Night Hawgs?

[gavran8]

I've been having decent luck catching bass towards sunset and am always sad to leave the lake at dark. This led me to think, how about trying to catch large bass at night.

Can I get some recommendations for doing this. I own a small inflatable boat and have most my luck using plastics, but would like to also start moving to topwaters if that's the ticket.

What time of the year is best for night fishing? Full moon vs non-full moon? What lakes to try? Lures to use? Colors? Techniques? Any and all advice is welcome.

Thanks in advance,

gavran8

[rockjiggr]

I go night fishing for bass at least 3-6 times each summer. Full moon/new moon is the best and my favorite conditions are full moon with overcast skies. The moon will light up the clouds and give a very good muted lighting situation that makes negotiating casting and such much easier.

I prefer topwaters over other lures and the noisier the better. Musky-Jitterbugs and large prop baits fished with a slow cadence seems to draw good strikes. Maybe it just makes it easier to detect strikes in the dark with that slow, steady retrieve since you sometimes fish by sound rather than by sight. Personal preference I guess. Don't overlook smaller baits too like Tiny Torpedoes or even Rapala minnows. I also like to fish a large black spinnerbait with either a very large Colorado blade or tandem willow blades. Lots of thump. Fish this slowly, slow roll it along the structure and be prepared for jolting strikes. Vibrating or rattling crankbaits can be good too.

I try to concentrate my fishing in shallower areas in night fishing situations than I would during the daytime in summer months. Big fish will move shallow to feed at night in places that they would not go during the day for fear of being seen by predators. Shallow bays and flats, saddle areas between islands and other shore structure, anywhere there would be small bluegill, sunfish, or perch. Big bass tend to be solitary creatures but the midsized fish(2-4 lbs) will hunt in packs and move into an area that has a lot of prey and flush them out. Noisy topwaters really key in on those active fish in those situations.

The toughest part of night fishing (besides being sleepy on the lake) is avoiding the lights among the houses along the lake shores. Wear a good ball cap and shade your eyes from the lights because they will ruin your night vision. Keep a small flashlight in the boat (or better yet, a clip on light on the brim of your hat) and only use it when you absolutely need to. It takes a couple of minutes for your eyes to adjust back to the dark each time you use a flashlight so keep it to the absolute minimum. Undeveloped shorelines may provide better light(less) conditions, but I find I have better luck around docks and other structures that hold tight lipped fish during the day that are more open to feeding at night. Some folks use fluorescent line and black lights in the boat- it makes the line light up like a light-saber. I don't like it since the black light will mess up your eyes and you cannot see where you are casting. You can see your line really well but you cant see anything else.

You had better be pretty familiar with the waters you are fishing at night because you can get into trouble pretty easy. Unless you absolutely know what and where you are doing, don't run the gas motor but rather, move around slowly with the electric and keep yourself from having to replace your lower unit. Try to stay low in the boat so you don't lose your balance and fall out. You cant see what you are doing and if you were to fall out, you just might hit your head on the way down and then you are in real trouble. There is no one to see you fall out of the boat so no one will be there to help you if you do. WEAR YOUR LIFE JACKET!

Also be careful when you catch a good fish. Bass can thrash around a lot and its pretty easy to have a treble lodge itself in your hand when you are trying to unhook a good one. Take your time, tire the fish out, use a good net to land it and be very careful when removing the hooks and you will have a good time instead of a scary time. I once had a 5# hawg shake when I lipped it and it jammed a large treble into my hand. Fortunately for me (not for the fish) it came off the hook and just flopped around in the boat for a few seconds instead of thrashed around on impaled hand. I had to use pliers and rip the hook out by myself since I was fishing alone. Since then, I am really careful in handling those fish in the dark.

Another issue is being careful around docks, other boats, and other private property. Homeowners are not fond of people messing around their docks at night. It is easy to misjudge distances at night and land on a dock or boat and get hung up. I have been told off more than once by a concerned homeowner.

Lastly, just like going out in the wilderness, its a good idea to let someone know where you are going and when you plan to return in case something happens to you when you are on the water. Better safe than sorry.

[kevinb]

I've had some pretty decent luck chucking topwaters(poppers,buzzbaits)in the evening hours but havn't fished bass to late into the night but might have to give that try sometime soon.

['OL GREY DOG]

i've done more night bass fish'n this year than i have in decades ... i'm "after" trout (some kinda bait float'n off the bottom) but catch all kinds of predators...
..i slack line my trout gear in deeper water ... and work a spitter on another rod... abouta 3in spitter ... that's food for anyone swim'n bye.. i've seen biggg 'ol snakes swim out look'n for the noise ... icckk... 1 of the lil lakes i fish has a buncha trouble make'n otters !!! .. and they'll show up look'n for a spitter too ...if i'm do'n the stealth thing like jig'r (and i like that) i wont use the troll'r ... i lived down south and picked up things down there that i brought home with me ... i use a push pole .. because "IMO" the reallyyy old smart fish "know" that vibration !!!... a hint ... if ur do'n the blacked out thing ... when you do need a light .. put sunglasses on before you turn it on.. because .. DUH lolol.... on the otherhand i like fish'n with lights ... you cant be noisey night fish'n no matter what/how .. but again "IMO" a big 'ol light shine'n on the water dont spook fish !!! it attracts 'em !!!!
maybe not the 1s i'm after so much .... the 1s that the 1s i'm look'n for are look'n for !!!! ... and it attacts bugs (in and out of the water)that the bait want.. annddd it's justa hoot.. as big a light as you can stand ... you can get a gazillion candle power handheld pretty cheap these days ... ya want it rig'd up high .. shine'n on the water away from the boat .. and high enuf you arnt casting a buncha moving shadows on the water.. try not to look at the light or where its shine'n on the water ... after a while if you can refrain from it you'll be amazzzed how good you can see out at the edges of the darkness ... and you can still see/function in the boat ...
... story ...lolol aint done 1 of them in a while ...when i lived in Tx .. a buddy calls up says he's go'n night fish'n .. have'n a patry/BBQ with live music and about 200 people to feed ... he's got a bouta 8' x 20' pontoon party barge thing .. so we motor up and anchor on the edge.. between the a 5 acre flat (6-8 ft) and the deeper water .. he turned on the genset .. the 2 floodlights (1 ea side aimed at the surface about 20' from the boat) and the sealed beams mounted under the floor !!!!! .. well we rig'd poles in holders hang'n strait down with live minnows...while he messed around with gear i turned on the country music cracked us some beers ... and he had 3 fish lay'n in the sink already ... took him about 2 mins and the fish were filleted .. and he was thread'n a crappie skin he'd left a lil meat on a big 'ol hook and some fish innerds .. casts 't wayyy out on the deep side ... well long story short .... between the perch/bass/crappie and catfish we caught ... and he filleted as we went .. we filled 2 BIG ice chests with iced down fillets .. that we delivered to his woman at day break and she packaged and froze it for the next weekend ... like i said ... it can be a hoot ...the party wasnt bad (earned me a invite lolol) hind qtr of a beef .. 2 feeder pigs .. i dont know how many chickens all cooked on the BBQs and the fish fresh fry'd to order .. Asleep At The Wheel was pay'd to show up and party with us and play a few sets so it was sorta a gig but not lolol.. and they invited a buncha others that sat in ... pretty much live music cold beers and grazing on the man'd kitchen from 10 am to about 4am ... LORDY ...it can be a hoot ... DOG

[rockjiggr]

Dog, sounds like you and I have similar backgrounds. I've done the night crappie thing down East Texas too with a couple of Coleman lanterns hung high on poles in the boat. As long as you don't run out of minnows you won't run out of fish. Kinda hard to avoid the skeeters though, among other insects!

[Ocktane]

Since we're on this subject, what do you night bassers do about parking. All the public launches around here seem to clearly state no overnight parking. I would love to hit the lake at night for several hours but I dont want to get a ticket for parking in the launch area after 10pm? Kitsap, Wildcat, Long and other Mason/Kitsap co. lakes are my stompin' grounds and I'd really like to find a good night lake. Especially since I work swing shift and it would work out well to hit the lake after work. Thanks guys!

[Amx]

Since we're on this subject, what do you night bassers do about parking. All the public launches around here seem to clearly state no overnight parking. I would love to hit the lake at night for several hours but I dont want to get a ticket for parking in the launch area after 10pm? Kitsap, Wildcat, Long and other Mason/Kitsap co. lakes are my stompin' grounds and I'd really like to find a good night lake. Especially since I work swing shift and it would work out well to hit the lake after work. Thanks guys!

Call the local police, etc., tell them what you're doing and see what happens. The Police around here don't mind, they've told me so - at 1am to be exact.

[rockjiggr]

Tom's got it right. If the police are OK with it, should not be a problem.

Another idea would be to ask a resident nearby if you could park on/near their property. You are always taking a risk leaving a vehicle unattended at night. Weigh the risk with potential reward.

The lake I fish most often at night has no gate but it is just secluded enough that I do have a few worries every time I park there. So far, so good for me but I make a point of keeping anything even slightly tempting put well away and not in sight in the vehicle.

[gavran8]

Thanks for the great responses guys.

Has anyone here had any luck fishing plastics at night?

[Marc Martyn]

Not plastics, but had a good evening fly casting a popper.....

One evening out at Chapman I was fishing the shoreline with poppers for bass. During the twilight hours, I had caught and released about 10 SMB averaging about 10". As daylight faded and the stars were showing brightly, I thought I would just stay on the lake awhile longer. It was a beautiful evening and the temperature was in the mid 70's. As I was kicking along in my pontoon boat gazing at the stars, I heard a large splash over in the stump area. Not seeing what made the splash, I thought, it might be a fish so I made a blind cast over to the area where I thought the sound came from. When the popper hit the water, I popped it twice and all hell broke lose. My rod was almost jerked out of my hand and I looked up to see a fish jump out of the water. It jumped 3 times and finally after a minute or two, I got it up to the boat. I grabbed my penlight flashlight and put it between my teeth and reached for my net. Landing it successfully, I sat in my boat with my heart racing staring at about a 5# LMB. I didn't have my camera with me, so I put the net back in the water and the big guy swam off into the darkness. I think my pulse rate returned to normal about the time I drove back through Cheney. What a fun memory