Night Fishing Struggles

[TRRANGER]

I have been out the last three weeks fishing from 6 till about 130 or so. On friday or saturday nights. I have heard of guys catching lots of short fish. I have been concentrating on points and docks on the main lake. I have caught nice fish each time. I had 2 keepers 1st week, next week 2 nicer keepers 19" this week 1 nice 18-19" keeper. Do I need to move more and hit more points, dock fishing has been a bust for me and my fishing buddy. Are the fish really that scattered. or am I not in the right spots???? Thanks TR

[TRRANGER]

I guees i need to state that those 5 fish was it no shorts no other shake offs nothing? What Am I doing wrong????

[rps]

TRRANGER: Sounds to me like you are experiencing what most of us are finding. No solid patterns, just a few trends and clues where to start.

Right now on TR? Things are sorta, kinda tough. Good fishermen are catching fish. They are just not posting pictures. What does that say?

[jay bird]

I think that T-RockJaws has got it figured out. You go out on the night that you DO NOT have a tournament catch all the big fish and then thoes big fish do not ruin a good tournament night. Should be a report coming.

[T-RockJaws]

Just got my post up from last night in the Shell Knob area. Jay Bird nailed it, I can go out on a non tourney night and bag some nice fish. There really is no set pattern to be found right now, several things are working for a night bite. They just do not work every night! It has been very tough for us the past 3 weeks or so.

[Jason Essary]

T-Rock,

Seeming everything changed for us around 3 weeks ago also. The last time I done great was the night before they turned Beaver on for the draw down. Since that Thursday, our fish have been cut by 75%. The only thing I can come up with is that they are suspending over depth charge depths with all the current.

Have you been fishing the night derbys. Hate to hear anyone beating up their fish before the big night.

[TRRANGER]

No I have not been fishing any derbys yet, learning to night fish IE get the hang of it first. I guess my question is are the fish just really scattered and you need to move often and cover lots of water and if so Is Jigs and big spinnerbaits the right Idea????

[T-RockJaws]

Jason,

That Beaver draw down is exactly when my struggles began. The weeks leading up to that, I had been on fish and lots of them. We were easily putting 5 to 6 keepers in the boat each night. Then all of a sudden, they just shut off. Been real tuff for me ever since...

The only derby I have been fishing is a small company deal, about 15 boats or so each time and we have about 14 tourneys per year. My partner and I have been wanting to fish some of the Wednesday nighters, but always felt as though we were way out of our league there. I think we are planning to give it a try tomorrow night though...

Pre-fishing so to speak, we are pretty much always looking for new areas and leave our "honey holes" alone. Really been learning a lot by doing that this year. The best way to get any better is to simply put in the time on the water!

T-Rock

[Jason Essary]

Time on the water is exactly what I am doing this year. Have been dropped in water over my head in the night derbys this year, all at once. I have spent more time on the water this year than the rest of my life I believe already. Go almost every other day (or night).

Partner and I decided to hit the Wends night deal last week. We were more prefishing for Millcreek Friday Nighter than anything else. Weigh in was at 12am. We caught our first keeper at 1:15am...lol. We didnt hit any of our "money" holes but was still real disappointing. Friday night we had 11lbs with the summer 4 fish limit, taking 5th.

Been wondering if anyone has ever drop-shot at night before???

Might be the only way to find predictable fish for the moment.

[T-RockJaws]

My partner and I are fairly new to the drop shot all together, but trying to learn. We were wondering about using it at night as well, doesn't seem like I have really ever heard of anyone using it at night though??? I will start a new thread on here and see what comes from it.