In June 2000, Adam Gibson posted:

I am a rather new fisherman and I have just started doing some tournaments
here in Arizona. I had a question for you all. What is good for fishing at
night? techniques and baits. I will be fishing Lake Pleasant, Arizona,
Desert weather, should be nice and warm all night long. Any help is great..
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LuCkYdOg4L replied: Well in the summer I can name about 4 baits.....
jitterbug.....Hulapopper.....T*iny Torpedo and a black
spinnerbait.....although i have seen people take bass on rubber worms at
night.
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Craig Baugher chimed in: I agree with Lucky. Topwater lures are great at
night, but so are crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jig-n-pig, worms, etc. All you
need to remember about night fishing is to use darker colors and lures that
emit sound. Try using white when bottom bouncing lures.
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Doug added: Black and blue (or other dark color) colorado spinner bait
w/dark blade (get some gun blueing if you have to) tipped with a dark pig or
trailer. Keep it at a nice slow steady retrieve. I also have good luck with
a big 5" salt and pepper chomper thrown at chunk rock. At least this is what
works for me at the Lake here in MO.
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And then I jumped in, too: Adam, my favorite night lures: black 7" Berkley
Power Worms, black 4" tube jigs, black 3/8 or 1/2 ounce spinnerbaits with
black Colorado blades. I've also had good nights when I was throwing a black
buzzbait, Carolina rigging a long (12 inch) black worm or biggest black
lizard I could find, a big black jitterbug, and a black rattle-back jig with
pork trailer.

I hope no one minds too much, but since we're talking one of my favorite
subjects, I'm going to include a few helpful night-fishing hints I've picked
up in addition to what lures work well for me.

- Place no more than three rods on the deck in addition to the one you're
using, and keep them over to the side to avoid stepping on them in the dark.
Fewer is better. Keep the deck clear of nets, lures, blacklight cord,
clutter, etc.

- Put a small selection of the lures you intend to use in a small tackle box
to keep on the deck. Keep it simple. Include worm rattles, hooks, weights,
beads -- everything you'll need to retie soft plastics, plus a couple of the
other lures you intend to concentrate on using. You'll still have to dive
into your big tackle boxes every now and then, but not too often.

- Use plastic snuff cans as pocket-size tackle boxes, too. In one, store a
few worm rattles, glass beads, hooks, and a couple of toothpicks for pegging
sinkers. Keep an assortment of sinkers in another.

- Keep hook sharpener, line clippers, knife/scissors, and mini flashlight on
a lanyard attached to your belt so you won't be fumbling and feeling around
for them when you need them.

- Lighting: Use a blacklight -- two if someone is fishing with you in the
boat. Don't shine flashlights or spotlights at the water surface. Check with
your boating laws -- most states require bow and stern running lights be
left on all night, and the 360 degree white light on when anchored. Be extra
careful when running at night. Use a spotlight to check your path, and watch
out for yahoos sitting on points or on the channel with no lights showing.

- Don't pass up lamp-lit areas around docks, parking lots, parks, etc. at
night, because the entire food chain migrates to those areas. As with
low-angle sunlight conditions, position your boat to cast toward the light.
Bass are looking toward the light and can (possibly) more clearly discern
approaching prey silhouetted against it.

- Slow and steady retrieves. Crankbaits/spinnerbaits moving along at a
moderate, stead rate tend to decrease chances of a missed strike.

- Sound: Insert rattles in soft plastics. If your jigs and spinnerbaits
don't already have them, buy some clip-on or glue-on rattles and apply them.
(I've heard Doug Hannon say they don't really add much sound to
spinnerbaits, but I can't see how they could hurt, as long as they are
positioned on the hook shank where they won't interfere with hook-ups.
Thread a glass bead between your bullet weight and hook. If you use a hook
where you can leave the eye exposed, the weight, bead, and metal eye will
add a click every time you pick up or twitch the bait. Nighttime is a good
time to use brass 'n' glass if you're Carolina rigging, too.

- Sit down to fish, even if you prefer to stand in the daylight. You're less
likely to take a spill when the boat gets rocked by an unexpected wave or
bumps into a stump that you did not see in the dark.

- Learn to tie a Palomar knot with your eyes closed.

- Use a drop of Superglue on the eye of your hook before sliding the head of
soft plastic baits up to keep them in place. It's easy to overlook a twisted
or slipped bait in the dark. Hold them up against the lighter sky between
casts to check that worms are still hanging straight between casts.

- Talking and laughter are no problem, as those sounds don't transmit from
the air to the water very readily. But avoid dropping, banging, and thumping
around in the boat.

- Avoid insect repellents if possible. But if they're about to drive you off
the lake, be sure not to transfer DEET to your lures [and don't spray it
upwind of your GPS or sonar, as some of them have ingredients in the
forumlation that will melt the screen]. It is a sure-fire fish repellent,
too. Don't rub your hands on your neck and then handle plastic baits, for
example, if you sprayed yourself down a few hours earlier. Instead, try
smoking a cigar. In Tennessee, bugs usually swarm for an hour or so after
sunset and again before dawn. In the middle of the night, they're not too
bad.

There's much more. Anybody else want to chime in with advice I left out?

TNBass ")))
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Greg Pace added: When I learned to bass fish I learned at night. I fish a
local tourney trail here in Missouri. We are starting our night tournaments
now. I have found that the best things to catch them on at night are a
black,blue colooda spinnerbait, gambler bacon rinds sprayed with chompers
spray,chompers 5 inch, And the thing I catch the most and bigger bass on is
a 7 inch pumpkinseed power worm. You can not go wrong with a power worm.
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Then Joel contributed: I would add that, and especially if fishing alone,
your equip include one of those flashlights you strap on your head for those
times when you need to thread a hook or lure or before lipping whatever it
is you caught just so you know for sure what it is you caught in case it is
a toothy fritter.

Fish with a partner at night!

And since you are fishing under the cover of darkness it is also okay to
bring the floral print TP if that is all you have on hand ... no need to
make a special stop for the white only TP.
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Doug then wrote: Dark is great for fishing at the top or mid depth. It helps
to create a silhouette against the star lit sky. I like to fish whites on
the bottom to create a contrasting color to the darker bottom.

[Which launched an interesting discussion on black and white lures..... Joe]