Zcoker

Nothing says you have to change your ways. Fishing with live bait can get the biggest fish. Down here in Florida at world-class Headwaters Lake, many trophy fish have been taken on live bait. Most all the fishing charters use live bait and catch hundreds of bass. Just logical for them. A sure thing, so to speak. When I was using live bait for saltwater surf fishing, there was a ton of skill involved in hunting down the right bait and then catching it, not to mention keeping it alive. Sometimes I spent half the day hunting down the bait. Sometimes I would have to get the bait the day before to use the next day, like sand fleas for Pompano. Need to rake them up, and the skill involved is in timing the waves just right and then keeping them alive in a special container. So there's plenty of skill involved in a lot of things. Casting all day can get just as boring and tiring as sitting and waiting for a bobber to disappear. So do what you like to do and to heck with what anyone says, would be my take on the matter.

I usually catch bowfin which are a pita to unhook! I’ve been catching speckled perch in heavy cover with big punch rigs, 5/0 hooks heavy tungsten, plain weird. And of course the usual alligator. At least I’ve gotten most all of my rigs back!

No kidding! I was trying to fish while watching them all line up and was, like, that don't look right. I guess being close to the space center anything can happen.

Also see a lot of WERID stuff while fishing at night. This was the best I could do to capture a bunch of stars lining up...or whatever they heck they were. Very strange. I also took a video of them.

A good take from all of this is to always be prepared, if possible. Here in Florida we have a TrophyCatch program by the FWC. Fish 8lbs and up are logged and certified. The process has specific requirements and if not followed the fish is denied. So anyone fishing for trophy's here in Florida might want to keep things in check. One of my problems is fishing at night solo....well, it's not so much a problem for catching trophy fish lol But the TrophyCatch requirement means a clear picture of the entire fish (including entire scale) from top to bottom with a clearly definable weight. The fish's tail has to be visibly free from any structure. The weight has to be perfectly readable. That's all hard to do (nearly impossible) alone on a kayak at night. Holding a 9-10lbs ticked off bass by a scale over the dark water with one hand while trying to frame the entire mess with camera in the other hand is insane. It's the kinda photo that someone else has to take for you. So all my trophy fish go unlogged. During the day I'm a bit more proficient but it's still very hard to do solo. I tried it a few times and nearly lost my mind trying to get everything correct. In the daytime the sun is so blinding that the weight display on the scale is hard to capture. So I don't even bother anymore.

So you're asking in this forum about the Charleston area?

Think moving water, espeically during the summer months with the heavy rain. Look for run-off drainage or spillways into the bay after one of those classical Tampa Bay storms. You'll load up on the snook!

Sometimes I catch them, too!

This is called "fishing in the thick of it"

Terms like that get tossed around all the time, fishing in the grass, the lettuce, the weeds, the pads, in the thick of it...all about the green stuff in any particular body of water. There's four major types, floating, submerged, emergent, and algae. Most likely talking about any one of them. Can always shoot off a comment on one of their vids and ask what they mean.

Rain or shine, I am ready for both but try to stay clear of the lightening. Planning trips at night into the early morning usually keeps me high and dry. As far as productivity, I usually get all my action before the storm arrives or before the sky darkens up and right as the wind kicks up.

I have more nasty bug encounters during daylight. There's these knat-like bugs out in the marshlands here in south central Florida that bunch up in your face and follow you no matter where, buzzing and engulfing your entire head. They just don't go away, even if covered up. Mosquitoes are more prominent from the land, like you said, not so much on the water. If anything, there's more bug activity out in the everglades right when the sun goes down and then right when it comes up. Anything in-between is smooth sailing. Most of my bug problems are in my truck. They seem to sneak inside when I'm unloading my stuff at night, all kinds of bugs, which is all part of the clean-up later on.

Some of that floating stuff is so thick that trees and thick bushes grow on it. I have never had an issue with bugs at night out in the Florida everglades, even during the sticky hot summer months. I don't even carry bug spray! 🤷‍♀️

You talking around Islamorada or Charleston? Where

I don't use leaders anymore but when I did I never had my knot going through the guides, regardless of how it was tied, because the knot eventually knocked out a guide...or two. The guides are very small near the tip with only one foot holding them and seem to get knocked out easily, even on the higher end rods. Every single one of my Champion XP's has had a guide knocked out by a knot, very smooth FG knots. So I just don't bother with leaders anymore, only strait braid.

Night fishing can be a fad for some, maybe for the heck of it, just to see what it feels like, a sort of rush, if you will. Very few, however, stick with it. For others, to be sure, night fishing is a way of life and adapting to that way of life takes a lot of time and a lot of experience, a lot of hard earned experience with many unpleasant and dangerous pitfalls and even a few close encounters. Knowing the water fished is one thing. But what if those waters change on a dime? Out in the glades, for example, the floating masses are actually alive and ever changing, like a living amoeba. A nice clear-cut waterway can turn into a thick barrier of ominous shadows, instantly blocking your path or boxing you in. Many such situations come to mind. One has to not only know what's going on but also have that instinctual sense to guide them along.

I haven't done it myself, only something similar. I've roughed up the shaft with sandpaper to get the sound just right. Whatever is done, sound/vibration is a sure thing. Out in the glades, a little "tune" on my jitterbug makes all the difference in the size of bass that hits.

Sometimes I think it doesn't matter what you're throwing when the bass light up to feed. They'll hit just about anything, from my experience. When they light up at night, for example, they slam lures of all colors, whites, blues, purples, rainbows, doesn't matter. Yet the logical norm for dark nights is to use dark colored lures--mainly black. I've seen this folklore debunked many time. So my approach is to not even worry about it. Vibration or sound is more logical in my book at night. And I've proven that to myself many times over. Sometimes the variants, the gut feelings, those instinctual nudges of common sense, all must be followed in order to break away and beat through the barriers.

I'm a hardcore 10 from shore. I started out on the beaches here in south Florida and full steam ahead into bass fishing where I applied a lot of my shore-bound knowledge. When I started catching 7-8 pound bass consistently from the bank, I knew things were going in the right direction for kayak fishing. A good 9 for kayak fishing....motorized kayak fishing! I'm still learning but I'm an ace in the glades, espeically at night in the pitch blackness. I fare well in the daytime, too, but near 100 degree temps keep me in check....or at least keep me in the coolness of night. Boats I never really go into. I mean, I've owned them before, sure, but never took them to the limits like I did the other two forms of fishing. I used them mainly on the west coast of Florida to get out to various islands. Once on an island, I'd tie off the boat, setup camp, and it was never used again until I left. With those rods in the back, I'm gonna need a bigger boat! lol

You're very close to world class fishing, places like Headwaters Lake. You can walk the levee by the Fellsmere Grade Recreational Area and catch all kinds of nice bass. That whole area is loaded with canals and lagoons, many places to bank fish. I've banked fished there and have done quite well, sometimes even better than with a kayak. Just be mindful of all the wildlife. Best of luck!

Ironically, the one that got away will live with you forever

This is why wind, rain, even darkness, any such natural disturbance or condition is a good thing because it mask out our human presence. One can be as quite as ever but still have their sonar pinging away. Not only quiet, but shadows spook fish, the shadow of a rod casting, many such conditions to consider besides stealth alone.

I've often thought about it because it's very very possible here in Florida, especially in the places that I fish. Problem is, what do I do with a record fish way out in the everglades aboard a kayak at 3am in the morning? Only thing that I can think of is to stringer it or put it in my net and then call the 24 hour FWC emergency operator. Whether they come out then or wait until morning would be another story. They'd probably tell me "for wildlife emergencies only." Either way, I'd be stuck with a record fish fending off the gators until someone arrived to verify whatever they verify. I've heard here in Florida that a fisheries biologist needs to be present to take samples of potential record fish, something along those lines. They'd no doubt need their breakfast and coffee first. Most likely I'd be hanging out for a long, long time because they'd also need to source an airboat. Wish they had specific record-catch instructions and contact information. Maybe they do and I just don't know about it.

All summer long I fish only at night with the exception of the morning hours, which I fish through sunrise and and then head back in to the launch site. During the night, though, I fish everything the way I would normally fish during the day, even punching mats. Yep, full moon nights can be very impressive under the thickest of cover! My focus at night is sound, vibration, which can bring forth the biggest hits. So spinnerbaits, for example, will have big single Colorado blades as opposed to the daytime willow blades, variations like that. Anything that makes a lot of vibration or sound will be a good bet to use at night. I even frog fish at night with results that are just as good as the daytime, sometimes even better. Flopping around a big black King Daddy over the thickest of cover will entice some of the biggest hits imaginable. Summertime at night is the right time if you want some great action. Just gotta re-adjust sleeping habits, etc.

These gals come out and play at night. She was just shy of 9lbs, which is not unusual at night where I fish. Be VERY quiet and VERY sneaky, like slow motion sneaky, methodical cast. No light, no sound, and you might be able to fool them into making a hard and angry hit. Yes, fool them, trick them, because they are very smart and KNOW all about what's going on around you, light or no light. And once hooked, hold on! Now you can turn on the light because you'll need it to net 'em.