My Lack of Confidence in Night Fishing

[bassackwards]

There have been many posts on night fishing. but my question comes from my lack of confidence in the bass able to see a plastic in the night. full moon was last night, so it'll be somewhat bright out.

I would just greatly appreciate any experience, strength, and hope from people that night fish successfully may have for me.

I know about using rattles, but I dont have any for my plastics. I have a tube rattle. but I intend to use a c-rig senko. will they be able to find that and locate it?

If I have to, I'll resort to other things. crankbaits, jig n pig, etc.

those who are successful at night fishing. if you will please shed some light for me to fish at night.

[Raul]

Dark as wolf 's den ( new moon ) do need some noisy stuff or things that create a large visble  siloutte or vibration, rattling baits like rattling crankbaits, jitterbugs, spinnerbaits, rattling jigs in black, worms with C tail are what I choose. Full moon is more forgiving but the baits are pretty much the same but you can add propbaits to your arsenal.

[bassackwards]

I haven't heard the term propbaits, what are they?

[senko_77]

prop baits are baits with propelers on them.  when you twitch the lure, the propellers spin and churn up water.  they are topwater baits.  heddon makes a prop bait called the heddon torpedo.  my favorite color of this is baby bass.  and bass can see at night just fine.  you can fish a senko at pitch black new moon and catch a ton of fish.  

[Gatorbassman]

Look up. Hold the lure up above your head and if you can see a good silhouette with the sky as a background then you shouldn't worry too much about noise. But, if the sky is dark then the noisier the lure the better in should work.

[fireandice]

I think Raul has some great suggestions there.  I had never thought much about trying a spinnerbait at night because I usually associate the spinner blade with sun reflectance.  But with a full moon it would reflect and stand out big time...not to mention the vibes picked up through the fishes lateral.  I night fished last night and got skunked.  I have a hard time with a baitcaster at night.  Usually the lure hits the water, and by that point it's too late and my spool is still spinnin'.  I'm getting better though.  And sometimes when I'm pretty sure that the fish aren't going to be very large, I'll resort to spinning tackle.  Thanks Raul

[bassackwards]

thanks, and keep em comin.  Ignorance isn't always bliss.  

[Chris]

I have used spooks, buzzbaits, jitterbugs, spinnerbaits, tubes, jigs, crankbaits, prop baits, plastic worms, lizards, all have worked for me at night. I like to make alot of racket with my baits. I bounce baits off of stuff or use rattles. I feel that it helps the fish track and locate my baits better. I use dark colors or white to either reflect off of the full moon light or to give a silhouette.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

We night fish alot. As a matter of fact, I just woke up from a night trip. 9p-4a. Noise and size are certainly big positives but certainly aren't a MUST. As senko77 said, you can fish a senko at night no problem. Worms, no problem. Ikas, kreatures, etc, no problem. When the conditions are right, there really isn't too much that wouldn't work at night that does during the day.

Bass are low light feeders. Just like a cat, they can see just fine at night. Just because you can't "see" your bait, doesnt mean he can't.

For spinnerbaits, at night, I use a big 1 oz bait with the biggest, roundest, thumper blade (colorado blade) you can find. Add a trailer hook always!

Remember, just like fishing during normal hours, the best tool in your box is your brain and it's ability to manifest confidence. THink positive! Look back at some night posts and see the proof in the pics we've provided. Remember these as you are feeling every little stone and stick on the bottom with your jig. Have confidence and conquer "the dark side". Good luck and catch 'em up!

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Oh yea, and don't be afraid if your eyes start to cross like in the pic above.  This is from high concentration followed by 2 minutes of fire alarm level exitement.  It goes away by mid morning,lol.

[bass master]

Dark worms with paddle tails, Black spinnerbaits, Stik worms with rattles are really productive. Cast to the same areas you would in the daytime.

[Raul]

Predatory fish not only locate fish by the sound, sound has a problem, sound disperses trhough the water without a distinctive pattern, but add sound to vibration and you have another reference point for fish to locate the bait, that 's the reason why rattling lipless crankbaits work. Which do you think is more important, sound or vibration ? vibration is more important, vibration has a spacial quality that sound doesn 't have, it has an hydrodynamic signature, in fishing terms this means that even if your bait ( crank or spinnerbaits ) has no rattles as long as it emits a strong vibration the fish will be able to locate it even in the darkest night. Also, predatory fish posseses something we don 't, fish eyes posses TAPETUM LUCIDUM, it 's a light refracting coating behind the retina that enhances light, so fish can see like we do with night vision systems, fish can see in the darkest nights like lions, tigers and wolf do, that 's the reson why you need a larger profile in your baits and dark colors so they can stand out against the background. It 's why I don 't recomend prop baits and chuggers at night during the new moon, they lack of cadende and continuos motion, their hydrodinamic signature is lost afte you pop or rip the bait but during the full moon fish can see them, the hydrodynamic signature is not THAT important.

[The_Punisher]

Great post, Raul!  Then again, everything posted here has been helpful.  Once I can find a spot that I can night fish at, I'm there!

[SBM-RL]

you should have more confidnce in the senko i catch tons of fish with soft plastics ecspecially senkos

[bassackwards]

whew!     I have no doubt in my mind about nightfishing now.  lmao

thanks raul, LBH, fluke, senko, er... ok, everyone... chris you didn't leave much out that u don't use, so I get the point perfectly.  

so I'll be fishing at night, just like I would during the day....

[dodgeguy]

one of my favorite night baits is a black buzzbait with a clacker.strike king rattlin midnight special spinnerbaits are good also.

[kbj3579]

I too used to have low confidence in night fishing.  It's like everything else, the more you do it the more confident you will become.  The lake that I fish, you have to fish at night during the summer, if you want to catch any good numbers of fish.  As far as worms go, I have been doing extremely well with straight tail worms with no rattle.  Now that goes against what most people would say to use.  This worm has very little noise making capability.  But the key is fishing the high percentage places fish are at night. Bass feed alot more at night.  So key on points and try and find schools of shad.  Shad =  Bass.  Deep brush piles are gold this time of year.  Just remember if you fish plastics always start out, slow, slow and even slower.  It's painful at first, but once you land a couple that confidence will start to build.  Good luck.

[bassackwards]

I appreciate it, I'll let y'all know how it went.  The place I imagine I'll be fishin is just one bank with a spill way, docks on one side of it, and a small cove next to a bigger cove on the other.

we'll see how it works.