Rough Couple Of Nights

[sholder02]

I absolutely loathe night fishing!

Our bass club has a night tournament out of the King's River this weekend so I decided I would do a little prefishing since I don't fish at night.

Friday night I fished from 7:00 PM-midnight and had one keeper. I fished from Rock Creek up to MM 23. Primarily fished points with jigs and big worms. It's not often that I don't enjoy fishing...but I found out that I'm not a fan of night fishing. Tough to see where you're casting, tough to see where you're driving, etc. Anyways...

Saturday night I fished the tournament out of Shell Knob (7:00 PM-1:00 AM). I fished from Needle Eye up to Viola with no keepers. Again, I primarily threw a jig and a worm. I did have a lot more bites than Friday night, but had a heck of a time getting them in the boat. I had two that came off at the boat and several more that got off shortly after setting the hook.

I'm either not around fish or they are being pretty picky. The shorts I caught all had good sized bellies on them...so I know they've been feeding hard.

Our club meeting is tomorrow night so I'm going to do my best "lawyering" to convince them to switch it to a day tournament. The water temp was around 81-82 degrees. With the cool down later this week coupled with more rain...I have a feeling the water temp is going to be south of 80 degrees by Saturday. With even a little TLC, the fish should be just fine with that water temp.

Did I mention I don't like night fishing!

[Quillback]

Thanks for the report, I don't fish nights myself, other than if I get out on the water before daylight.

[GNSfishing]

I absolutely loathe night fishing!

Our bass club has a night tournament out of the King's River this weekend so I decided I would do a little prefishing since I don't fish at night.

Friday night I fished from 7:00 PM-midnight and had one keeper. I fished from Rock Creek up to MM 23. Primarily fished points with jigs and big worms. It's not often that I don't enjoy fishing...but I found out that I'm not a fan of night fishing. Tough to see where you're casting, tough to see where you're driving, etc. Anyways...

Saturday night I fished the tournament out of Shell Knob (7:00 PM-1:00 AM). I fished from Needle Eye up to Viola with no keepers. Again, I primarily threw a jig and a worm. I did have a lot more bites than Friday night, but had a heck of a time getting them in the boat. I had two that came off at the boat and several more that got off shortly after setting the hook.

I'm either not around fish or they are being pretty picky. The shorts I caught all had good sized bellies on them...so I know they've been feeding hard.

Our club meeting is tomorrow night so I'm going to do my best "lawyering" to convince them to switch it to a day tournament. The water temp was around 81-82 degrees. With the cool down later this week coupled with more rain...I have a feeling the water temp is going to be south of 80 degrees by Saturday. With even a little TLC, the fish should be just fine with that water temp.

Did I mention I don't like night fishing!

Night time fishing can be tough or bounty. If you get out on the nights closes to the full moon during the months of May thru September you will find that you can see to cast and run at night plus at times some of the best fishing around. The main reason I like night fishing you don't have the wake boats and skiers, jet skiers, huge boats plowing the large wakes which can roll over the nose of your boat making fishing just almost impossible in a lot of areas of the lake. I have seen some of the biggest bag of fish caught during night tournaments. I for one just can't hardly wait for October through March fishing with 99% of the party boaters off the waters leaving the lake for the fishermen to be able to fish in peace.

Back when I used to fish bass club tournaments we alway had 6 day tournaments and 6 night tournaments to balance between day and nights and always closes to the full moon for safety reasons for running at night. Of course we did not have a speed limit at night and it was before the GPS being including in our depth finders. The bad thing with using these GPS to run with is people using them to run fast in fog and or running with no lights on running at night. When you are running your boat you can not hear another boat running and in fog. I have seen tournaments released in fog and they will run by GPS not being able to see any boats they meet to be safe..........

[merc1997 Bo]

the high water is primarily the enemy to night fishing right now. high water and night fishing usually do not mix. that is not to say that you can not catch some bass sometimes at night during high water. if the bass stay deeper, than there really is not a problem of catching them, but when they move in mass to the bushes, they are a lot harder to come by at night. much of this is due to being able to pinpoint your cast. it is hard enough during the day, let alone at night. if they bass are shallow in the bushes, concentrate on isolated bushes, and peoples flooded yards at night. another option is to stick to a bluff. there are always a few home residents that never leave a bluff. hope this might help some.

bo

[sholder02]

Well boys and girls, I believe I'll keep my day job. I lobbied, kissed hands, and shook babies to no avail. Majority rules and we'll be fishing at night.

I appreciate the replies.

[Champ188]

Nothing says you can't stay at home. Maybe low participation would be a deterrent to future night tournaments.

[sholder02]

Hey Champ,

They fish about a dozen tournaments throughout the year and the only qualification to fish the "classic" is to have fished 4 tournaments. Between work, a 17 month old, and another boy due in October, I haven't fished but a couple of them. Unfortunately, I'll have to fish this one. It's a good group of guys (Christian bass club) and most of the money goes towards a charity at the end of the year.

I just like to whine about fishing at night to cover up my true inability to fill the live well! ...that and I really do hate fishing at night!

[Champ188]

I'm with ya on the night fishing, sholder02. I liked it when I was younger (in my 20s) but grew out of it fairly early in life. The older I get (early 50s now), the more of an early riser I have become. I don't like to have my entire day blown by staying up all night trying to see where the heck I'm going/throwing in the pitch black. Admittedly, it's pretty out there when there's a big moon. But I'll pass. Hope you surprise yourself and catch em good.

[bluebasser86]

I wish I got to fish at night more! Wish I still got to fish tournaments too. One day I hope work will no longer hold me back from doing both! Good luck at your tournament and hopefully you'll get to enjoy some nice weather if nothing else

[merc1997 Bo]

well actually the night bite is not too bad even with the high water. we fished from dark until 12:30 tonight and once we figured out where and what the bass wanted, we caught several bass. we ended up with 6 keepers with a couple of those over 3. the best bait ended up being a 1/2 NuJig with a big chunk trailer. the bass where we were were relating to points. the main channel side of them seemed to produce a lot better. most bites were around 10 feet deep. got some a bit deeper than than and some shallower.

bo