Glides at night?

[FishDr]

I self-identify as a vampire swimbait fisherman - the majority of my trips are at night and I target both bass and walleye.  I have thrown all sorts of baits at night and I generally come back to 2 - 3 baits.  For bass, my number one bait is a 9" Slammer - it makes noise, throws a wake, tracks straight, and provides me with my "crack" - wicked strikes on the surface.  For walleye, my number one bait is an ROF5 Hudd - it puts out a decent amount of vibration and also tracks straight.  I do catch bass on other baits like the Baby Possum and G2 Shellcracker, and walleye on Rising Sons and (on one spectacular night, a 7" Slammer).  I have also caught a few big walleye on a Deps 175, so they do work.  Walleye, unlike bass, are optimized for feeding under low-light conditions and I think they are extremely good at tracking even an erratic moving target.  Here in Colorado the top lures for targeting walleye from shore after dark are jerk baits.  Those are pretty erratic.  The guys that throw jerk baits at walleye also get decent largemouth as an "incidental" catch fairly frequently.

I have only caught one bass on a glide bait after dark but I must admit that I don't throw them much in bass waters; I'm more likely to throw them where I think a 30" 'eye is likely lurking.  I think the glide baits would work, and might work well - I reckon you ought to give it a try.

[carlsbadbassin89]

My buddies Pb is a 12 on a Hinkle Shad in the middle of the night. 

[168 Rookie]

Man, tons of good insight here. Thanks for the explanations Poppa and FishDr, that makes a lot of sense. Plenty of time (the rest of my life!) for trial and error, so I'll give em a shot and see if I can get lucky like Carl's buddy ha.

Thanks again guys, every time I post a question I gain so much knowledge and so many different points of view. Tight lines, you guys are doing the Lord's work helping a rookie in the game. God bless all.

-Andre

[SumoNinja]

Glides or swimmers get sent here night or day with results

I think you gotta put the time in and see what the fish in your waters go for.

U can't right off a glide just because they haven't produced for you personally. that's just your experience, in the waters you've fished 

[Volfan]

With a Dark night with clouds and a bunch of rain and off color water I'd think you'd be wasting time.  The clearer and calmer it is, i think the more success you'd have. I've caught fish on swavers at night, but slammers are just more fun for me.

[Abu4Life]

A majority of my glide bait bites this year came in low light conditions, most of them being in the late evening to completely dark. 

 

One tid bit of info I will add to the thread, in the pitch black of night a single, isolated dock light could hold a ton of fish.

[168 Rookie]

13 hours ago, Abu4Life said:

A majority of my glide bait bites this year came in low light conditions, most of them being in the late evening to completely dark. 

 

One tid bit of info I will add to the thread, in the pitch black of night a single, isolated dock light could hold a ton of fish.

Thanks for that info to add to my knowledge Abu, respect.

[El_Weruso]

Most of my glide bait fish have been at night, up until my recent cold water mother fish most were caught by reaction with glide baits. Twitch twitch pauses and such. 

[El_Weruso]

Forgot to add, since you mentioned about using loud baits at night. All my glides are quiet baits lol Mother Negotiator OG deps 175 Godzilla and such. I fish heavily fished/pressured park lakes. I work a 8-4 schedule and still get fish after work, I've caught fish and you can too! Put in your time! You'll get them! 

[Mnunez42]

I rarely have time to fish during the day due to work and studies so I fish a ton at night. A general bait you expect to catch fish at night with is a 9" slammer which is a go-to for me due to the attraction and drawing power. But on the right night like a full moon night with perfect conditions, I have thrown glides and gotten major results! Additionally, where I live, there is a ton of urban park lakes with lamp posts so I tend to throw past the area where these lamp posts light up the water, and work my glide into the lit area where the bait is very visible and I have walked bass all the way to my feet like a dog by doing this. It is an underestimated style of fishing at night, but I have had tons of luck with this style of fishing under the proper conditions. Bass usually with encircle these lit areas by hiding in the shadows and wait for bait and other forage fish to come into the light where they are an easy and vulnerable meal. Additionally, when there is a ton of bait in the water like shad and what not. Bass usually corral these forage fish into the shallows and if you turn on a searchlight you will often see bait balls if you are lucky. In these situations I throw small 4 to 5-inch glides and often get crushed. 

[Deltaman]

Approach night fishing like you would day fishing. Sometimes, they'll want the wake bait on top making noise. Other times, they want a subsurface straight retrieve, and even still, sometimes they want a different kind of glide. 

Had a great night this summer throwing glides for stripers. They only wanted one glide. I switched to a couple different styles of glide and no takers, threw spooks for 'em but NOPE! They wanted that one style of glide. 30+ fish in an hour? 

Approach it the same way you fish during the day. If they're not eating one thing, try a different one. 

[Notorious14]

I've had pretty good luck at night with the bluegill pattern shine glide at night just gotta make sure you've got your cadence down when working it. 

[boylah]

I only started night fishing late last year and have had a lot of confidence. Per an earlier reply, just fish like you would during the day. Figure out what the fish wants and adjust. Bass hunts at night with no issues. They do no necessarily need more noise to do so. But just like during day, if there's dirtier (than normal water) or lots of chop etc, then noise helps.  But if it's 'normal' night (whatever that means to your body of water), they will have no issues finding the glide. Likewise, during full moon, they'll be feeding like day time.

In my body of water which is more pressured, i fish 'subtle' day or night - just because fish see lots of baits. Loud/obnoxious bait is NOT my go to although there are times that works.

Good luck!

[o_show1421]

I've caught nice fish on glidebaits at night. Def try it out! Like scott said, jigs, senkos, t-rigs etc can kill them at night. Glides even displace more water than those baits Good luck homie.

[Jonister]

If you fish rivers, I'd pay a lot of attention to current and tides as well. Around here for some reason it seems they aren't even awake some nights. Nothin' works. I guess don't give up if you strike out a couple nights. Sometimes it can be crazy fun fishing.

 That being said, I've had some spooky situations in the dark. Think about safety as well. Consider going with a group or friends.