Night Fishing Questions

[Del from philly]

Go to WalMart and buy one of those cheap Energizer head lamps with the combo white and red LED's....their less than $15. I don't use the white light very often but the red light part of the lamp works well for working with tackle issues as it doesn't attract the bugs nor will it jack up your night vision.

IS THAT WHAT I SAW THE OTHER NIGHT!!!!

jesus, i thought it was some alien fishing after dark.....me and my girl were actually scared after a while, kept seeing this red light walking all over the shore line.....

[WRB]

The eyes of a bass go through a night adaptation cycle beginning at twilight and are usually adapted for black, white, and all shades of gray within an hour after darkness. Bass can see color but not at night, color it's self is meaningless at night. Bass cannot see details at night, so don't waste time with meticulously painted or patterned lures. Contrast is more important by far than color at night. If you fish water where shad or minnows are the predominate prey species, then try white spinners with a white grub. The usual night time favorite black is the second choice in shad populated lakes. Black or dark hued lures give maximum contrast at night when run on or near the surface. Under water vision for the bass is reduced at night, so use lures that are a little larger. Slow retrieves work better because it lets the bass locate the lure easier and zero in on it.

There is no reason why the night time bite can't last all night but just like during daylight there will be periods of high/low activity. According to my records some of my best night bites have occurred as follows.

An hour and a half prior & after the raising of the moon on the horizon

An hour and a half prior the moon reaching its apex (moon directly over head)

An hour and a half prior & after to the setting of the moon on the horizon

An hour and a half prior to the moon reaching its perigee (moon directly underfoot)

Bass vision; do you have any sceintific data to supports your statements? or just your opinion? Just because the bass has cones/rods in their eye make up doesn't factor in how they process light waves. Have you ever considered that bass may not see color as we do or at all? The evidence that bass may see in the ultra violet range vereses the color spectrum is interesting. The colors we select definately has a major impact on our fishing success, but is it the color or the contrast to the color? Contrast is very important factor at very low light conditions, like at night or deep water. Have you ever wondered how a bass can see a translucent smoke color 4" worm at 50' during an overcast day, when the diffifence may be blue flakes verses red flakes or no flakes? I can't see them laying on the boat carpet or down 3' in gin clear water.

WRB

[MemphisFisherman]

what's the lake like?  out of a boat i assume?  Full moon or no?

[Catt]

Scientific data on bass vision as compiled by Ken Cook, a former Oklahoma fisheries biologist.

[rondef]

The lake is 218 acres in size, relatively small. The contour of the lake shows a band around the lake less than 5 feet deep followed by a band 10 feet, 15 feet, 20 feet and then some pockets that are 25, 30 and 35 feet deep. The deep pockets are near the dam and there is also an island on one side of the lake .

There are various fish in the lake (LMBs, Muskie, Walleye, Catfish and Bluegill) and it is stocked by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. They have pulled some LMBs as big as 10lb (average sizes are 3 lbs to 6 lbs) some Muskies in the 20 lb to 25 lb range and one over 4 feet long and some Waleye in the 4 lb to 7 lb range and one as large as 8 lbs 12 ounces. I am really excited about the potential to pull a trophy fish out of this lake.

What do you folks think? Should I try the deep water first or work the coves or around the island in the middle of the lake. The VDGIF recommends fishing the willow weed beds across from the boat ramp. I have only tried fishing from the shore in the past because of the motor restrictions, I can launch my boat if I only use my Bill Dance trolling motor, no gas motors allowed. I have to diconnect the gas line and tilt the motor up out of the water. This has kept me away from this lake but I just can't pass this up because of the restriction any longer.

My only concern is the trolling motor lasting long enough, I don't want to get stranded out on the water. I may go out and buy a second trolling motor battery this week as a precaution. I guess if the battery didn't last I could put the gas motor back down to get me back to the ramp but I just don't know if I want to chance being written up for the violation.

[frogtog]

Yall are to dog gone smart for me. I never even take all that stuff into consideration. I just go fishing.

[fishingfourfun]

I don't think they would fown on using the motor if your trolling motor was dead!

[lovecranking]

I fish southern Wisc. at night all of the time. No hassles from jet skiers, water skiers and not many guys fishing. My #1 go to bait is the palm tree in either junebug or blk/red. I rig backwards T style with 1/16 weight and shove a 5mm glass rattle in it. I've caught alot of smallies and largemouth with this bait. If I'm fishing just before dark or dawn, the hot bait has been either the fat ika pumpkin (color #186) or the palm tree watermelon w/chart tail (color #826). Hope this helps & works for you. Once you get use to night fishing, you'll love it.

[Bob Kavanaugh]

Insect repellent. Lots of insect repellent.

[rondef]

Anyone here have a problem with their spouse when it came to taking your boat out at night for the first time? My wife is all ticked off that I am going to take my first night fishing trip and says that she will be up all night and will be unable to sleep worrying.

[Catt]

Carol just answered Nope never I've got $250,000 insurance on em

[rondef]

I have insurance,both life insurance and boat insurance.  My wife would be fine financially if something happened to me.  I told her that she just needs to get over it because she is not going to stop me from going on this trip.  

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Take her with you so she sees firsthand and won't worry each and every time you want to venture at night.  

BTW- we are booking the 4th annual BassResource.com roadtrip to YOUR BACKYARD!!! lol  Got room for tents??

[rondef]

I could try that suggestion and she if it helps but she normally does not like to go out much on the boat.  Thanks for the suggestion.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

An easy mellow, short trip.  T/M only,etc.  maybe just an hour from dusk into dark.

Also, If the water is close enough to the house, get a set of 2-way radios.  The free, constant contact might ease her nerves.

[joez2872-ct]

roadwarrior is right why not fish plastics i use them at nite and kill them  on  senko dark blue flake  

Unless you have a good spot where you KNOW there are a bunch of fish, I'd stay away from the plastics.

Why?

[Tokyo Tony]

I guess I have a different night fishing experience than most.  I'm usually kind of search-casting a general area when I night fish, and I've found that noisier baits are much more efffective (and fun to use instead of slowly working a senko).  But like I said, I could see them working well if you're fishing an area where you know there are fish, even though I would still prefer to use a more active bait.  Even in those situations though I find a rattle trap or a chatterbait will get more strikes than a plastic.  This is mainly on several smaller lakes and ponds in central CT, by the way.  

[roadwarrior]

Tokyo_Tony,

There is no "right answer." I don't think any bait is necessarily the only way to go. It's really more about preference and confidence. I don't fish much at night, but when I do I usually fish jerkbaits, biggun's too!