Hi, looking for tips/ advice. I've got a rare opportunity (kids and wife out of town) to do some true night fishing dusk to dawn. I've done research best as I can re: techniques and gear but I'll admit one real problem is, I'm primarily a smallmouth / reaction / moving bait guy and for that reason I struggle on this lake in the summer even during daytime. Long narrow deep lake in NY state without much structure, I do not have FF sonar just an old Garmin 2d. Both ends of the lake have shallow, weedy flats, the remainder of the lake has weeds along shoreline but this is a deep lake and it drops off quick. There are some small weedy coves, but you can be 30 feet off shore in 40 or 50 feet of water in places. Crystal clear water.

I do well here in the spring fishing smallies on moving baits, but there are definitely largemouth in this lake, I've caught a couple 5 lbers but from what I can tell they average 2-4 lbs.

I've got 1/2 and 3/4 ounce swimjigs, crawl them on bottom around weeds?

The obligatory spinnerbaits, black with Colorado plus willow on white, although I've never caught a single fish here on a spinnerbait.

I have just about zero experience fishing jigs or worms but I've got some 10 and 11" curly tails and plenty of jigs with a good setup to throw them. Just not sure where or what to do with them.

Chatterbaits, check.

Topwater: ploppers and a couple wakes including a rat. I've fished topwater in low light here before with mixed results. I'm guessing I should leave my walking baits at home.

I've got a couple Baca Burrito swimbaits and some glides too that I've never really fished before. Not sure if I should worry about the big stuff at night?

Moon looks good but weather forecast says it might cloud up. I've got two nights to do this, let me know what you think.

https://usa.fishermap.org/depth-map/hemlock-lake-ny/

Read ajays night fishing thread first. Before you think about the specific baits and where, there are other night considerations for safety and efficiency.

The fish will be in the same areas that they are during the day. They might roam more (or not). Like during the day, you have to fish around and find out.

Go at least an hour before the sun sets. Get your casting warmer up. Let your eyes adapt to the light slowly as it goes away. Keep the deck clean and a minimal number of rods.

Thanks, I think I read that last year. I played around a little bit at night on a smaller fishery so I've got red lights set up, etc. I remember Matt at Tactical Bassin saying the opposite though, that the fish will be in different places in fact him and Tim once said that it's totally different fish at night. I thought that was interesting but wonder how true that could be, like some bass adapt to the heat by becoming nocturnal in their feeding habits? 🤔

6 hours ago, Swest18x said:

like some bass adapt to the heat by becoming nocturnal in their feeding habits? 🤔

That's true around here for the most part, but daylight fishing pressure also has something do do with it.

One thing for sure is that a good percentage of baitfish will flee to the shallowest water they can get to once predators are on the move. Spots along the shoreline that looked devoid of life during the day will be loaded at some point during the night. Just like any other part of the day, windows are key. Be there or be square. Find those shallow areas and fish them thoroughly and slowly. Fish a ribbon tail worm and a soft swimmer downhill if you're casting at the shore from 75' out. A bladed jig too. A small wake fished right from the bank back out to you could be killer if they're feeding up. Sometimes/often that'll be exactly what they want. If it's clear out, you're best bet will be after the moon has set. The bite often turns on like crazy right after that, but it might be a few hours afterward. It's hard to say when, but it'll be happening somewhere.

I was driving yesterday so didn’t have much time to reply (we were charging when I replied) so here is a little more from my experience.

I love a buzzbait at night. Like Phish said, the bass will often push up shallow and I will often throw a buzzbait right up onto the waterline in an inch of water and bring it out (cover dependent). For me, bluegills are the main forage and they will stay in that first 5’ off shore where it is bare before the grass starts. The bass will usually be around the grass edge waiting for bluegills.

As much as I love a buzzbait, sometimes they just don’t want it. They don’t want to break the surface of the water. I will have a vibrating jig tied on without exception as my #2 and I’m throwing it into the same places for the same reasons. Much of my cover is grass based and those two lures get through pretty cleanly and are bluegill imitators. One or the other will usually tell me what the fish want. If they are short striking a buzzbait that tells me they are reacting to it but really don’t want to break the surface. I’ll throw on a single Colorado thumper and keep it just under the surface in that case. A 1’ deep wake bait would also catch them, but treble hooks around grass at night is a frustrating experience. I save that for twilight hours.

I really hate throwing bottom contact baits in the dark. I know they work and catch fish. But if that’s the type of night it is then I’m probably going home for a good night’s sleep. Or if it’s an early morning trip I might try to force feed a buzzbait for a big fish until daylight. And then when I can see the cover better and fish tighter to it I’ll pick up a big worm or rage bug.

19 hours ago, Swest18x said:

Thanks, I think I read that last year. I played around a little bit at night on a smaller fishery so I've got red lights set up, etc. I remember Matt at Tactical Bassin saying the opposite though, that the fish will be in different places in fact him and Tim once said that it's totally different fish at night. I thought that was interesting but wonder how true that could be, like some bass adapt to the heat by becoming nocturnal in their feeding habits? 🤔

My own thoughts on this are that the quality fish tuck under the deepest cover during the day in the heat of summer. Like weeds surrounding a floating dock- they will tuck up under there and aren’t particularly interested in eating. If you can put a reaction bait right in front of them (fast moving punch bait as one example) you might get them to react, but they aren’t actively feeding. When the lights go off they come out of that heavy cover, but they aren’t going far- the nearest 1 or 2 ‘spots’ in either direction from their home base. On one of my home lakes there are a couple little ‘inlet flats’ where the straight shoreline indents 5’ back from the lake for 20’ of so and those are 1-2’ sandy flats where bluegills spawn and congregate. Within 100 yards there are some major thick vegetation areas. Those are the places (the flats) where I’m focusing at night. I’ll casually hit the edges of the thick stuff on the way, but I’m putting my time and effort into those couple sweet spots to understand what the fish are doing. If I run a buzzbait across 2 or 3 of them and don’t have a nip, I am putting down that rod for the vibrating jig. If still nothing, then I’m moving to the next flat. After a couple of those, I’ll start getting tighter to the thick cover, but I’m not punching at night.

Phish notes pressure and I think that is definitely one impact depending where you are. We have a lot of pressure here in NJ on some of the lakes (which aren’t very big). The fish act differently on the lakes that don’t get that pressure (more aggressive). The pressure lakes here I think the bass just tuck up under the tightest cover a little tighter and are just that much harder to access. Another factor is avian (and other) predators. Almost every lake I fish has a resident osprey. Some have eagles or cormorants. I had an otter one morning at one. A couple of them have muskies. A 12” bass that is cruising in the open as the sun is setting is a target for all of them. So the bass that naturally want to cruise in the open get picked off and the ones that prefer to be in the thick don’t (natural selection). I find that as the sun is setting and the birds start to go away, the bass need about an hour before they start coming out of the cover. I tend to do better in the last two hours before sunrise compared to the first two hours after sunset.