Night Fishing Smallies!

A blacklight wont help a bit with your vision. It only illuminates
flourescent articles...

Warren

"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
. ..
Bob La Londe wrote:
"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
. ..

Ok all, I know it is fall, and I know the Smallies are up shallow
eating.
Here is what I am running into! The moment the sun disappeares behind
the
horizon, boom, nothing, not a bite, or anything. I switch to black
crankbaits, black topwaters, black spinnerbaits, etc. etc. When that
doesn't fly, I go to natural(shad, crayfish, etc.), white, then
chartreuse
, next thing will be glow in the dark.

I have read articles on night fishing, and here is one question I have.
Do
smallies stop biting for a certain amount of time as their senses adjust
to the lighting conditions. From 5pm to 6:30pm (sunset about 6:15 or 5
minutes in that general time frame). Then nothing at all, and I have
gone
into 1, 2, and 3 hours after dark. Still nothing. I am still marking
balls of baitfishing on my graph, but I have not even had a bite, and I
am
probably fishing after dark 2 or 3 days a week. Reading those articles,
I
know people catch fish after dark, and I know people here have mentioned
night tournaments. I will say that Winnebago is not by any means clear.
I guess I would take any suggestions you guys might have. I don't get
out
of work till almost 5pm, so if I only fished till dark that would only
be
about an hour and a half, and that just isn't acceptable :-).

Thanks all!

Chris




I have experienced a drop in the shallow water bite shortIly after dark
here
even in the summer. I usually pack it in, but I have heard that they
turn
back on a little later.


Bob,

I am considering staying out till about mid-night or so one of these
nights just to see what i can dig up, and giving the fish a chance to
settle into the environment..

With that said, why type of lights do you guys recommend for night
fishing. Meaning, a black light, or small flashlight. I remember RichZ
commenting about screwing up your night vision by using a flashlight ,
so would a blacklight do me better. I have had issues with retying, etc.

Thanks again!

Any white light will impair your night vision, not much you can do about
it. You could use red lights, they have little affect on night vision.
But what I do when night fishing is use an indirect light (battery
operated florecsent), so I never look directly into the light...works
pretty good for me.

JK

Not true for all fluorescent lamps, Warren. I've fished more nights than
days over the last twenty years, so I have some experience with them. Black
lights usually put off enough light across the spectrum to illuminate the
bank, the area of boat around them, and certainly the water in front of the
lens. They put out sufficient light to find things on the boat deck, to
retie lures, sort through tackle, etc.

I've used five different brands of black lights over the years. The best was
a homemade job that Bubba Martin, my partner, made in his sign shop in
Memphis. Of commercially-made lamps, I prefer the Zorro models, made by Stan
Sloan. Mine has a second, small incandescent bulb with rheostat. Charles has
one with just the fluorescent bulb. They're both excellent choices.

Joe
"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
A blacklight wont help a bit with your vision. It only illuminates
flourescent articles...

Warren

"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
. ..
Bob La Londe wrote:
"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
. ..

Ok all, I know it is fall, and I know the Smallies are up shallow
eating.
Here is what I am running into! The moment the sun disappeares behind
the
horizon, boom, nothing, not a bite, or anything. I switch to black
crankbaits, black topwaters, black spinnerbaits, etc. etc. When that
doesn't fly, I go to natural(shad, crayfish, etc.), white, then
chartreuse
, next thing will be glow in the dark.

I have read articles on night fishing, and here is one question I have.
Do
smallies stop biting for a certain amount of time as their senses adjust
to the lighting conditions. From 5pm to 6:30pm (sunset about 6:15 or 5
minutes in that general time frame). Then nothing at all, and I have
gone
into 1, 2, and 3 hours after dark. Still nothing. I am still marking
balls of baitfishing on my graph, but I have not even had a bite, and I
am
probably fishing after dark 2 or 3 days a week. Reading those articles,
I
know people catch fish after dark, and I know people here have mentioned
night tournaments. I will say that Winnebago is not by any means clear.
I guess I would take any suggestions you guys might have. I don't get
out
of work till almost 5pm, so if I only fished till dark that would only
be
about an hour and a half, and that just isn't acceptable :-).

Thanks all!

Chris




I have experienced a drop in the shallow water bite shortIly after dark
here
even in the summer. I usually pack it in, but I have heard that they
turn
back on a little later.


Bob,

I am considering staying out till about mid-night or so one of these
nights just to see what i can dig up, and giving the fish a chance to
settle into the environment..

With that said, why type of lights do you guys recommend for night
fishing. Meaning, a black light, or small flashlight. I remember RichZ
commenting about screwing up your night vision by using a flashlight ,
so would a blacklight do me better. I have had issues with retying, etc.

Thanks again!