Night Fishing

[CanoeBoy]

Caught a lot of bass as soon as the sun went down, does anyone know if the color matters at night?

[motoman]

Jason should be along soon; I'm curious on this myself.

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I know typically black/blue seem to be common night colors; but the times I night fished at the rock; there was a crazy spinnerbait bite going on where color made no difference.......so I can't comment.:-(

[J.M.]

When I bass fished back in the 70s and 80s we used a white spinnerbait with white blades when the moon was full. Darker the moon darker the color.

[J.M.]

P.S, We were fishing clear water

[CanoeBoy]

A spinner bait at night........I gotta try that!

Just to add some details...............I caught a good number of small ones during the day on jigs and crank baits while in about 22 ft of water, then the fish started to get larger on top water using a spook during sunset, but noticed I was catching larger fish at night. Caught most on a jig with a dark colored creature bait throwing it right on the bank around some submerged trees. The moon was almost full last night, not sure if that helped the bite. Last time I fished night I was throwing a large red and black deep diving crank and did pretty well that night.

[BiteMeBaits]

We have a lot of luck of black/blue, black/red, black/purple combinations. I mold some soft plastics and just got done with a batch of all three of those combinations for a customer. A black spinnerbait with a large Colorado blade, or a tube, or my favorite, a black/blue jig with a black/blue craw trailer. The thinking behind the darker colors and bigger baits is that a bigger profile is easier to see and the black makes it stand out because its not 100% dark outside. I've caught several fish over 3lbs in the past week or so on a smoke colored (very dark) tube with purple flake that I had made up playing with colors. Nothing like catching a hog at night and not really sure what ya got until it gets in the boat!

[GNSfishing]

I remember those days throwing a 3/8 or 1/2 oz black & white Bass Buster single spin with a white Uncle Josh pork bait trailer was a dynamite color at night. Wish I could locate those single spins today. They were a short arm with a ball bearing swivel a Colorado blade, a great lure.

When I bass fished back in the 70s and 80s we used a white spinnerbait with white blades when the moon was full. Darker the moon darker the color.

[Jason Essary]

Large profile is the most important in my mind. New moon, (dark) always black and something. Full moon (bright) black can be good especially if your on a deep summer pattern (not much light gets down there) but head back towards the pumkins and watermelons. Just keep in mind you dont want to blend in with the bottom. Now that said, Have see it when they wanted the reverse. A black and blue and a dark green pumkin are the two basics. Head either way from there.

Once you go to a moving bait after dark, you enter anouther problem. Its normally the vibration and movement that triggers more than color. Think more williow or colorado, with different sizes of both. More or less vibration can and normally is the key. I have seen where one brand of spinners out caught anouther by 4 to one, and they were the same color and weight. Believe it was the difference in blades. Black spinners are always an option, but dont forget about the white ones at times. Cranks have not faired well with me after dark but would not know why if u have the fish found they would not react and eat one.

[abkeenan]

Large profile is the most important in my mind. New moon, (dark) always black and something. Full moon (bright) black can be good especially if your on a deep summer pattern (not much light gets down there) but head back towards the pumkins and watermelons. Just keep in mind you dont want to blend in with the bottom. Now that said, Have see it when they wanted the reverse. A black and blue and a dark green pumkin are the two basics. Head either way from there.

Once you go to a moving bait after dark, you enter anouther problem. Its normally the vibration and movement that triggers more than color. Think more williow or colorado, with different sizes of both. More or less vibration can and normally is the key. I have seen where one brand of spinners out caught anouther by 4 to one, and they were the same color and weight. Believe it was the difference in blades. Black spinners are always an option, but dont forget about the white ones at times. Cranks have not faired well with me after dark but would not know why if u have the fish found they would not react and eat one.

Good info Jason. Much appreciated. I know I can't keep from hanging up a crank in trees during the light of day much less during night when you can't see them so I never even think about chunkin' and windin' a crank at night. At night I am a brush hog, jig and big worm guy. 7-12" red shad Culprit worms have been a family "go to" since the 70's and still work great. As far as night spinner baits go I stick with the dark colors and use War Eagles night time models.

[Jason Essary]

ABK, you have some of the best things there that will work anytime. Really almost all you need.