Night Bass Fishing

[Crappie5]

Whack'em and I tried to get this topic going last year so I thought I would be the first to open it up.

Anyone hitting the banks at night yet??

Night tournament info would be interesting also.

We are going this Saturday night and plan on hitting some of the Friday night Derbys out of Campbell point. I will post what and how we did later.

Whack'em, lets get it rolling. How are you guys doing out of Mill Creek?

[Whack'emGood]

Hey Crappie5--

We have been fishing our tourneys every Friday night and practicing one night a week for 3 weeks now. This week's tourney is Saturday.

The night bite has been tough for us and most of the others so far this Spring. Each week there are always, of course, a couple of teams that bring in some good sacks but most teams have been scratching thier heads.

Most of the teams that win every week (and it has been different guys every week) are fishing beds, as far as I can tell. We don't fish beds, and we have been battling to scrape together some fish every time.

We have caught some big ones, but not enough of them. We really haven't caught enough lately to even know or give specifics on what the fish are doing right now. I would say your guess is as good as mine as far as catching them right now-- but we have been working hard and are currently trying some different things and areas right now. It has been especially tough lately with all of this rain coming in and the Corps constantly running water. This last week, surface temps dropped 5-6 degrees. We might be close to figuring some things out, but it is a work in progress.

I will certainly let you know if and when I have some good info. to share though.

I agree that there is never enough night fishing talk on here, and I am always willing to contribute to get the ball rolling.

Good luck out there.

Whack'em

[motoman]

Great thread guys. I was going to start a night fishing thread myself here soon.

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When we were down a few weeks ago, we did some night fishing, and it was great! I'm pretty new to the night fishing thing, but I'm thrilled to get back at it.

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I look forward to hearing what others have to say. (I'll just be fishing for fun, so no threat to you night fishing tourney guys )

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Are there any particular 'ole standby' tactics you guys use at night?

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I just started using what was working for me during the day, and had some success, so I stuck with it. Is there a better approach or direction I should go at night fishing?

[bassman1308]

I don't fish the friday nighters out of campbell pt anymore ( can't take the late hours ) but have hit the wedn nighters at the shell knob bridge as the're over at 11:00 pm. I can't tell you about this current week but It's taken over 20 lbs on friday nights and almost that much on wedn night to win. This is since they started early in April. I know the guys who run these tourney very well so if there's interest on this site and they will agree to get the info to me, maybe I could post the results. However, I don't know that I'd get any factual info on where, what and how they catch their fish.

: - )

[motoman]

I just thought I would bump this back up. I'm itching to hear if there are any new night fishing reports to speak of?

[Whack'emGood]

Hey Motoman.

We have been finding that alot of the nicer LM are starting to move to their usual main lake locations and can be caught after dark. We are starting to pick up a few nice Smallies also on the main lake.

Main lake points, bluffends, and relatively shallow bluff banks (bluffs that don't drop relatively as quickly-- have a little slope to them before dropping into the abyss) are the deal right now for us. Big chunky rock for the LM, and smaller mixed rock for the Smallies.

I'm sure some guys are catching them in different types of locations than we are as well, but that seems to be the best pattern for us right now. We have been catching them relatively really shallow in these locations (5-10 feet) in most cases.

Jigs and soft plastics in dark colors.

That's my quick report.

Whack'em

[Sam]

I'm not much of a bass fisherman, I nearly always go for other species. But I make an exception when it comes to night fishing - that's my favorite thing starting about this time of year, and I'll make several trips from now up into July.

I fish for 'em the way I like to - same as we did 20 years ago. Working the banks, trees, humps, and points with a Texas rigged 11" worm, usually Motor Oil/Red Flake, using Stren flourescent line and a black light. I know you guys have lots of new and improved ways to catch bass, but at that time of year at night this old way still works real well - and the size of the worm pretty much cuts down on the dinks. Watching that bright line give a little "tick" when a bass picks the worm up, lowering the rod tip and gently reeling up the slack for a 3-count, then set the hook - and the fight's on. Now, that's fun. I swear both my partner's feet leave the deck when he sticks 'em.

You'd be surprised at the hawgs we catch every year - and yeah, we throw 'em back, I've got crappie filets in the freezer.

[Whack'emGood]

Yep. That same old fashioned way still works great Sam. I'm pretty old school myself.

It's fun aint it??!!!!

Whack'em

[motoman]

Great info guys. Thanks!

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I do have a question for you guys. What should a novice night angler look for in line, so it's more visible with the black light? (my usual clear fluor/superlines I use during the day, don't 'glow' like I would like them too in the blacklight)

[Whack'emGood]

I use P-line CX Clear Fluorescent Hi-Vis, because it has more sensitivity than regular mono... but I know alot of guys use BPS Excel Fluorescent (straight mono) and say it glows great.

I have a Nucli-Eye Extreme light. I don't know if the Excel glows more than my P-line, but the Nucli-eye is super bright and will make anything fluorescent glow like a well rope.

My .02.

Whack'em