Trying Something New With The Time Off For The 4Th. Advice?

[Tattoo25]

I will be off for 5 days next week for the 4th so I figured I would have pleanty of time to try something new. The only night fishing I have done is cat fishing so I figure ill give night bass a shot. What would be the best tactic? Fishing piers with lights on them? What lures should I try? Thanks a bunch for any advice b/c I have absolutely no Idea about bass activity at night.

[Mumpy]

Black Buzzbait works well for me at night. Fish it towards the shoreline where you would normally fish in the mornings for topwater action. The morning topwater action is just an extension of that nights topwater action.

[Nitrofreak]

There is no reason to change any of your tactics, just your presentation, I will use darker colors, mostly all black, thats what seems to work well for me, I do however find that repeted casts are more common to areas to attract attention, the clearer the water is the less repeted casts I find are necessary.

Night fishing is fun and relaxing but also can be dangerous, not sure if your shorebound or boating, regauardless take measures to be safe.

Good luck and be safe and enjoy the upcoming holiday!!

[Jig Man]

That will be during the full moon. Single spins and swim jigs are what I use mostly during the summer in the moon. Don't be afraid to use a white jig or spinnerbait with white trailer.

[SmokeRise1]

If you search this topic you will read a lot of suggestions for top-water baits for night fishing. In my opinion there is nothing better than a slow moving, noisy, black jitterbug. You can retrieve it really slow and it makes tons of noise and calls fish up an in from far away. Weedlines, brush, laydowns, open water. It doesn't matter. If the fish are there they will hit the jitterbug. Nitro makes a great point about safety. He probably means wearing a PFD, but I'll add to that. It may sound foolish but when I fish at night I wear safety glasses. Fish will hit the jitterbug when it lands in the water or follow it all the way to the boat before trying to smack it. A missed hookset 5 feet from the boat often results in a lure with 6 hooks flying back at you. Don't take chances. Protect your eyes.

[dale.m]

Basically like everyone else has stated, use dark colored lures like black/blue or black/red. Honestly, when I fish at night, I use one of 3 lures. It's either gonna be a black/blue buzzbait, a black jitterbug, or a black/blue spinnerbait with a colorado blade. If the moon is out, I use a chrome blade on the spinner. If not, I go for a black blade with blue flake. At night I like to fish around cover, but I let myself cast further from it than I normally would in the day time. A deadly combo is if you can find a good lilly pad covered area and cast a black buzzbait just around the outer edges of the pads. The second you hear the splash wait for the weight of the fish then set the hook!

[Texfisherman]

If there are only a couple of light poles or light sources on the edge of the lake, I would go check out the water close to the light. I find it will pull in baitfish, and bass follow the baitfish.

If there is a boat ramp, try throwing a worm around it.

I definitely believe that color is very important at night. Black 1/2 ounce spinnerbaits with a gold or silver colorado blade, especially with the full moon this weekend!!!!

Junebug colored soft plastics are a perfect color for nighttime fishing. More and more brands are making worms in Junebug color, due to its high success. And this may be biased, but I'm having constant luck on Watermelon Candy colors.

I have been fishing all-nighters, every Friday night for the past 5-6 weeks. And indeed, we're probably going again tonight. We launch about 7pm and fish until 9 am the next morning.

Oh, and bring plenty of flash lights with you... and bug spray if applicable.

Good Luck!!!!!!

[Crestliner2008]

Hard to beat a big old black MUSKY sized jitterbug. The advantage of this presentation is that it is very visible to the bass and it stays in the strike zone longer than just about anything else. I believe it fishes slower than a buzz bait as well, yet produces a lot of racket - slowly!

[LgMouthGambler]

An M80, and wait for the dead ones to surface.

[teamhillbilly2012]

An M80, and wait for the dead ones to surface.

Humm one in every basket just slow down after dark and try to get their before night fall if you can,fish a little slower

[BigBassBarry]

where I have had lots of success is a biffle bug hard head football jig with sooner run (black with red flakes) 4.25" biffle bug. reel over rocks or hard surfaces really slow. If top water is your thing Black Jitter bug is hard to beat at night.

[whitwolf]

Fish the same places you do during the day. I prefer a redshad 8" bid dead ringer , a black with red flake sweet beaver, and a black jig with a matching Zoom super chunk jr. trailer.

I would highly suggest you know your lake well. At night It's an entirely different place.

Lastly, have fun, go slow, relax , and just fish with what you have confidence In.

[Tattoo25]

Thanks for all the great advice guys. I will do everything I can to be safe and I do know the lake pretty well...The only problem I see safety wise is snakes...I will be in the kayak instead of the boat b/c they dont allow gas motors in this particular lake. That being said I am going to have to closely watch for snakes b/c I have seen atleast 3 every time I have been there. Thanks again guys!

[MemphisFF]

We used to throw big soft plastic worms at night when I was fishing with my dad, like a Manns jelly worm like a dark black or blue most of the time we had great success, the 10 inch worm I believe.

[Bassn Blvd]

The most fun you'll have is running the bridges at 40+ mph. Even though you know you got a 2' clearance, it'll scare the sht out of ya.