Night Fishing Help

[jr45]

I getting ready to start night fishing a lot. My buddy says its the best, however I haven't done much of it at all. I am looking for any pointers. What spots might be good at night? I am planning on throwing a black/blue jig and 10" worm mostly, anything else that works good at night? I will be fishing the Shell Knob area. Thanks for the help!

[Jason Essary]

_{If your looking for numbers, dont forget the black spinnerbait. you sound like you got the right idea. Buy a quality black light and spool a rod or two with florecent line. Helps greatly to see the light bites, so that you dont pull on the fish before you know he is there.}

[Ultralance12]

I also am going to be doing more and more night fishing around shell knob and was going to ask for pointers. I used to do ok throwing a craw dad (before I was turned onto jig with trailer) off if the docks around there and slowing my retrieve (it was usually colder). Now that I'm in boat I'm a little perplexed. I pretty much plan in doing the same thing I do after the top water slows in the morning (jigs, spinners) in the same places. Any additional tips would be appreciated.

---

I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?k1f4ma

[Jason Essary]

Anything that is productive in daylight is normally ok after dark. Now lately the bite has been real real slow after dark. Im talking 2 to 3 keepers in 4 hours with two guys that have a good idea what we are doing. So dont get disappointed. Hoping this heat and water temp rising will make a change in their habits.

[Nitroman]

If you are out on a FULL-MOON, one of those nights where you don't need any light as it is like someone is standing over you with a spotlight ( you have good light penetration in the shallows ) tie on a large spinnerbait white & / or shad color with large tandem willow leaf blades & parallel cast the bank, boat-docks, etc. & see what happens. " YOU MAY LIKE IT " !!!!!!!

PS: Please, lets keep this our " LITTLE SECRET " OK ?

[abkeenan]

With the heat of summer coming on, more kids off for the summer and all the summer pleasure boaters out there the night fishing option is going to be more popular and I read this on another fishing site and thought I would share as it clearly comes from experience and has some good tips for people not accustomed to night fishing and even those that are could probably learn a thing or two from this gentlemans post:

"I've been night fishing for almost 30 years here in Tennessee. I've done it all ... and seen most of it.

If you want advice ... here it is:

Buy a headlight. Now. A handheld spotlight is USELESS. They glare back in your eyes, and you have to use one of your hands to hold it. Remember this: In the dark, things happen in a hurry. You might need that other hand for holding onto the wheel in an emergency. Get a headlight from Stan Sloan (Jeffs Docking Lights) and use the bracket from T&H Marine that bolts onto the rubrail. It allows adequate adjustment, but won't move when tightened up. I was fishing Watts Bar one night several years ago and was moving to another spot. When I broke the boat over onto plane, I flipped on the headlight. There were FIVE CANOES about 15 yards from me. They were filled up with Boy Scouts. This was about 2:00am. Luckliy, I missed them, but I swamped one of them. When I turned around and saw what had almost happened, I started shaking in the seat. I could have killed one or several of those kids. They were out with their scoutmasterwith NO LIGHTS on the canoes or anything. Needless to say, I gave the scoutmaster an earful. What I should have done, was turn on the light before I started moving the boat. I've done that since then. Get a headlight.

You can't seriously fish without a blacklight. Some of the biggest fish I have caught were strikes that I never felt, but I saw the line twitch. Don't get the ones with suction cups. When they fly off the gunnel you'll either lose them, or (even worse) they'll be tethered by the cord and will bang chunks out of your gelcoat before you can get stopped. (Don't ask me how I know this) And it's also nice to see your line and know where the bait is before you jerk to set the hook. That "thump" that you felt might have been a twig that is about 5 feet from the boat. Worm weights & 1/2 oz spinnerbaits HURT when you get them back in your face. Old School: Stan Sloan lights with receptacles that mount on your gunnels. The lights just plug into the holes and will stay put. New School: LED lights in the rubrail. Either way, get blacklights.

Like has already been said, cut the clutter to a minimum. Have a place for everything and keep it there. Nothing is worse than snagging a rod and flipping it into the water, or the sound of graphite crushing when you put your foot onto one. And there should be NO CORDS in the boat. EVER. If you think a fire is bad in the daytime, try having one at night when you pinch a cord under a compartment lid and don't know it until it's too late. (Don't ask me how I know about that one, either) No corded lights (no spotlight, remember?) or other wires lying out.

Keep your baits simple. Plastics, spinnerbaits, jigs, grubs. I don't allow treble hooks in my boat at night. Silly? Not when poor visibility causes you to jerk when you shouldn't have and the bait comes flying back to you at Mach1. (Don't even think about asking ....)

Handheld flashlight that is rubber coated and about 1" in diameter. AA or even AAA size will do fine. No cap lights, or those things that you wear on your head. I keep my flashlight on my jacket pocket when not is use and put it in my mouth when I need it (rubber coated, remember?). Trust me, you can better manipulate the light to where you need it with the light in your mouth than you can by having to move your head left and right and up and down. If you think that's silly ... just try it before you laugh it off. And if you should need to see something in the floor of the boat or on a nearby bank (like the bait you wrapped around that stickup) it does a good job for that. I've never seen one of those cap lights that was anywhere near as versatile as a simple small flashlight.

A good pair of rainpants and a good comfortable jacket. Not for the rain ... but for the DEW. I've been out on nights when the temps were 65-70 and got COLD. When the dew starts to fall, you get wet. A simple 4mph breeze will chill you to the bone if you are wet. If you don't believe me, just go a few nights without these 2 items. I think you'll change your mind when you start shaking and it's 70 degrees.

Not an "item" but find out what RPM you can run your boat with the nose just broken over ... in other words, how slow can you go and still stay on plane without struggling? That's your top speed. I know ... some people run 50-60 mph at night and have had no problems. Whatever. Remember, things happen quickly in the dark. Your response time is small. I've seen whole trees, plastic 55 gal drums, crossties, sheets of plywood, anchored boats with no navigation lights, and (yes) canoes full of kids. Stuff floats around. It happens. You do NOT want to hit anything in the dark. Run your minimum speed and keep that headlight on (most of the time). I have heard that in some states it is illegal to run with a headlight on. Maybe so, but in 30 years of fishing here I have never been stopped or questioned by the LEOs for running a headlight. Of course, common courtesy is to be used by not blinding approaching boats, etc. But remember that the headlight might just save your (or someone else's) life. Use the thing ... and go slow.

I could go on and on, but that's just some of the basics. After all these years, I've learned a lot and made a lot of mistakes. Nowadays, I can night fish and not give it a second thought. You learn and apply. If you are careless, you pay the price. Be careful. Wear a PFD. Go slow. And above all else, use your head."