86]

I'll go with a hunting story. Try climbing into your deer stand that is 20' off the ground, about an hour before daylight, sit down, it's completely silent, and pitch black, and wait for it........... a screech owl perched about 3' away from your head starts screaming!!!! Great time to have a safety harness on.

[jimmykm21]

I'll go with a hunting story. Try climbing into your deer stand that is 20' off the ground, about an hour before daylight, sit down, it's completely silent, and pitch black, and wait for it........... a screech owl perched about 3' away from your head starts screaming!!!! Great time to have a safety harness on.

I had a rat snake one time refuse to let me out of a tree.

It was just about dark so I started climbing down the steps when I saw the snake at the bottom of the tree.

I pulled up my bow again that I had lowered to the ground and slapped the snake trying to move it.

I imagine I ticked it off because it did that fake rattle with it's tail and opened his mouth at me..

I'm not playing around anymore with you I said. So I used my bow and tossed it away.

I climbed down from the tree and the darn thing wanted to come back again.

Maybe it had a nest close to the tree somewhere? I'm not afraid of snakes but it was a strange to see it come back towards me after tossing 10 or 12 feet away.

[Bluebasser86]

I'll go with a hunting story. Try climbing into your deer stand that is 20' off the ground, about an hour before daylight, sit down, it's completely silent, and pitch black, and wait for it........... a screech owl perched about 3' away from your head starts screaming!!!! Great time to have a safety harness on.

Flushing a covey of quail from under your stand in the dark will make you need a change of underwear too.

[rockchalk06]

Not a fishing story but a night hunting story. I was running late trying to get to my stand. It was about 1/2 hour till the sun started peaking. I had a bunch of gear and was moving quickly. I took a step and something started thrashing. I lost my balance couldn't see squat and fell over backwards on to about 7 more animals thrashing around. Then I got hit so hard from behind I ended up drawing my side arm.

Dazed and scared I got my composer and split. Finally got to my stand and started smelling crap. Had turkey crap all over me along with turkey feathers everywhere and a nice rip in my jacket. I got owned by a turkey.

I ended up taking the largest muley I have ever taken that day. Walked right up to my stand at 20 feet down wind from me. Never even smelled me. Dad always said from now on smear turkey crap all over before you get to the stand.

[Teh]

I ended up taking the largest muley I have ever taken that day. Walked right up to my stand at 20 feet down wind from me. Never even smelled me. Dad always said from now on smear turkey crap all over before you get to the stand.

So...do you do it?

[rockchalk06]

So...do you do it?

If I can find it lol