night fishing smallies?

[jesse-c]

couldnt find a good thread. so its mid july and its real hot here in ks. the water temp is climbing into the mid 80's and the fishing has not been the greatest to say the least. I am going to try night fising this weekend. Just hoping to get some advice. Should I fish the spots that I fish in the daytime? And should i use the same lures? I know everyone says to use black. The tubes I use during the day and green pumpkin and well thats mainly all we use besides a little dropshotting and c-riggin. so any help would be nice. do they take crankbaits at night? thanks for the help.

[huskybass]

I fish mostly 3' to 8' after dark.  Slider worms, brush hogs, black 3/8 ounce spinnerbaits with a single colorado blade and black jitterbugs all work.  If you are not finding them in 3' to 8', try 8' to 12'.  

Good luck.  

[Rich K]

Caught the one in my avatar at night using a strike king (black/blue skirt) midnight special switching the OE blade with a bigger gold hammered finished one. I also used an uncle Josh pork frog (black- #1) as a trailer. I have caught a lot of fish on this particular bait at night - this one must have a certain tone to the rattle that makes it work that much better.

(sorry this is almost 2 mos after your original post - I just read it today)

Let us know how you did/do.

[Mobydick]

My fav's are big black spinnerbaits with a heavy skirt, big colorado blade, and a rattle, sometimes I also add an uncle josh pork trailer, or some of my homemade scent.

Another is a crankbait, any size, but I like rattles and one that will stay down long, I usually only fish them where there's rocks and I take it down till it hits the rocks, give it a snap, and let it float up, then start again.

I also will throw a jig or creature bait at night, like a zoom brush hog, in black, with some form of scent.

Good luck!

                                                                 Ian

[Tokyo Tony]

There aren't many better things in this life than hooking into a big smallmouth at night, listening to her crash around in the distance, just hoping she'll stay hooked  ;D

My favorite night bait for smallmouth (and largemouth) is a black/blue chatterbait. 1/4 oz for really shallow water, 3/8 for shallow water, and 1/2 if I want to fish it a little deeper. A steady retrieve works, but I prefer a kind of pulsating retrieve. The vibration this bait produces is borderline ridiculous  8-)

[SQUAREHEAD]

I used to fish the St. Croix river a lot with floating raps at night.  I got sick of the mosquitos.