Night fishing

[japanesebassman]

4 hours ago, Jon P said:

Two words; Pat Cullen.

http://unionsportsmen.org/giant-bass-at-night/

very interesting. thanks for sharing that.

[Hmoob]

7 hours ago, Jon P said:

Two words; Pat Cullen.

http://unionsportsmen.org/giant-bass-at-night/

Great Read!!! Awesome article

[Jinxd12]

I'm not the best fisherman out there, I can hold my own though, always learning.

I have caught the most consistent bigger fish at night. I have a few reasons why I prefer to fish at night.

1. I don't like people very much anymore!! 

2. In the summer it's 200 degrees here in Az so to have a good time night time is the best.

3. My numbers are usually up, which is always a bonus.

4. There are a few hours usually the the fishing pressure goes down, so the bigger "smarter" bass aren't dodging and weaving crankbaits and senkos and love worms as I'm throwing the "bigger" baits.

5. Last but not least, if you ever have a chance to get a big fish blowup right next to you on the bank, you will ish your pants, get super pumped and think it's a 10# bass every single time. That keeps you out even longer!!! Wear long sleeves and gear to keep the mosquitoes off you and it's the funnest fishing you will ever have!

[Jon P]

20 hours ago, Jinxd12 said:

I'm not the best fisherman out there, I can hold my own though, always learning.

I have caught the most consistent bigger fish at night. I have a few reasons why I prefer to fish at night.

1. I don't like people very much anymore!! 

2. In the summer it's 200 degrees here in Az so to have a good time night time is the best.

3. My numbers are usually up, which is always a bonus.

4. There are a few hours usually the the fishing pressure goes down, so the bigger "smarter" bass aren't dodging and weaving crankbaits and senkos and love worms as I'm throwing the "bigger" baits.

5. Last but not least, if you ever have a chance to get a big fish blowup right next to you on the bank, you will ish your pants, get super pumped and think it's a 10# bass every single time. That keeps you out even longer!!! Wear long sleeves and gear to keep the mosquitoes off you and it's the funnest fishing you will ever have!

 

[Jon P]

In personal experience I’ve found night fishing to be a great way to combat high fishing pressure. There’s a pond near me that gets an insane amount of fishing and recreational pressure. The water’s crystal clear and the fish get hammered all day. On the Fourth of July it gets more traffic than the nearest water park. It opens at eight in the morning and closes at eight at night. The fish are conditioned to absolute fishing pressure for a set period of time, and then no fishing pressure the rest of the day. At opening hours they’re skittish and hard to catch, but at night you can throw a log (or a 12” Murray cod bait) and they eat like little piranhas! Most of the fish are stunted due to poor management but it’s the shortest drive to bass fishing I’ve got at 56 minutes.

[japanesebassman]

21 hours ago, Jon P said:

In personal experience I’ve found night fishing to be a great way to combat high fishing pressure. There’s a pond near me that gets an insane amount of fishing and recreational pressure. The water’s crystal clear and the fish get hammered all day. On the Fourth of July it gets more traffic than the nearest water park. It opens at eight in the morning and closes at eight at night. The fish are conditioned to absolute fishing pressure for a set period of time, and then no fishing pressure the rest of the day. At opening hours they’re skittish and hard to catch, but at night you can throw a log (or a 12” Murray cod bait) and they eat like little piranhas! Most of the fish are stunted due to poor management but it’s the shortest drive to bass fishing I’ve got at 56 minutes.

Another awesome read. I’m super interested in that bait you mentioned. And wow, 56 minutes to the closest spot. My buddy lived in Bozeman so I guess he was lucky for a Montana resident.

[Jon P]

16 hours ago, japanesebassman said:

Another awesome read. I’m super interested in that bait you mentioned. And wow, 56 minutes to the closest spot. My buddy lived in Bozeman so I guess he was lucky for a Montana resident.

It's the MudEye lures rattle snake, probably the most ridiculously loud wake bait there is.

As for the long-ass drive; Montana is dry and cold. most of our water is too cold or has too much current for bass to spawn in. Though finding the weird areas they pop up in is a lot of the fun.

[carsonp860]

Spro BBZ 50 rat is a pretty solid night fishing bait for me. Catches a good number of 2-5 pounders, but can still get those giant bites. Also love the big, punker style walking baits for around open water

[whompuscat658]

On 12/30/2020 at 7:08 PM, FishDr said:

I'm the FishDr and I love fishing at night.  A good friend of mine had to give a presentation on sauger and walleye and he decided to use one of my pics with a walleye - and modified it to give me predator eyeshine.  After I picked myself up off the floor and stopped laughing, I realized that I wish I had wicked night vision!

Seriously though, my best bass fishing outings have been at night, and they have almost always been on waters where I might do okay by day (say 1 - 2 fish per hour), but the night bites can get silly, with 5 - 10 fish an hour, and generally a better class of fish.  Where the night bite really shines for me is, as others have said, on pressured waters, especially in urban areas.  I have a couple of lakes that get pounded from dawn until dusk by lots of anglers, some of whom know what they're doing.  Once the sun has been down for an hour or two, almost everyone is gone and the fish, both big and small, move out of the deeper water and deep cover and become much more accessible.  That's when the night bite can be really rewarding.

As far as how I like to fish, it typically depends on what I'm fishing for.  If it's walleye, then I'll throw a subsurface bait about 95% of the time - they just don't hit on top often enough to justify a full on wakebait approach (believe me, I've tried).  Bass, on the other hand, will eat on top, in the water column, or on the bottom.  I prefer to catch them on top just because I love the visual and auditory aspect of it - you can normally make out the faint wake of the bait and then you can hear, and sometimes see, the detonation.  When it happens right at your rod tip, it's even better.  I do get some bass on subsurface baits at night, but I don't fish them nearly enough - I wouldn't be surprised if that was an even more effective approach.  Definitely needs more investigation.  Come on, warm weather!

Have you ever seen Pitch Black?? 

[FishDr]

2 hours ago, whompuscat658 said:

Have you ever seen Pitch Black?? 

I wish I had Riddick’s low-light vision!

[Primus]

Just to add to what's been said so far, I have done well at times with crankdown baits like a Pat's Perch or a crankdown Slammer. One of my biggest swimbait Bass of recent years was caught on a Matt lures floating Hardgill on a full moon night. The floating Hardgill is a litle more subtle than baits like the Spro Rat, Slammers etc and at times can be a better option when they are not hitting louder baits. 

[Loudsplashbassn_]

Night bite should official be wide open in my neck of the woods starting mid week with triple digits coming . Can't wait itll be a cursing and a blessing 

[whompuscat658]

On 6/12/2021 at 8:38 PM, FishDr said:

I wish I had Riddick’s low-light vision!

Your photo reminds me of his glowing eyes. I never thought about it until this post but having Riddick’s procedure sure would be nice for getting some nighttime eyes!