Fishing at night

Now that I have a boat with a livewell, I'm looking into entering a simple
tournament. Just to put this into perspective, I'm not looking to win, I
just want to give it a try for the fun of it. I live in Florida and I've
noticed that many of the tourney's are at night (6pm-9pm or 9pm-2am). I've
fished until dusk before and then stopped as it just becomes difficult to
fish when you cannot see anything. I'm wondering how people fish at night.
Do you use spot lights to see the shore, tree limbs, surface vegetation,
etc? Do people usually fish off shore for the most part? Any insight you can
gie would be great!

"Todd Copeland" wrote in message
ink.net...
Now that I have a boat with a livewell, I'm looking into entering a simple
tournament. Just to put this into perspective, I'm not looking to win, I
just want to give it a try for the fun of it. I live in Florida and I've
noticed that many of the tourney's are at night (6pm-9pm or 9pm-2am). I've
fished until dusk before and then stopped as it just becomes difficult to
fish when you cannot see anything. I'm wondering how people fish at night.
Do you use spot lights to see the shore, tree limbs, surface vegetation,
etc? Do people usually fish off shore for the most part? Any insight you
can
gie would be great!


I just fished an evening tournament last night. 4:30 to 8:20. At 8:10 I
put the pedal to the floor and let er roar. I had no problem seeing my way
back to the weigh dock. So... Another hour and it would have been too dark
to see well. I could probably have stilled fished. It was dark enough
though that everybody should have had their lights on. I was a bit
disappointed that I was the only one who did.

In the past I have gotten totally turned around and lost in a series of back
channels fishing at night. I went around the same channel loop a dozen
times it seemed like before I forced myself to use my head and watch the
stars to keep my bearing and find my way out to the main lake I was fishing.
We used a pocket flashlight to look at the banks that night. If it had been
overcast I would have had to use a right turns only method to find my way
out of that maze.

Shortly after that I bought my first GPSMap. I also bought a 2 million
candle power portable spot light.

In the long distant past I used to fish for crappie at night by drifting a
canoe across a pond with the breeze. We had a 5 gallon propane tank and one
of those bulk tank adaptor stems to put a propane lantern on that put the
lamp about 4 feet up in the air. It worked great. We could fish all night
even on an overcast night. I had a snap on reflector that I would put on
the rear side of the lantern to direct light only forward so I could see
where we were going when it was time to head in.

A lot of guys who fish nights have black lights that clip on the rails of
their boat.

If you know the water you are fishing really well it helps.

My personal biggest concern about night tournaments though is other boaters.
Somebody sitting dead in the water with no lights on or ....


--
Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com

Bob La Londe wrote:


My personal biggest concern about night tournaments though is other boaters.
Somebody sitting dead in the water with no lights on or ....



It is amazing how many dumbasses will sit out on the main lake fishing
for catfish or stripers with no lights on. Just before you get too
close they will light a match. Friggin dumbasses! Almost stops my heart!

Carlos

Todd Copeland wrote:

Now that I have a boat with a livewell, I'm looking into entering a simple
tournament. Just to put this into perspective, I'm not looking to win, I
just want to give it a try for the fun of it. I live in Florida and I've
noticed that many of the tourney's are at night (6pm-9pm or 9pm-2am). I've
fished until dusk before and then stopped as it just becomes difficult to
fish when you cannot see anything. I'm wondering how people fish at night.
Do you use spot lights to see the shore, tree limbs, surface vegetation,
etc? Do people usually fish off shore for the most part? Any insight you can
gie would be great!


I fish a lot at night and one of my clubs has a couple of night
tournaments - the first a week from Saturday.

I hate spotlights at night. There have been many times when I was
catching bass and some idiot shined a spotlight on me and the bass quit.
I like a rocky point or bank at night and fish a black plastic worm,
black spinnerbait or crankbait with rattles.

If you will keep your running lights on but keep spotlights turned off,
you will be able to see where you are going on most nights. Starlight,
dock lights and moonlight will outline the bank and if you go slow you
won't have problems. Turning on a spotlight blinds you to everything
except what is right in the beam, so you can run up on problems fast.

Bass act at night much like they do during the day. Fish the same places
the same way. Although I like black, I have been beat many times out
of the back of my boat by folks using different colors. Deep structure
holds bass at night, too. I won a club tournament last summer on a rocky
ridge on the main lake fishing Mag 2 worms Texas and Carolina rigged in
to 15 feet of water - had a limit of small keepers.

My club has at least one annual tournament that runs overnight (7 or 8
PM to 6 AM). First rule is: Don't fish a body of water for the first time
at night. Make sure you are somewhat familiar with the lake during daylight
before you get out at night. Second thing is a GPS can be very valuable at
night. Not only for helping you find any spots you may have marked, but
also for finding your way back to the launch in the dark. Another thing is
it may be safer to consider yourself under electric power in the dark. I
see too many guys running around at some speeds when you never know if
someone is out there with no lights or you get a little too close to
structure or rocks or whatever, even floating debris. The spotlight can
help but like Ronnie mentioned, it can turn the fish off so be careful not
to point it where you or others are fishing. Just use it above the water to
get a general view of any nearby obstacles.

Rich P


"Todd Copeland" wrote in message
ink.net...
Now that I have a boat with a livewell, I'm looking into entering a simple
tournament. Just to put this into perspective, I'm not looking to win, I
just want to give it a try for the fun of it. I live in Florida and I've
noticed that many of the tourney's are at night (6pm-9pm or 9pm-2am). I've
fished until dusk before and then stopped as it just becomes difficult to
fish when you cannot see anything. I'm wondering how people fish at night.
Do you use spot lights to see the shore, tree limbs, surface vegetation,
etc? Do people usually fish off shore for the most part? Any insight you
can
gie would be great!

I checked ROFB.net, and there isn't an article in the Q&A on night fishing.
Probably ought to be, as popular as that is. I'm going to recycle a couple
of posts from years back, in case some of you weren't here then. The info is
still relevant..... Joe
________________________________

In May, 2002, Jim Laumann wrote:

There was a thread two weeks or so ago in which the URL for your ODF re-fit
project was posted. In your page describing your efforts
(http://www.secretweaponlures.com/odf/odfsite.html) you mentioned black
lights. Could you expound on this some more? When and how you use them -
brands if any, the low down on how the effect your fishing - what they do
for you etc.

Thanks

Jim
- - - - - - -
Sure, Jim.

I've been using black lights for close to 18 years now, and they make a
tremendous difference in both my casting accuracy and strike detection at
night.

In general, black lights serve to make "fluorescent" mono and super lines
glow like purple or green Jedi light sabers. Line watching is especially
important for fishing slow-moving baits like worms, tubes (my favorite night
bait is a 4 inch black salty tube) and craws when fish are not striking
aggressively. The highly visible line makes it easy to detect the tell-tale
twitch of a subtle strike.

The theory is that although fluorescent light will light up a line fifty
feet and more away from the boat, it penetrates water only a few inches,
meaning that it is invisible to fish a foot or more under the surface and
that line underwater doesn't glow. I'll admit I haven't checked out this
theory by swimming around my boat at night, but I guess I should.

I use black lights for fishing along banks and around exposed cover. When
I'm off the bank a ways fishing humps, ridges, shelves and drop-offs,
though, I sometimes turn the lights off and fish by feel or by watching the
moonlight glint off my line . I've been told by more than one really fine
smallmouth guide that even black lights will spook smallmouths at night.

The best lights are ones my partner and I made ourselves years back, but
I've given those away and am now stuck with store-bought models -- some of
which are pretty good substitutes. Our homemade lights had double-stacked
fluorescent blue tubes in a black plastic box with a clear Plexiglas front.
Mounted on swivels above that were two "moon-lights," black plastic boxes
with white Plexiglas fronts that each had a single 12-volt lamp controlled
by a rheostat. One such unit positioned halfway back along the gunnel was
adequate for two anglers sharing a boat. We used a long bolt through the
bottom, which we dropped through the oarlock on our jonboat. We positioned
the moon lights to spread the light enough for us both to see the snaky
trees overhanging the sloughs we usually fished, and we could turn one
around to light up the interior of the boat for digging through tackle boxes
or storage, unhooking fish, or reading maps.

These days I use a Stan Sloan "Piggy-Back" lamp (Zorro Baits) with standard
cord and 12 volt plug (costs about $80). The piggy-back model has a blue
fluorescent bulb and a small incandescent white light bulb. The amount of
white light can be controlled with a built in rheostat, while the blue bulb
is on or off.

A buddy of mine, Odell Braswell, used to make and sell a superior lamp,
called "Cat Eyes" I think, in his Tennessean Outdoorsman shop in Cookeville.
I think his were about half the price as Sloan's. There are plenty of others
on the market, starting with the plastic ones you can buy at Wal-Mart for as
little as $25. They all seem to use the same bulbs -- which is the most
important part of the whole apparatus.

Some lamps include a white fluorescent bulb, which is fine for docking or
when you stop fishing and want to light up the area to eat or something, but
it gives too much light for bass fishing IMHO.

One nice feature of Sloan's is the flip-top cover that swings over the top.
Usually, it shields the boat, but if you want light inside, you just swing
the shield over and then the light shines where you need it.

The blue (black) light is primarily for illuminating your line, although
when used alone it gives some definition to bank structure and foliage. As
my eyes age, I find myself needing to add a bit of white light to be able to
see the overhanging tree branches, dock pilings, buckbrush, and laydowns
clearly.

My advice is to avoid the white light as much as possible. On clear, rocky
banks I sometimes switch it off entirely.

Your options are cord with 12-volt plug, phono-jack plug, and cordless,
battery powered models. I prefer the corded models for use on my jon boat so
I can move a single lamp from starboard to bow to port -- wherever I need
light. On fiberglass bass boats, I'd probably go with the phono-jack
connections, and I'd install four outlets -- starboard-bow, starboard-stern,
port-bow, and port-stern. Then, with two lamps, my partner and I could just
pop the lamp up and move it to whichever side we're fishing from.

Most lamps have two or three big suction cups on the bottom that secure the
lamps on wide, smooth fiberglass gunnels while also providing some shock
absorption to protect the bulbs. For a jon boat, you'll need to attach a
flat piece of Plexiglas or aluminum mount. Or do what I do -- just slap it
on top of your tackle box or set it on the carpeted deck so it peeks over
the gunnels.

Some sites to see different models a
http://www.optronicsinc.com/fishing.htm (I think the BlackEye FL-222B is
what you can buy at Wal-Mart.)

http://www.bassbuckandduck.com/stan_...blacklight.htm (for Stan Sloan
models.)

Once you've fished with black lights at night, you'll not want to be out
after dark without one or two on your boat.

TNBass

__________________________
To which Jack Schmitt added....
Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 14:25:26 -0500

A caveat to the excellent advice from TNBass is, if you use the phono-jack
plugs, be sure and get an extra plastic insert or two to plug the jack when
the light is removed. These jacks face skyward and are notorious for
collecting water. The use of the plug prevents water collection with
resultant corrosion. The plastic plugs are quite easy to lose.

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..
___________________________

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.
___________________________

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.
__________________________

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.
_____________________________

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 ")))
______________________________

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.
______________________________

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.
__________________________

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]

Thanks for the tips Joe!
I will have to print them all out and take them with me tonight on Old
Hickory.
(but the first thing I plan on throwing is the "midnite snack")
"Joe Haubenreich" (removethis)swljoe-at-secretweaponlures.com wrote in
message ...
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..
___________________________

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.
___________________________

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.
__________________________

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.
_____________________________

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 ")))
______________________________

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.
______________________________

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.
__________________________

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]