Night fishing

[basstech]

Hi, can some of you angers that fish at night give me some idea's what to use and locations of fish. Here is the scenario,
Water temp is between 48 and 53, had a bad cold front come through on sunday and very windy. Today tues. 04/07/2009 and tommorow very light wind and plenty of sunshine. High today will be around 54, tomorrow about 64 degrees. Fishing time will be at 06:00 P.M. untill 09:00 p.m. It get's dark around 08:00 p.m. so have a fair amount of light the first two hours. The lake is small 900+ surface acres, water level is up 2ft. visibility is about 4ft., no standing timber and very few laydowns. Mostly submergent vegitation but most is still dormant, some is starting to green up. The rogue bite has really slowed down and has been primarily in the morning and is done by 11:00 a.m. Fish have been pretty inactive the last couple of weeks. I see a lot of fish in the 15 ft. range over 20 to 30 ft. of water but can only get the bank fish to bite, they seem to come up from deeper water to feed shallow and go back out and down. Wasn't able to get any active bites the last few evenings I've fished there. Any idea's what to try, all the channels are silted in so the only good structure definition is in the overall contours of the points and weed line edges or mud to clay to rock transitions. Any idea's or suggestions is appreciated, espeacially from experienced night anglers. Thanks.

[bigbasser]

Save the nite fishing for summer, try fishing later in the day like 10am till dusk. The fish are going to be more active in the afternoon as the water warms. JMHO bigbasser

[cassidyta]

I won't be able to go into depth on how the weather conditions will affect the night fishing, but I do a lot of the evening into the night fishing and can speak on it in general.

The phase of the moon will dictate my actions the most. In a full moon I will almost always stick to shiney shallow cranks.

Other than that, I will usually focus on three main techniques for the last hour of daylight into those first two hours of darkness. Big baits (Large Jigs or some of my smaller swim baits), topwater, and flukes/jerkbaits.

For the jig/swimbait technique, I try to find locations with steep drop offs. I like to toss my bait into shallow spot and swim it down the ledges. I will go with the larges profile I can cast on those jigs. I am not so worried about the ability to see it, but want to really affect the linear line on the bass. I will often start with this trying to get them as they first come in to feed.

On topwater, I will try to focus a little further off the shore than I do in the morning. I prefer a buzzbait or popper at this time. I want to really get some top water disturbance. In my opinion, wake baits are okay, but they do not get the attention like the others.

For flukes and jerkbaits I will usually try to work them along the edges of the weed lines you described. I want to find the bass that have picked out an ambush point and try to bring it across their noses. I will often try and make the exact same cast a few times with the jerkbaits. I will often find that the vaired retrieval and action trigger a bite on the 2nd or 3rd cast when the first didn't.

I know that you said the channels are all silted in, but I would also consider tossing the edges of them anyways. They may still be providing some current through the silt that has a few bigger ones just waiting for them.

Good luck

[OrygunBasser]

Originally Posted by bigbasser

Save the nite fishing for summer, try fishing later in the day like 10am till dusk. The fish are going to be more active in the afternoon as the water warms. JMHO bigbasser

^
^
^
^
Ya, that!!!

I have also found that there is a very remarkable drop off in activity for the first hour or two after it gets dark on an average!

[cassidyta]

Well, I won't disagree with the fact that their activity increases later into the night, but I do disagree with waiting until August. I am pretty sure SuperMatt would disagree also. Here is his post from a December Night fishing trip.

http://bassfishin.com/bassfishingfor...ad.php?t=18366

[supermat]

Winter night fishing ROCKS! Believe me, the bass still have to eat, if you can handle the cold you will find success. I don't have a ton of time right now but I will revisit this topic, hopefully later tonight and address your question in detail.

Matt

[CCbass]

I use to fish rattle traps at night when I was little but when the water was warm. I've fished two night tournements, the first I was lost and did not catch a fish after dark. The second I did research and it all came down to a spinnerbait after dark, slow a few feet under the surface. Dark colors and I tried it for a little bit after dark ( maybe 15 mins ) in spots hot just before dark, I don't fish spinner baits much. Nothing, I freaked, threw everything in the tackle box, nothing. I calmed down after wasting about two hours and said lets give the spinner more time. I fished it the rest of the night and sure enough caught fish, I got second. At wiegh in when I mentioned my bait after bark they all seemed to say duh I should of thought of that.

[Willvdh1]

Is it a good idea to stick to lures that move the water alot of make noise? I will probably get into night fishing this summer but am looking for some more ideas... Topwater, buzzbaits, poppers, props?? Or are there better choices?

[keithdog]

There are many lures which will catch bass at night. A large jitterbug is a good choice. Many HUGE bass have been taken with a large Jitterbug after dark. I think because it is a realativly slow moving bait that is in constant motion causing a surface disturbance which draws attention from big bass. And because it is in constant motion, if you fish it that way, it is easy for a bass to locate it. However, my favorite night time lure is a double colorado spinnerbait in 3/8 - 1/2oz. It can be worked slow, medium, or fast. It can be buzzed just under the surface. However you use it, the spinning blades will also allow a bass to easily zero in on the bait. Another reason I enjoy spinnerbaits after dark is that they are relativly weedless, which is a huge plus when your casting into water you may not be able to see in the dark. I don't know how many times I have been reeling a spinneerbait back in the dark, felt it bounce off a log, rock, or plow through a weedbed, only to have a bass just kill it!

[cassidyta]

I agree with Keith on both baits, but I will add that how I fish at night is affected by the moon phase more so than any other variable.
On a full or close to full moon night, I only tie on two lures. A black buzz bait and a white fluke. In my area, the full moon means that the bass have the ability to school the bait fish and always appear more active in their "hunt".
If it is closer to the new moon, I will still throw a fluke, but also tie on a large brush hawg, large sweet beaver, yakomoto Kreature, or some large flapping bait. I will fish it T-rigged with large hops off the bottom. For color, any works on a dark night when working the bottom.

[BassinID]

I love a big spook or other LARGE walking bait at night. From what I have been reading on other sites the new black dog lunker plunker is amazing for this. I just wish I had some cash to throw at one right now, but the time will come.