Jump to content

Seasonal Night Fishing - What's Different


1984isNOW

Recommended Posts

What's the deal with night fishing in the fall, especially Northern/ north eastern fall?

 

Big girls still come out to play?

 

Still hitting top water?

 

Don't bother if I can't fish when the sun is warming them up?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The biggest difference that I can think of would be locating the fish if you don't have an idea of where they were during the day. Some will be roaming, following schools of baitfish and some will hold in an area where baitfish frequent, eg.creek arms. That can be a lot of water to cover in the dark, with your eyes on your electronics. When/if you do locate them, you'll be dealing in a neutral mood more often than not. Where noise and vibration are calling cards for summertime night fishing, they can be a turn off in colder water. 

If you can find and catch them during the day, those same techniques should work at night.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super User
On 10/16/2023 at 6:54 PM, Kites R4 Skyfishing said:

Big girls still come out to play?

 

Still hitting top water?

 

Don't bother if I can't fish when the sun is warming them up?

 

I caught one of my biggest 2023 bass a couple weeks ago in the dark on topwater.

 

However, the last two times I launched in the dark, I caught nothing until the Sun rose and the water warmed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/18/2023 at 3:47 AM, ol'crickety said:

 

I caught one of my biggest 2023 bass a couple weeks ago in the dark on topwater.

 

However, the last two times I launched in the dark, I caught nothing until the Sun rose and the water warmed.

Very interesting, I'm relegated to night fishing presently because I only fish after my 2 little girls are in bed. I rarely wanna give up a day with them to fish, only a couple half days were sacrificed this year.

 

I got one trip with a buddy on Sunday coming up, plan to be out all day on new water mostly. I'm excited because I've heard there's good fish, I'm nervous because it's new and cold and we have no electronics and the bass are following shad and gills around.

 

I'm still hoping I'll bump into another good bass before the season ends.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super User
9 hours ago, Kites R4 Skyfishing said:

I'm relegated to night fishing presently because I only fish after my 2 little girls are in bed.

 

I think the beginning of night could be great since the water's been warming all day, as opposed to the end of night, where it's been cooling all night. 

 

9 hours ago, Kites R4 Skyfishing said:

I'm still hoping I'll bump into another good bass before the season ends.

 

Me too! I'm done fishing, so I'm fishing through you now. 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Global Moderator
2 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Heck I was thinking about trying to night fish in the winter…. Just to say that I caught a fish at night in winter and to really poke those deep North anglers 

I’ve caught catfish that way, no bass tho 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I think the beginning of night could be great since the water's been warming all day...

 

Makes senseto me, sometimes I can scoot out sooner than others.

 

 

Me too! I'm done fishing, so I'm fishing through you now. 

 

Well then we fished for a couple hours tonight, and finally got a 2 pounder around midnight. Nice fishing with ya Crick, the pleasure was all mine 😉

 

20231021_000107.jpg

14 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve had equally terrible luck night fishing regardless of season 

All the biggest fish of my life have been after sunset, and manyvof them close to midnight. All the other big fish I've seen caught were around that time too.

 

I'm sold the big girls like to dance at night

14 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Heck I was thinking about trying to night fish in the winter…. Just to say that I caught a fish at night in winter and to really poke those deep North anglers 

There should be a little red furrowed brown face to react with, but hey my 5 pounder up here is like your 8 pounder down there - challenge accepted 😡😁

  • Thanks 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super User

One thing you don't wanna do is over complicate night fishing.

 

A bass's day is not 7-3 or 9-5, their day is 24/7/365. 

 

It is said that bass feed more at night than during the day. Bass feed according to their metabolism, when the food is near digested it starts looking to hunt. This may occur at midnight, 2 o'clock in the morning. Sunrise, noon, or sunset.

 

This doesn't account for predatory feeding.

 

You're locating bass with your electronics & then use the most effective techniques for catching em. 

 

Same thing you do in the daylight!

 

Darkness covers up an angler's presence & most of all his mistakes.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super User

Nice fishin' with you too, @Kites R4 Skyfishing!

 

50 minutes ago, Catt said:

Darkness covers up an angler's presence & most of all his mistakes.

 

So true. The more shrouded I am, whether by rain, fog, or shadow, the more confident I am. 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Catt said:

You're locating bass with your electronics

Oh how I wish that were true! Even on the yak I'm electronicless. I'm blind casting towards shore and then towards the middle hoping a fish is somewhere on either side of me.

 

Fishing would be a lot easier if I had any idea what I was casting at - aside from visible cover on the shore side.

 

Any tips for an old school angler just going by sight, feel, smell and taste? And I suppose some hearing and presumptions about bass behavior...

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super User

@Kites R4 Skyfishing with no electronics, keep in mind that fish like anomalies or changes. Isolated cover often better than cover fields. Bottom composition changes. A dock that sticks out farther in the lake than the others. A patch in the grass where it is less thick. A rock bigger than the rest. Timber that's completely submerged versus poking out. A flat instead of a steep drop or vice versa. 

 

Jimmy Houston uses the term "junction areas" and you can hear him talk about this. Where one thing meets another. Changes.

 

Night fishing of course you can't see as well so I would recommend learning your lake well enough in the daylight that you know where to cast in the dark, and that's tough. But you can learn what general regions produce for you and that can be helpful.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super User

Night fishing up north is good for walleyes😎

Night bass fishing up north seasonally would be better when the water and air temps are above 50 degrees.

Without sonar bass fishing at night is more difficult then day light because you can’t see well enough to cast at shore cover accurately....no depth perception and can’t see weed lines, over hanging trees, etc.

The positive factor night fishing for bass is the boat traffic is few and far between.

Texas rigged worms with a sliding bullet weight and glass bead is my 1st night fishing rig followed by a jig ‘n pig.

Tom

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super User
On 10/16/2023 at 6:54 PM, Kites R4 Skyfishing said:

What's the deal with night fishing in the fall, especially Northern/ north eastern fall?

Plenty of good fish get caught up here at night in cold water.

On 10/16/2023 at 6:54 PM, Kites R4 Skyfishing said:

Big girls still come out to play?

Yup.

On 10/16/2023 at 6:54 PM, Kites R4 Skyfishing said:

Still hitting top water?

In my experience not really. They're more apt to hit a wake bait you can crank down just below the surface. Weight a floating swimbait or glide to super slow sink and twitch it or slow swim it over receding weed beds.

 

On 10/16/2023 at 6:54 PM, Kites R4 Skyfishing said:

Don't bother if I can't fish when the sun is warming them up?

Right now, yes. But soon the night bite typically ramps up for a few weeks before it shuts down. They're still scattered now, but they'll wolfpack up much more over the next few weeks. The trick is location and catching a window.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super User
3 hours ago, Kites R4 Skyfishing said:

Oh how I wish that were true! Even on the yak I'm electronicless. I'm blind casting towards shore and then towards the middle hoping a fish is somewhere on either side of me.

 

Fishing would be a lot easier if I had any idea what I was casting at - aside from visible cover on the shore side.

 

Any tips for an old school angler just going by sight, feel, smell and taste? And I suppose some hearing and presumptions about bass behavior...

 

I've had some beasts clobber surface lures retrieved parallel to reeds. PhishLI suggested this tactic for the fall and he was right.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super User

I’ve talked to a lot of guys who do really good night fishing in September and October. I always figured it was more of a later spring and summer thing and that’s when I generally do the best.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/20/2023 at 10:27 AM, LrgmouthShad said:

Heck I was thinking about trying to night fish in the winter…. Just to say that I caught a fish at night in winter and to really poke those deep North anglers 

It's our turn in July and August when we catch the big girls mid day while you're hiding out in your A/C home wishing you could be too.

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super User
7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’m getting sleepy just reading about night fishing 

 

Jumping Wake Up GIF by Brimstone (The Grindhouse Radio, Hound Comics)

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Outboard Engine

    fishing tackle

    fishing

    fishing

    fishing

    fishing

    bass fish

    fish for bass



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.