Do any of you fly fish at night?

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 02:48:10 -0000, mdk77
wrote:

I was looking for information on trout fishing in Missouri and there
was a post saying the biggest trout were caught after dark. Frankly
I'd never heard of fly fishing after dark. Do any of you do this with
any luck? What flies do you fish in the dark?

It almost sounds like a "fish story" to me :-)

Before I became an old fart I used to fish at night. It is, of
course, a little different than daylight fishing (I have a gift for
the obvious). Nymphing with a big white yarn indicator is the best
way to go, but many times there are hatches on (usually caddis where I
normally fish). I use a strike indicator with a dry fly set about 3
feet from the fly. The indicator causes some drag on the surface, so
I don't normally get a distance drift. When I see a splash ahead of
my indicator, I set the hook. These fish are brookies and landlocks.

I fall enough during daylight, so twilight/darkness fishing is no
longer a viable option for me, unless I am in a boat.

If you do go night fishing, buy one of those led head lamps, the kind
where you can adjust the amount of light. I have used one
successfully on the water. We know put it on the dog when we let her
out at night. Great tracking device.

Ask Wayne Knight to tell you the story about our (Wayne, Jeff Miller,
and me) mid-night adventure fishing for biiiiiiig browns in North
Cackalackie. Of course it would have helped if we were all sober and
Wayne would learn how to cast d;o), but it did leave us with a funny
story to tell our grandchildren. "Where's the mouse?" "The mouse is
in the effin tree!"

Just remembered something: A few years ago my local fly shop offered
a jell (about the consistency of lib stick) that would glow in the
dark if subjected to light for a minute or so. It was supposed to be
used with nymphs, but it would be neat to see if it worked on dries.
I bought a small container of it and it still sits somewhere deap in
the bowels of my vest probably never to be seen again. I'll have to
find it and try it next week in Maine.

And something else: When I was a kid, we used to go fishing at night
for bullheads, bass, crappie, and pickeral. I can't remember what we
used, probably bait, but I'll bet that if you tried to fish for
bullheads (catfish) at night with a nymph or bugger that you would be
successful. A big catfish on a flyrod? Gotta be a hoot.

Dave

On Aug 16, 12:54 pm, Dave LaCourse wrote:

If you do go night fishing, buy one of those led head lamps, the kind
where you can adjust the amount of light.

Dave

The Led head lamps are good, I like the Petzl tikka,

http://en.petzl.com/petzl/LampesProduits?Produit=555

Very light, gives good light,can be worn on a hat, and has a very long
battery life.

but if you want to use them when fishing for browns at night, it is
best to put a red filter over the lens. Big browns ( and sea-runs)
spook very easily, and shining your light on the water, or anything
like that, must be avoided. Even on very dark nights, you can still
usually see a little bit, once your vision adjusts, and the red filter
ensures that you don´t lose your night vision from the white LED
light if you have to tie knots, change flies etc. When you do this,
even with a red light, point it away from the river!

After catching a large fish in a pool or run, I usually move to the
next, as the disturbance it causes usually scares off any other big
ones in the immediate area, and for landing the fish, you can of
course then use your light.

There may be a couple of big fish in a small pool now and then, but
usually, really big browns are solitary creatures. Here, and in
summer, it is usually best to fish pool tails, as the big fish often
hang around there looking for minnows etc. I suppose that will be
much the same everywhere.

--
Regards and tight lines!

Mike Connor

http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-online.de/

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/Flycorner?hl=en

Dave LaCourse wrote:

And something else: When I was a kid, we used to go fishing at night
for bullheads, bass, crappie, and pickeral. I can't remember what we
used, probably bait, but I'll bet that if you tried to fish for
bullheads (catfish) at night with a nymph or bugger that you would be
successful. A big catfish on a flyrod? Gotta be a hoot.

Confession time: When I was younger, I fished mostly with bait.
Even after I took up flyfishing, there were a few times at night when I
threaded a nightcrawler on a hook and flipped it out at the end of a
sinking line.

And yes, channel cats do eat nightcrawlers, and they are a lot of
fun on a flyrod. :-)

Now to catch big bass at night, you build a little raft, take a live
mouse, superglue a hook to it, tie it to the raft and push the raft ...

Er, I mean you take a big deer hair bug that pushes a lot of water,
toss it out so it makes a nice splash, and wait as long as you can stand
it ... give it a quick strip, and wait as long as you can stand it, or
until a bass explodes on the fly.


Chuck Vance (and the sound of a bass going ballistic on a
topwater bug at night is something you won't forget)

On Aug 16, 6:54 am, Dave LaCourse wrote:

Of course it would have helped if we were all sober and
Wayne would learn how to cast d;o),

Oh sure, what i should really have done is made sure I put the reel
with the six weight line onto the six weight rod.

What are you complaining about anyway? If I recall, you made the
acquaintance of a nice tree.

On Aug 16, 5:54 am, Dave LaCourse wrote:

A big catfish on a flyrod? Gotta be a hoot.

While casting for bass in my pond, I hooked and landed a 4 to 5 lb
channel cat on a deer hair bug. I have since done this many times.
When you are out of practice with large fish on the light rod, this
will get you back in shape quickly.

cheers

oz, who has also caught them on white bread doughballs -- but only in
the presence of mine grandkids