Night Fishing Blues.

[BassAssassin726]

Went out to fish at night last night and tonight and got skunked both times. Both nights were about 85 degrees. Tonight was quite windy. Fishing the quarry lake. I threw big colorado blade spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, Both black and white. Big 9 inch ribbontail worms, some shallow and medium diving cranks. Went both nights around 9 and fished until about 1130- midnight. Any suggestions? Am i too early?

[dale.m]

You are not fishing to early at all! Night fishing in the summertime is one of the best ways to catch bass and enjoy it without all the heat and sunburn. It seems that you are changing through lures quite fast. I would try locating the bass first before you worry about lure choices. At around 9, I'd venture to say that most of the bass are moving up into shallower areas of the pond. Try fishing obscure areas along the shore like shallow points, secondary banks, and shallow flats. If there is any cover in the shallower areas, then fish those spots. On a windy day like you described, try fishing the areas where the wind current is flowing up onto a shallow area. Also, just like humans get lazy in the heat, so do bass. Make your presentations slower. My favorite lure to throw around that time is either a black jitterbug, a black/red or black/blue buzzbait, a frog, or a dark t-rigged worm. I don't know what your water clarity is like, but if it's murky then go for louder buzzbaits or try fishing a jitterbug erraticly. In clearer waters, I like to throw the darker t-rigged worms.

Once you catch a bass, know that most of the bass in the pond are probably doing the same thing. Experiment with trying the same lure in another area with similar structure and cover. If you catch another one then you have discovered a pattern. Jot it down on a notepad so if conditions are similar in the future, you know what to throw.

Hope that helps some and feel free to ask any questions.

[Bluebasser86]

A jig, chatterbait, and buzzbait are what the fish have been crushing at night here. They kill a chatterbait with all the vibration on a steady retrieve helping them to hone in on the bait.

[BassAssassin726]

@Justin, I fished a buzzbait, spinnerbait and worm for about half an hour each. The lake i fish is a small quarry lake about 10-15 acres with a good population of 3-5 pound fish. Its very deep and the banks only go out about 20 feet or so before dropping off to deep water. The shoreline is riddled with overhanging trees, logs and fallen trees in the water on the bank, great cover. Im on the bank, my usual spot is a small flat with a point next to it with deeper water on either side and some trees and logs in about 4 feet of water. The wind was blowing hard directly towards the bank i was on which i thought would push baitfish and the bass toweard me. I worked the spinnerbait on the bottom, in the middle and just under the surface. Worms i worked in a yoyo type motion lifting my rodtip 3 feet then letting fall to the bottom. How well can a bass see a worm in pitch black under water? Or cant they? Do they just use their lateral line for hunting at night? Its a semi clear water lake with visibility at about 2-5 feet. Forage wise there is Yellow Perch, White Perch, Bluegill, Sunnies. Not sure if there are any crawdads or shad, ive never seen them. There is also huge carp and Crappie in the lake. Not much vegetation, the only kind ive seen is some algea on my lures when working bottom in certain areas. Also, last night there was no moon, not sure if that has an effect. The tough thing last night with the wind was i couldnt see or hear my buzzbait, so it was tough keeping it right on top. Any other tips you could give with this info ive given? @ Blue, a chatterbait is that lure that looks like a jig with a big blade in front right? Ive never tried one but i plan on buying a few tomorrow, also gonna get a few Jittebugs to work on top.

[Bluebasser86]

Yeah a chatterbait is a bladed swim jig basically. One of my homemade black and blue jigs has been great for me at night. We have some strip pits down south that we've tried to night fish and honestly never had much luck on them for some reason. Usually normal night fishing techniques that work other places just don't work there and we end up fishing the same stuff we fish during the day to catch fish (swimbaits and shakeyheads) I know of a couple lakes that just don't have a good nightfishing bite, they all have lots of forage in them and I think that might have something to do with it.