I'm going to be night fishing tomorrow night on a very small private pond. NO PRESSURE. I've fished it only once before with a buddy who fishes it every now and then, I had no luck and he had a crappie day. (in-line spinners were his choice, no surprise). He tells me there are some 6-8 lb large mouths in there, and I MUST find them.

I will try to describe as best as I can, there is a dock with some pilings in the water and its about 3-6 feet deep near that area, there are two small coves and one has some overhead limbs and the other has some cattails. Deepest part of the lake is 15' and one end is pretty shallow 2-4'

What would you guys throw for some large bass at night?

Also, the guy who owns it said he think there are too many crappie in it, I would like to catch some of these buggeers and keep them to eat (they taste good?)

thanks fellas. Any of you Stafford/F'burg guys wanna come out, PM. whiskey/tequila is a must with this weather.

large Black jointed jitterbug.............

I wouldn't throw a jitterbug at this time of year. I'm assuming the water will be pretty cold and the bass will be deep. Look for the deepest dropoffs you can find and fish them slowly with a soft plastic or jig. Another option would be a blade bait, spoon, or dropshot in the deepest spots but that might be hard to do from the bank. It's easiest to fish them vertically. Throw a shaky head, and see what happens.

As for the crappie, try to find some cover in deep water like a tree or something. They like to hangout in trees. When you catch one, you'll likely catch more in the same spot.

Also, I'm assuming the water will be dingy from our recent rains. I like to use rattles on jigs in dark water. Also, I choose darker colors then when I'm fishing clear water ie: black and blue or just black. Something with vibration, sound, flash, etc...will most likely help you in dingy water. I use the same logic for fishing at night most of the time.

If you have a big swimbait, it might be a time to fish it slow and low in the water column. It might still be warm enough for a biggun to want a large meal.

rat l trap, dark colorodo blade spinnerbait, dark color worms and jigs

Carolina rig this lure use black. I handed someone their...well, you know with this lure fishing at night.

http://www.productolure.com/buzztailshad.php

Plastic

Plastic

Maybe a 7 1/2" Gene Larew Salty Ringworm,

T-rigged and unpegged?

8-)

Try a black Zoom trick tail worm,Texas rigged with a 1/16 oz. worm weight.

Plastic

Maybe a 7 1/2" Gene Larew Salty Ringworm,

T-rigged and unpegged?

8-)

Or maybe a 6" Senko T-rigged and unweighted 

What about hook size? I usually have a tough time figuring it out. Will a 3/0 EWG work?

Same size as you'd use during the day, I use 5/0 but you can get away with 3/0 I suggest 4/0 though

Try a big 10" Culprit worm in the red shad or black and blue, you'd be surprised, those work really good for me at night on the river.

5/0 will be too big for a 6inch senko, or a zoom trick worm, the 3/0 is fine for the senkos, but the zooms I like to go with a 2/0.  Now if you do break out the 10+ inch worms then 5/0 or even 6/0 are fine.

Hook size should be based on the thickness of the plastic not just the length

1.slow and low with plastic worms of your choice.

2.popper

3.buzzbait

1.slow and low with plastic worms of your choice.

2.popper

3.buzzbait

This is not florida...

1.slow and low with plastic worms of your choice.

2.popper

3.buzzbait

This is not florida...

unfortunately...

You mean the fish won't be sleeping....

But seriously, I have only fished at night once, and decided to try as many different lures as I could. Nearly every dark colored bait I threw produced.