Fishing at Night

[Timotha7]

Here is our Tips and Tricks forum by popular demand

To kick this off I am going to share something I have shared before that
my grandfather taught me

"Big fish do not get big because they hang around where fishermen are"

That is a great start to a general rule of thumb
But, because of the huge amount of information available to fishermen that
has never been available before, I think this needs to be looked at from a
different "light"

Fishermen know where to find fish now adays, and they are on the structure
spots like robins on worms
So, I have found that the "night time is the right time" to catch big fish
of ALL species

As fish get older (and bigger) their eyes become much more light sensitive
they tend to lay down in deeper water and move into the prime feeding
spots on weed edges and in the shallows as the sun sets

I do the vast majority of my fishing after dark, and my biggest fish of
all the species after the sun has set

Find weed edges and rocky shallows and work them

Besides, you can't beat a soft summers night on the water, when it is
not crowded and you will not only catch more fish, you will see mother
nature moving in a way you will never see her during the daylight hours

Tim

[capt.kirk]

Very good Tim it just dont get much better than fishing at night,I would
like to add a gentle rain is the only other thing that i like when catfishing
after dark. Kirk

[Timotha7]

Yep, little wind stirring up the shallows a tad and you are going to catch
fiddlers for breakfast lunch an dinner!

Thing bout this is that a lot of people will bust brush to get to spots that
they don't see other people getting to and that can be a waste of time
if there isn't structure

Fish relate to structure so you have to key on it

What is different with the bigger fish is they wait till low light to get into
shallow areas or to go feed on structure

Lot of times you can drive by spot on lake an see people wall to wall
fishing and then go hit the same spot bout 2 in the morning and catch
fish when they weren't

[gofish]

come visit an run the wabash at night tim,might change yer mind bout night fishin.....long sleeves,goggles an respirators needed fer all the bugs lol.......fancy 18 billion candlepower spotlights worthless,jus lights up the bugs lol.......still goin sat. night though

[Timotha7]

HMMMMMMMMMMMMM
still goin sat. night thoughGuess that must say something about nite fishing??:party0010:

LOL Been there with the bugs--up north of here few hundred miles
the skeeters look like sparrows, and up in Canada when went fishing
with grandpa they had to put smudge pots out
Been while though since needed respirator for the bugs though--

Sounds like some good walleye fishing waters to me, bait fish must
just keep shallows BOILING chasing them bugs an the bigger ones
ain't far behind them I bet

[gofish]

aint skeeters just the gnat or midge of the day lol....aint no minners left,gar ate em all.........my blues disappeared when the water went back down,beat a 5 mile stretch of the river ta death tryin ta find em again....certain areas are only holdin HUGE gar. (got 1 5ft 11 inches yesterday) thinkin those are the spots the blues are usin ,just switched ta night bite

[Timotha7]

I think you gotta be right, if them gar are hanging there,
With water down like that if you find the right spot for nite bite no telling
what you will pull outa there
Everything might be feeding in that area when the sun goes down

[gofish]

aint much feedin durin the day but gar.channels are startin ta hit again though.lol.....fergot ta tell ya this one...big storm came outta nowhere yesterday,lightnin all roun me,no cover in the stretch i was in.fired up the outboard ,cause of the wind had ta stay oughtta what lil channels left cause couldnt see the rocks/trees in it.ran aground smack dab in the middle of the river.lightnin ,50mph wind gusts,2 inches of water in the boat in 15 minutes.got jus a lil skeered i did lol

[Timotha7]

LOL
Sounds like FUN!
Most scared I was ever we was out on a lake in a fog that was so heave
you couldn't see partner sitting in front end of his 16 foot boat
One of them nights that you could hear a pin drop from 100ft

Then all sudden we hear something sounds like a train and that fog
went up in a funnel bout 50 yards from where we was sitting then that
funnel went up and disappeared
Lake was clear and you could see trees bending bout half over
definitely got wet before we got back to boat ramp

Funniest thing was that we did not even feel wind from that funnel it was
just there an gone like that

then the wind come rolling in but was T storm winds

[capt.kirk]

After being on a Navy Destroyer not much scares me on the water,BUT
one night in a tournament on an unfamiler lake the kind of fog your talking
about set in and could barely see the front of the boat,took a wrong turn
to go to weigh in and by the time i got it figured out we were late and
weigh in was over, cost us about $500.00 :icon_mad:Kirk
PSthem bazillion candle power lights are worthless in the fog.

[gofish]

well looks like sat. night might be the last of my fishin fer awhile.just found out the last floor joists an trusses should be in sat. morn....time ta build a house lol........wonderin ifn i mighta bit off a lil too much doin this as a side job,well see.

[Soupy_1us]

Yeah, but look at all that extra money you're makin'
And with you offin' the river up there, maybe I'll catch some fish down here... ( beings you're not gonna be a feedin' 'em for a while)

[gofish]

nope aint gonna happen,theys gonna hear ya comin a run up here.....be waitin on me in the fall when the water temps start droppin :icon_razz:

[Nightfisher]

I'm new here, but wanted to add a few comments on lights on the water at night. I have headlights (docking lights) up front of my pontoon and 2 spotlights mounted to goosenecks on the rear + a handheld 1 million candlpower spotlight. I have found that it is best to only use the lights when absolutely nessesary to be safe. They do more harm by blinding your night vision than good if you use them constantly. Also they will illuminate fog in the air that you can not see when there is no bright light, making it even more difficult to see. I try and use moonlight to navigate as much as I can, and only kick on the headlights or handheld for a few seconds to steer around an object so I can see it more clearly. Granted my boat has a top speed of only 20mph, so that leaves me a little more time to spot and react to floating objects in the moon light. Once I get anchored and start fishing, it's a different story. lol. The rear spots get kicked on, pointed all around and attract every bug on the river. lol. No need to worry about night vision then.

[ho_shi]

i fish at night from bank gotta worry bout snakes round here and bogs too big big buggs

[gofish]

nightfisher same way here...cept i dont use any lights attall when fishin..unless i gotta land one or retie...lightsticks on the rodtips...aint got a problem knowin when a blue hits lol

[Nightfisher]

Thats the same way I do gofish. 1.5 inch glowsticks taped to each rod tip. I even use a different color for different baits sometimes. That way if I have live bait and a J hook on a couple rods, and circles on the others I know which ones I can set the hook on at a glance. The spotlights are for setting up, rigging, and landing fish. Mine are 50w car foglights attached to goosenecks so I can swivel them to point anywhere in or out around the rear of my pontoon boat.

[gofish]

all these boys i need a pontoon lol....ya tried any of those new led flashlights yet? use one fer tiein an baitin up,got a monster 20 million spotlight,but it dont work as good as i thought it would close up.....does a real good job of discouragin people that like ta shine theyre spotlight on me though

[capt.kirk]

I also prefer to run with no lights my night vision is good enough to
go thru a mine field at night(But i dont want to try it).The only lights we
have attached to the boat are the running lights required by law.When
fishing with Mono i have one 24 inch Blacklight in the front and back,
these lights also have a white light side to go to when rerigging.We have
2 good flashlights to light up up the Net if needed.I do carry 1 of those
bazillon candle power spots to ward off the fools that want to run 60
mph in the dark.And i might add that i have also been introduced to
Mother an Son before,the only other important thing on my boat is a copy
of the state record fish in Florida on my console. :icon_eek:Kirk

[Soupy_1us]

my boat is a copy
of the state record fish in Florida on my console. :icon_eek:Kirk.

LOL......I knew that record book would be somewheres in that boat now ! (Better late than Never!)

Lights?... All we every used is them old kerosene lanterns that Paw use to use when he moonsh......coon hunted !
Most of the time we just waited for them catfish to start pullin' my boat back'ards down the river then we yank on 'em.
Did catch a lot of logs that way too.

[gofish]

now we know what them big uns ya keep losin are lol

[ho_shi]

hay now them big uns he losin the biguns i a katchin

[ho_shi]

o heck thought we still talkin bout gar and now logs maybe need to pay more ateeeention

[Nightfisher]

The LED lights are awesome. I use a 3 LED headlamp and the batteries last forever in it. Got a small 6 LED flashlight hanging off the handle of my tackle bag so I always know where to find a light if I need something from my bag. Been keeping an eye out for some LED arrays I can replace the rear spotlights with.

[gofish]

like ta find some led low profile interior lights ta mount on the inside of my boat.favorite section of river the ramp aint got no lights an drops off real steep on the river side.drop my tailgate,put that led flashlight on it facin the trailer an it lights the whole ramp while im backin up.

[Nightfisher]

Check the camping dept at wallyworld. They make a battery powered light that is supposed to go in the top of a tent. Works great on bimini tops as well.

[capt.kirk]

They are like the ones you can mount it a closet,and they give off a good
amount of light,think it takes 9v battrey. Kirk

[capt.kirk]

Whats your thoughts about fishing not only at night but also having
a little rain to go with it? Greg some of my largest catches have come
on a rainy night,back when we fished a lot of Tournaments back in Indiana
We won the most money ever fishing in a good little rain that turned into
one of the awfulest Storms ive been in since the Navy,wasant any lightning
just one of them gully washers that had the Big Cats crusing the banks
Feedin on the Bait fish and Crawlers coming out of the ground,What a night
to remember. Kirk

[Soupy_1us]

I just take the fog lights offin' my truck... They work great too ! And I got one of them 200 Brazillion Candle power spot lights too.
Also too, got one of them re-mote type spot lights that goes around in circles mounted on the front of the boat.Kinda looks like one of them barge lights. :)

[capt.kirk]

1 of them revolving lights would be a good on the river or a lake that
has Barge traffic,since you got a barge anyhow you need to warn the others.
:icon_cool: Kirk

[wewamohawk]

i I like to fish at night and get some nice fish ;;;maurice

[gofish]

thats what im wantin before winter fer mine is one of those remote controlled lights....so i can see the ice bergs fore i hit em in the early am lol

[Nightfisher]

Whats your thoughts about fishing not only at night but also having
a little rain to go with it?

I hate fishing in the rain. Its ok if you catch fish, but it's miserable if you don't. I'd rather stay home and dry. There are plenty of good nights where it's not raining.

Same reason I don't catfish if the air temps are below 40. More trouble and discomfort than it's worth. I don't care how many people swear its the best fishing they ever had, I'm staying warm and dry, and still catching my share of fish.

[ho_shi]

rope lights mounted inside of boat look shoarp at night too and make it nice to see inside

[gofish]

nightfisher rain an cold weather aint so bad.....i git them kinda days off work lol

[Soupy_1us]

Who called my boat a "Barge".
It's a "CABIN CRUISER"..... :evilgrin0031: with Armor Platin'
When it's "Rigged" for NIGHT FISHIN'.
The lights on the top-sides of the cabin are the lights we used on our minin' equipment down in the mines. (that I found at a Flea Market ;) )
They are as bright as a "Flash Bulb" that burns all the time.
And then I have the 500 Brazillian candle powered "GOLIGHT" re-mote Spot Light that goes in the middle of the cabin.
I seen this light "roast" birds that flew across in front of it ...
Also too. The cabin has "Bright Lights" inside to light it up for baitin' your hooks or playin' cards.
Also, cabin comes with 50,000 btu heater and keeps you warm and toastie in the cold winter rains....
It's my "MOBILE HOME" on wheels in the summer and fishin' boat in the winter.
All I need now is color TV so we can watch NASCAR on Sundays.

[ho_shi]

mighty fin lookin ride there soup here i thought i was redneck but ya got me beat. where can i get one like that???

[Soupy_1us]

'fraid there ain't 'nother 'un like it.....

And I ain't sure how we got this one.....
Lots of hard work (and shine)

[gofish]

hoshi......that theres a heap of redneck ingenuity,powertools and shine :icon_biggrin:....gits up an moves purty good too....despite all that extra wieght

[ho_shi]

ya callin soupy heavy??? lol or he just bring that much tackle

[gofish]

ya just gotta see it,boats dang near as big as a barge ta begin with,then he goes an adds more too er

[wewamohawk]

its sure a nice big boat and has room to get out of the rain and stay dry;;;maurice