night fishing!

[riverbasser]

@JRammit

So its summer and hot! Never done any night bass fishing. I need some tips. 

Where do you look for bass at night? 

What changes between night and day?

Favorite lure and presentations?

Full mion , new moon does it matter?

Any other useful tips.

[IndianaFinesse]

10 minutes ago, riverbasser said:

@JRammit

So its summer and hot! Never done any night bass fishing. I need some tips. 

Where do you look for bass at night?   Similar areas as during the day.

What changes between night and day?   The bass (especially the big ones) get much less wary and are more prone to strike a lure.  You usually want to keep the bait above them as it is easier to see a lure silhouetted above them than blended in below.

Favorite lure and presentations?   The best lure that I have tried is a dark colored spinnerbait with a Colorado blade slowly and steadily retrieved somewhat near the surface.

Full mion, new moon does it matter?   I don't think it matters much, but they seem to bite a little better during a full moon.

Any other useful tips.  I am sure A-Jay will chime in soon and give you some more information, he has been night fishing for far longer than I have.

 

[Catt]

I fish the same structure with the same lure I use during the daylight.

Bass do not morph into a new creature just because the sun set!

[papajoe222]

A full moon may make it easier for you to see, but I don't feel it has much bearing on the activity level of the fish. I do find that, like windy or overcast conditions, I can get away with sloppier presentations. What changes for me and why I prefer fishing at night in the summer, is I tend to slow down. What I mean by that is I don't jump from spot to spot. I'll work the area I'm in from top to bottom starting with reaction type baits and more subtle presentations before moving on. I know the water I'm on and I also don't make long runs from one spot to another.  To avoid doing that, I pick an area that has multiple, potential spots. 

As for baits, if it's black, it's packed in my night fishing bag along with insect repellent, a hand held spotlight and a pen light.  I only use the pen light when re-rigging and the spot light is for illuminating potential obstructions that I may pick up using my night vision.  It takes a while for my eyes to adjust after using any light, so I avoid using them as much as possible.

Last, but certainly not the least, I wear a PFD the entire time I'm on the water and carry a miniature air horn. Someone knows where I am and when to expect to hear from me.

[davecon]

Posted this in another topic but I only use two lures at night, a black 12 inch worm and a black musky jitterbug.

I usually go whenever I can but if I had my druthers it would be moonrise until the moon is directly overhead or moon set followed by south moon under ( when the moon is directly under the earth ).

That doesn't mean you won't catch any at other times but those always seemed best for me.

I used to fish at night twice a week during breaks in college (many years ago). You don't catch quantity but the quality is there. Would rarely not get at least one over 5. Caught hundreds between 5 and 9.5 this way.

[Caliyak]

Buy or use a red LED light. Eyes don't need to adjust. I like a buzzbait at night. Worms for sure. 

[Bluebasser86]

I fish the same areas but the bass tend to be shallower and roam around more, not holding as tight to cover. I like larger baits and typically go with darker colors, but with a full moon I'll often go with lighter colors. I do not like topwaters or treble hooked baits at night for safety reasons. I use a small headlight that stays off unless I really need it. No black lights for me, I prefer to go by feel alone. 

[Neil McCauley]

I also fish the same areas, this time of year- weedbeds 12-15 fow. Usually use bigger, darker, louder lures with more splash/vibration, and I use a steadier slightly slower retrieve than the day. I prefer to go with a full moon, because of the extra light it gives me not any effect on the fishing per se. I don't think it matters to them much.

My experience night fishing, at least for bass, has been that it slows way down right around full darkness when astronomical twilight ends- about 11PM until 3AM this time of year where I am. I have caught some fish during that time before but nothing like the couple hours before and after sunset and sunrise. For that reason I only really night fish for bass in mid-late June when the nights are shortest.
 

[buzzed bait]

i can't offer much in terms of the fish catching.  BUT i ALWAYS have my PFD on at night (daytime too, but just making the point here).  hard enough to get back in the boat (kayak for me) in daylight hours, but at night that's amplified.  

[Hurricane]

Only fished for catfish at night before... Might give it a try this year... Especially being busy everyday from sun up to sun down..

[Catt]

Darkness covers up an angler's presence & most of his mistakes!

Night fishing areas: I fish the same areas at night as I do during the day with one exception; night lighted areas. Lighted docks, lighted boat ramps, a row of camps with lights along the bank or a single camp with a light near the shoreline. These lighted Ares should be fished thoroughly!

Shallow vs deep: I've not noticed a distinct advantage one way or the other. I will normally fish both thoroughly staying with the one that produces the best.

Full moon vs new: like daytime I fish em all & have done will in every possible moon phase.

Colors: Ring Rascal has a worm color called Starry Night; it is dark smoke on top, clear smoke on the bottom with lots of silver glitter in the clear. This color goes against every thing you hear about night fishing, when everyone says I should be using dark colors I slay them on this color.

[Mr. Aquarium]

so ive only really started night fishing this year!  and its really only been 2 ponds located next to each other. both of these ponds are connected. 
the best pond is the larger of the 2, ive fished this pond many times and only a few times at night!  all my night fishing has been from shore!  

the spot ive done the best at is a set of cement walls that connect the 2 ponds. one side is a shallow flat beach area. the other has more grass rocks and is deeper beach area. in the middle of the locks as i call em is deep about 10 or so.  
a few yards off this wall it drops down quick to 20 feet!  ive been catching 2-4s right off the wall!  multiple fish nights right at the entrance of locks! the come up and school around it!  big ugly texas rigged plastics have been the best for largemouths!  top water for smallies! the buzz jet is what ive had luck on top with. tried BBZ rats and MS slammers with no hits!
  ive shined the light around the locks and you could see the schools of bass, perch suckers and other bait swimming around.  but i do believe that the largemouth are really searching for craw fish on bottom then eating big swimbaits off top. i think something loud on bottom works the best here for largemouths at least! smallie like the loud obnoxious topwaters slowly crawled on top!  

pond 2. the smaller pond. there is a channel with alot of trees and is fairly deep i think around 10 feet. this connects the 2 ponds.  at the entrance is a set of rock walls. the side i fish is a shallow beach area. this ponds SUCKS if your fishing during the day, very little cover and its pretty clear. but at night the bass feed! ive done the best here with topwaters , huddleston 68 night stalker swimbait and big ugly plastics! 

BIG KEY!! STRUCTURE!! SLOW LOUD BAITS!!!! the vibrations and noise will allow the bass to find your bait better! now ive always heard topwaters work the best! but i find the complete opposite!  i will fish other ponds this year! 
im still a little scared about being in the woods alone at night! im also nervous about kayaking alone at night to! 

oh and dark colors work best! like blacks and purples 

[Todd2]

I've done a little night fishing, not like some of you guys but does anyone else feel that every little sound you make at night would put the bass on alert? In the day, there are boaters zipping by everywhere....lots of ambient noise. At night, I'll see a light or two across the way but total silence except for a distant Barred Owl, insects, frogs.... It's probably mental, but I try to be quieter at night.

[Bankbeater]

I like to check the area out in the daylight before I night fish it

[scaleface]

I usually go a couple of times a year . I try to pick a calm full moon night  Structure like points , humps  , shallow flats and rip rap banks are my favorite places to target .for two reasons .First they hold big fish , second they are easy to fish . Casting along the banks can be productive but I always end up with a lot of lures  in the trees  , laydowns...

[Joey Battipaglia]

Black spinnerbait with a single colorado blade = MONEY

[JRammit]

22 hours ago, riverbasser said:

@JRammit

So its summer and hot! Never done any night bass fishing. I need some tips. 

Where do you look for bass at night? 

What changes between night and day?

Favorite lure and presentations?

Full mion , new moon does it matter?

Any other useful tips.

Thanks riverb!... I been a little busy, just now had time to check in

I expected everyone to say poppers and buzz baits.. But im surprised yall fish same day as night!

Im a sucker for throwing T-rig worms!... Id think bigger is better at night right??

[riverbasser]

1 minute ago, JRammit said:

Thanks riverb!... I been a little busy, just now had time to check in

I expected everyone to say poppers and buzz baits.. But im surprised yall fish same day as night!

Im a sucker for throwing T-rig worms!... Id think bigger is better at night right??

No prob man. I also assumed everyone would be fishing shallow at night.

[Catt]

13 hours ago, riverbasser said:

No prob man. I also assumed everyone would be fishing shallow at night.

Just like fishing during daylight some anglers like fishing shallow & some like fishing deep.

@A-Jay where ya at?

[WRB]

Catt spends more time night fishing then most of us day fishing, so listen to the man.

I love to night bass fish, just can't do it often because our local lakes close 1hour before sun set. We do have a few night tournaments that a fish just to get out at night, the run from 6 PM to midnight or sometimes to 2 AM. Lake afternoon is usually a deep diving crankbait and wake bait bite along with jigs and worms.

I usually go up in worm size as it gets dark to 9" to 13" Uptons Hersey w/blue neon vain or midnight black grape/blue flake. Crawdad and Shad color crankbait, standard craw jig colors.

Tom

[wytstang]

I'll be fishing at 3am in the morning and plan on throwing chatterbaits and swim jigs with paddle tail swim baits and craw dads (basically what I throw during the day). Since I will be shore fishing snake proof boots, side arm (gators) , head lamp with up to 750 lumens if needed, and a safety vest. I may try some top water lures but they tend to attract small gators so we'll see.

[hawgenvy]

19 hours ago, Joey Battipaglia said:

Black spinnerbait with a single colorado blade = MONEY

I assume you're using "MONEY" metaphorically. If by chance you fish night tournaments I'd like to know.

[A-Jay]

5 hours ago, Catt said:

Just like fishing during daylight some anglers like fishing shallow & some like fishing deep.

@A-Jay where ya at?

I was fishing - imagine that .

I'm putting the finishing touches on that Night Fishing starter thread we talked about a while back.

Be looking for your input.

Be done in a bit.

done ~

A-Jay

[wv1755]

I like to night fish also.Love to jig/worm fish with the black light. I Broke my headlamp a week or so ago. Can't find another replacement. Seems Like everywhere I've checked have the red light but not the black light on the headlamp. Anybody know where I can find a decent one?

[riverbasser]

Just now, wv1755 said:

I like to night fish also.Love to jig/worm fish with the black light. I Broke my headlamp a week or so ago. Can't find another replacement. Seems Like everywhere I've checked have the red light but not the black light on the headlamp. Anybody know where I can find a decent one?

what is the purpose of the black light?