Night fishing for dummies… specifically me

[BensBaits]

Ladies gentlemen and everyone in between, I was wondering about night fishing recently. I’ve never been and honestly after looking in the got em forums it seems I’m missing out. So I have some questions, well one in particular… how do I go night fishing? Now I know that may sound stupid but I have no experience. For instance what’s the legality of it? I know some places I fish have rules about only dusk to dawn. That leads me to my next question, how do you find places to night fish? I only know of places with rules and whenever I try to google night fishing near me I never find anything. Also bait selection? There’s a couple posts on here from a bit ago so not too concerned about that but any help would be cool. Anyway that’s all, just want to know how to find places near me where I can night fish. For all my fellow massholes out there I normally fish around the wachusett reservoir area and beyond so if you have an area in mind I’d love to know. Hope everybody is doing well and thanks for taking a look at my post.

[Loudsplashbassn_]

Lol it's called ninja fishing for a reason hit the spots you can't hit during the day or don't allow fishing at all  leave the lights off and don't make lots of noise ahaha 

[Catfishcarranza]

6 minutes ago, Loudsplashbassn_ said:

Lol it's called ninja fishing for a reason hit the spots you can't hit during the day or don't allow fishing at all  leave the lights off and don't make lots of noise ahaha 

Yes!! And throw a wake bait

[168 Rookie]

You have any neighborhood retention ponds? I do most of my fishing at night and these are my geberal spots; they usually don't have night fishing restrictions, just gotta worry about whether it's "residents only."

Lures--the same ones will work at night that worked during the day, but wakes certainly turn up once the sun goes down. I've never fished glides at night but the TK gets bit and softies work for sure.

Good luck.

[chefchris]

35 minutes ago, BensBaits said:

So I have some questions, well one in particular… how do I go night fishing?
 

 For instance what’s the legality of it? I know some places I fish have rules about only dusk to dawn.
 

That leads me to my next question, how do you find places to night fish?

Also bait selection?

 

Ok so most of my fishing is night (like 85-90%) due to work schedule so I’m pretty well experienced in night fishing. I’m also in RI and fish mass waters a lot but more eastern than where you’re at. 
 

typically you have to wait for the sun to go down (that’s what makes it night fishing) so that’s a good start. 

but seriously night fishing is anytime after dark til sunrise, some guys call night fishing 9pm to midnight or whenever. I usually go like 2am to sunrise (8-10am I’m off the water) it varies on time of year. Early spring/late fall I prefer just after sunset and before it gets super cold. Summer time I like midnight to sunrise. As it’s too hot during those July/august days for me to enjoy myself and fish. 3-6am seem to be my best times in the summer with 4:27am being best (I’ve caught some of my best fish at exactly that time, very odd) 

Most parks/fishing spots are closed at night but open to anyone actively fishing, so unless there’s a gate that gets locked at sundown or says very clearly no one’s allowed you should be good. This isn’t cali so we get enjoy our waters 24/7 for the most part. Case in point we fish a state park in CT often and the park Itself closes at sundown and they kick everyone out but the boat ramp and fishing spots along the trails are all still open. Find some good spots that produce during the day and they’ll probably be better at night. 

for baits at least for me it’s mostly wakes, slammers, rats, gills etc, baits that make a lot of noise can be great as well, like a buzzjet or crawler. Crawlers are great night time bait. A shallow crankdown is also key for me, something I can wake and crank maybe 6-12” under the surface, I’ve also done well on soft baits at night, like citizens/beast coast and toxic Wade frogs. 

I try and stay til sunrise as the trout/baitfish get active and feed and that can usually set off the bass 

good luck out there man 

as far as other things a good waterproof headlamp with red or green lights is key, I like the green better personally, pack light if you’re on foot, bug spray is another most have. 

[basssavage24/7]

Places that you  get run out during the day like from 9:00 a.m. till 9:00 p.m. have a epic Night Bite as far as I'm concerned you can't go too big as far as Baits go I throw a lot of 12 to 18-in baits at night but don't forget about the humble paddle tail like a 6-in magdraft to whatever you think of.

Edited May 28, 2023 by basssavage24/7
Talk to text edit.

[Morgan Y]

5 minutes ago, basssavage24/7 said:

Places to get run out during the day like from 9:00 a.m. till 9:00 p.m. have a epic Night Bite as far as I'm concerned you can't go too big as far as Baits go I throw a lot of 12 to 18-in baits at night but don't forget about the humble paddle tail like a 6-in magdraft to whatever you think of.

No question about it, you hit the nail on the head. Throw giant stuff in dark colors that move super slow, are super loud, or a mix of both. Also target edges and shallow water even in the middle of the pond or lake you’re fishing over deep water. They will be shallow. Not to mention the fact that the sketchier or more out of the way your spot is the better even if it’s not quite on the side of legal. Your local spots that are pressure can also be a lot better at night. 

Edited May 28, 2023 by Morgan Y

[FishDr]

Some good info has been posted. Also do a search for a video the Marbles or Swimbo did back in the day - lots of hard-won intel in there.

Two things to remember - First, you can’t see hooks flying at your face in the dark so wear eye protection and carry a good set of pliers. Second, a lot of the strikes you will get night fishing will be at very short range - fish every cast to the very end and be ready to have the water erupt at the rod tip.

[Jscarbr]

I spent my 1st 15 years of bass fishing, fishing at night from the bank. Also, this was ALL conventional fishing, it was before I got into big baits.  By far, my 2 most productive baits were a Texas rigged creature bait (Brush Hog was my fav)  and a 6” senko. Buzz baits and eventually chatterbaits we’re highly effective as well.

A couple of things that I hear people say about night fishing that, for me and my experience, didn’t prove to be true.

1) the bait has to be big- Sweet Beavers, drop shotted worms, Brush Hogs, 5” and 6” senkos and so on, I’ve seen them all work and work well.  Use whatever you use in the day.

2) The bait has to be noisy and rattle- senkos don’t rattle and they SMASH a senko at night. I’ve used brass n glass, beads, the gambler rattlin Texas rig with the rubber insert, and Plain Jane no rattle, I found no difference.

As for color, use your favorite color, I used a black and red brush hog and a green pumpkin 6” senko.  Sounds strange but I did have preference, I’d try black and blue brush hogs, watermelon red, all black, and everything in between same with the senko and all my other baits, but I always did better with a black and red brush hog. I can logically say color doesn’t matter, but if I went tonight I’d %100 have a black and red brush hog and a 297 6” Senko. 

Now that I throw big baits, I think about taking a night trip all the time. I feel like I’d catch some real giants. One day.

Another thought, catching fish when it’s pitch black helps me when fishing stained water. What I mean is, sometimes I’ll get in my own head, getting caught up on colors of baits and looking for baits that the fish will see better. Then I’ll think back to fishing a green pumpkin senko when it’s pitch black and how these bass would hammer it. They really don’t need light to eat is my point.

Another bait that I saw get chomped on a regular was a jig. 2 of my buddies ALWAYS had a jig tied on, in particular a jig with a pork trailer. 
 

There was a group of 6 of us that fished together pretty often, we all had something different that we did, a jig, a senko, a drop shot, whatever. But FOR SURE, we all had a Texas rigged black and red brush hog tied on. 

[chevro1et]

11 hours ago, FishDr said:

Some good info has been posted. Also do a search for a video the Marbles or Swimbo did back in the day - lots of hard-won intel in there.

Two things to remember - First, you can’t see hooks flying at your face in the dark so wear eye protection and carry a good set of pliers. Second, a lot of the strikes you will get night fishing will be at very short range - fish every cast to the very end and be ready to have the water erupt at the rod tip.

Not just pliers. There's no reason not to carry a pair of diagonal cutters capable of easily handling the largest treble hooks that you use. Had a #1 STX-45ZN go in and out past the barb on my middle finger knuckle a couple of weeks ago. Cut it off past the barb, changed the hook on my Woodrow, and kept fishing. Saved a late night trip to hospital. 

[FishDr]

9 hours ago, chevro1et said:

Not just pliers. There's no reason not to carry a pair of diagonal cutters capable of easily handling the largest treble hooks that you use. Had a #1 STX-45ZN go in and out past the barb on my middle finger knuckle a couple of weeks ago. Cut it off past the barb, changed the hook on my Woodrow, and kept fishing. Saved a late night trip to hospital. 

Good point! Cutters are key — you should carry those anytime you’re on the water.

[Morgan Y]

21 hours ago, Jscarbr said:

2) The bait has to be noisy and rattle- senkos don’t rattle and they SMASH a senko at night. I’ve used brass n glass, beads, the gambler rattlin Texas rig with the rubber insert, and Plain Jane no rattle, I found no difference.

I’d certainly agree that the bait doesn’t have to be noisy, I’ve gotten a bunch on 7 inch senkos, jigs, even a punch on edges, etc at night, but I will say that in particular louder topwaters, at least in my experience of fishing at night, seem to produce better in terms of size no matter the wind or light conditions.  Also to go back to your statement about color I think they like darker colors, specifically colors that imitate bluegill and crawfish at night because those are often the most active forage species at least where I fish at night, which would explain why GP and black and red work so well (never been a fan of black and blue besides very specific conditions myself). I’ve also found that especially in places with clear water you can get away with even bigger baits than what you would normally be throwing at night on the whole, although I feel like an emphasis on slow speeds can’t be overstated. I’ve noticed that anytime I catch them moving quickly I get a lot more fish missing my bait opposed to when I slow down and possibly mix in faster periods of movement with a pause or something mixed in. 

[Amistoad]

From personal experience…scope out the place you plan to fish in the daylight. Worst thing in the world is to step into something you didn’t know was there, like a muskrat hole or something, and seriously injure yourself. Likewise, check out the water ahead of time so you don’t wind up casting into a shallow rock reef and losing your lure. Basic stuff, but important. 

[Tony91723]

Get ready for hearing weird noises, from a field mouse scouring across some fallen leaves or your eyes playing tricks on you. Thinking you've just ran into a mountain lion only to find out it's the eyes of a racoon glimmering back from the light of your headlamp..

[Tony91723]

27 minutes ago, Amistoad said:

From personal experience…scope out the place you plan to fish in the daylight. Worst thing in the world is to step into something you didn’t know was there, like a muskrat hole or something, and seriously injure yourself. Likewise, check out the water ahead of time so you don’t wind up casting into a shallow rock reef and losing your lure. Basic stuff, but important. 

Thats usually what I'd do.  I drive great distances for my night fishing and I'd show up hrs early.  That's when I'd walk around and do some reconnaissance on some of my favorite spots.