Night Fishing

[fisher21342]

Do bass bite at night? If they do what lures do you guys use?

[A-Jay]

Here's some info ~ 

A-Jay

 

[Mobasser]

Yes, bass bite at night. I've night fished a fair amount myself, and done good on some nights. You can use many of the same lures you use for daytime fishing. Lots of good night fisherman on this site, I'm sure they'll be glad to help you with some tips. Type in night fishing in the search bar also. Good info there too

[scaleface]

I like to use buzzbaits , spinnerbaits , crankbaits , Texas rigs and jigs but any lures work  .

[JediAmoeba]

Fishing at night really ups your fishing game.  

 

Some of my best fishing trips have been at night! 

[WRB]

1 hour ago, fisher21342 said:

Do bass bite at night? If they do what lures do you guys use?

Welcome to BR!

Try using the search tool located in the upper right corner of this page; "night".

Should keep you busy reading for awhile.

Tom

[Harold Scoggins]

Make sure you know the water you're fishing at night, running over a submerged tree/stump or boulder at night can ruin an evening of fishing. Between June and August I'd say 95% of my fishing is done at night and it never ceases to amaze me how active the wildlife becomes once the sun goes down. A concerto performed by the coyotes and wolves while a hawg blows up on your top water frog is always a bonus.

[Bird]

I prefer bright nights and top water......caught my biggest on Buzzbaits , Jitterbugs and whopper ploppers.

 

When the sun goes down, I'm usually indulgent of spirits, can be quite comical on a boat but fun nonetheless. 

[Jonas Staggs]

theres a ton of info online and youtube about bass fishing at night......That being said, the local lake I would regularly fish during the day...on a good day, maybe i catch 5 decent bass...on a bad day, sometimes 1....or rarely skunked......that being said, that same body of water, I tried for several months regularly fishing at night.......i only caught 1.......despite doing everything all the videos say to do. the one i did catch was a dink on a crankbait........anyways, i think my problem was not just that it was night........but the time of night, which is something to take into consideration as well. Just like the time of day for example. I know not much help but pretty much to sum up all the info your gonna find online......use a black worm......or something that causes a lot of vibration for them to hone in on. I think a lot of it depends on the body of water your fishing.

[WRB]

To quote Catt use the same lures you use during day at night, bass don't morph into a different fish when it's dark.

When I started to night fish for bass my choice was noisy surface lures and they worked.

When I started to fish night tournaments for bass I soon learned to use jigs and worms, the lures I caught bass during the day at night if I wanted to earn a check.

I am not nearly as knowledgable or experienced as Catt is regarding night bass fishing, listen to ole Catt.

Tom

 

 

 

[Michigander]

On some lakes it feels like there aren't any fish in it until the sun goes down.

[soflabasser]

6 hours ago, fisher21342 said:

Do bass bite at night? If they do what lures do you guys use?

Yes bass bite at night. They will hit the same lures that you use during the day but I prefer using topwaters at nighttime since topwater hits often catch you by surprise.

[DitchPanda]

I haven't fished for bass much at night but I can tell you a story that may let you in on how in tune to the environment they are at all times.. I was catfishing one night late maybe like 2am with a buddy and I heard a fish bust down the shore just outside of lantern light range... as a joke I threw a ribbed stinkbait worm in the direction of the blow up and swam it on top..about 3 cranks in a 3lb largemouth murdered it

[Catt]

17 hours ago, fisher21342 said:

Do bass bite at night? If they do what lures do you guys use?

 

When a bass decides to actively feel is not based of a clock, it's based on its metabolism.

 

Before they have completley digested their last meal they start looking to eat. If it's 2 °clock in the morning they don't say, "oh well breakfast ain't till 6 guess I'm gonna have to wait!".

 

Now just like during the day you can get a reaction stike from em.

 

Many anglers assume when talking night fishing its shallow water & topwater lures their obvious choice.

 

I can assure you there's a deep water bit going on.

[walt-14]

Does everyone on here tend to see bass located in the same areas they would be during the morning/evening time or would you tend to find them in more open water, roaming in search of food?  For example: would I want to spend time flipping laydowns/brush piles from shore or spend time throwing a crankbait/spinnerbait/chatterbait in more open water in the middle of the nigh?

[dgkasper58]

12 minutes ago, walt-14 said:

Does everyone on here tend to see bass located in the same areas they would be during the morning/evening time or would you tend to find them in more open water, roaming in search of food?  For example: would I want to spend time flipping laydowns/brush piles from shore or spend time throwing a crankbait/spinnerbait/chatterbait in more open water in the middle of the nigh?

I would say overall fish are in the same spots at night, but from my experience some times it takes them a little longer to locate the bait (I catch a ton of fish near the boat on topwater or even bringing my jigs back in) or they just do not see the boat as easily and that makes this phenomenon happen.  Either way, it's fun.  Get out there and see what works for you.

 

I have my best luck at twilight, then an hour or two lull, then its good again.  No idea why it is like that.

[WRB]

Both largemouth and smallmouth bass locate in areas where their prey source is abundant....day or night. 

Day time more small baitfish are availble and tend to hide in cover at night.

Night time more nocturnal critters are active and terrestrial critters like mice and rats tend to be close to shoreline cover. Crawdads are active at night in all depths and both LMB and SMB eat them. Find the abundant prey source and the bass will be close day or night.

Tom

[PhishLI]

The lake I fish the most holds big Bass, big Pickerel, and big Perch. If you fish this place during the daytime, except Sunday afternoons, you might come away believing it's sterile. During the week and Saturdays it seems almost impossible to catch anything except carp and bluegill. It's not impossible of course, but very close. Fish at at dusk and into the night and your reward might be great. It comes alive. You can absolutely hammer them. My group of hardcores that fish here consistently have been skunked and stumped as to why the daytime bite is so tough. We know better but still try. I've met so many daytime fisherman there who are not in my group that are totally frustrated. They're positive the lake is fished out. I thought about this subject for quite a while and have come to a conclusion: There's a major roadway that runs parallel to the length of the lake just outside the tree line. The traffic on this highway is non stop. There's an endless drumbeat of tires clipping expansion joints. You can feel it if you're on that side. This slows down dramatically at 7:30 pm. This also coincides with the bite turning on, for the most part, depending on a number of other factors. One night it could be 8:00 pm and the the next might be 9:10, and so on. Maybe this environmental noise factor represents one element of pressure the fish here have adapted to and shut down until it passes?  But if you can put in those later hours, and are not spooked by being in the woods at night, the catch rate is great. The bite window shifts, but the bite can be awesome. If you catch one you'll probably catch more. They "seem" to come in and feed in waves, then recede in unison. There also "seems" to be a hot 40 minute window, then poof, they're gone. Please note the quotes around "seems", especially Tom(WRB). The other night my buddy had a gut feeling and hit it at 3:45 am and had a bonanza. This never happens during the day there for any of us and others AFAIK.

 

BTW, vibrating baits work great at night. Ribbon tail worms, paddletail swimmers, and chatterbaits do the best. Wakes and glides work too

[Catt]

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

 

Their food source doesn't morph into a new creature either!

 

I fish the same structure, with the same techniques as I do during the daytime.

 

If I'm on a productive pattern right around dark thirty that includes a Redbug worm you can bet your sweet bippy that I'll be throwing that worm after the sun sets!

 

Day or night they setup on specific structure & move according to their metabolism. This movement to feed can be at anytime day or night.

 

[Mr. Aquarium]

I use big swimbaitss at night in most ponds. Some ponds they don’t want big bait or topwater so I use a jig, spinner bait, Texas rig, and chatter baits. Just crawl on bottom. 

[Jermination]

As with everything, lure depends on what lake. Some of the ones around here you'd be foolish to throw anything other than a jig, big thumping spinnerbait, or plum worm on a carolina rig. One of my favorite memories of growing up were going to the mountain lakes(hiwassee, fontana, chilhowee) with my pappaw throwing jitterbugs parallel to the bank in the pitch dark all night long. No black lights, he preferred no running lights(sketched me out as a kid), and BE QUIET. Had some of the best bags i've ever been a part of doing that. For some reason Jitterbugs don't really work on the lakes around here that aren't in the mountains. Fish do seem to be less skiddish at night and the shoreline bite typically gets better after dark

[Mobasser]

One thing is for certain about night fishing: It's an excellent way to improve your feel for plastics, and jigs or other slow moving bottom hopping baits. The fish won't always hit topwaters or spinnerbaits. Just like in daytime fishing, I've had to fish slower sometimes. For the most part your fishing by feel alone. Your senses get tuned in good at night. Fishing at night can improve your daylight fishing also.

[NorthernBasser]

9 hours ago, Catt said:

Before they have completley digested their last meal they start looking to eat. If it's 2 °clock in the morning they don't say, "oh well breakfast ain't till 6 guess I'm gonna have to wait!".

 

Wait, are you talking about me or the bass here?? 

[Bluebasser86]

Nothing much better than night fishing on a warm summer night.

[Revival]

Short arm single Colorado blade spinnerbait and senkos were my go to when fishing at night.