What seems to be everyone's favorite night time lure for clear, deep water resevoirs for our beloved smallmouth? I have caught fish at night on jigs, grubs, c-rigs, big bladed spinnerbaits, crankbaits, t-rigged worms, most all of them. Some more than others  :-X but I was just wondering what the concensus as favorite might be. OK my favorite is a Hair jig.

Welcome aboard!

I like fishing jerkbaits.

8-)

Hello there RW, I fish a little lake just to your east quite a bit. I haven't had the luck this year with the jerkbait that others have had. But I do know they will work.

i have always been a fan of the classic jitterbugs but underspins have been doing very well for me in the last couple years

I imagine for night fishing you'd want something with a lot of vibration right? chatterbait, buzzbait, ratltraps? Never really did much night fishing so I'm interested too. I assume fish are locating the baits by sound/vibration am I right?

I imagine for night fishing you'd want something with a lot of vibration right? chatterbait, buzzbait, ratltraps? Never really did much night fishing so I'm interested too. I assume fish are locating the baits by sound/vibration am I right?

Nope.

The biggest producers at night are still jigs and soft plastics.

8-)

Can fish see in the dark?

Yes, but it takes an hour or so for their eyes to adjust.

Bass have a lateral line which allows them to detect

movement regardless of the light.

http://www.laterallineco.com/fish_lateral_line.html

8-)

I guess color doesn't matter then.

Does lure selection make much of a difference between largemouth and smallmouth at night?

Colors that work are black and black! Buzzbaits, jitterbugs and black spinnerbaits with a large colorado work best for me.

Allen

Oooh... It doesn't have to be black...

"Dark" is my favorite color...

8-)

I don't fish for smallies but my luck at night has been with senkos. I have given the black single colorado spinnerbaits a try, but it was not productive at all.

i like jitterbugs the best. i like buzzbaits more for largemouth at night than smallies. another fun bait that is producing for me is the storm chug bug. But classic hair jigs work great too  so the best for me is jitterbugs, chug bugs/poppers and smaller hair jigs

I am impressed by all the diffrent responses as to lure selection. It is really interesting to see the diffrences between northern smallies and the southern version. Thanks for the input guys.

I've had the best success nightfishing with black/blue chatterbaits, the original brand. In my experience, these baits far outfish other baits at night, even on a large clear reservoir I've fished for smallies.

Other good choices are topwaters (black walk-the-dog baits especially) and dark spinnerbaits with a single Colorado blade.

If you feel like being patient, a dark jig with rattles (or without) would be great as well.

Others say to use the same baits and fish the same spots, which may be good advice, but I've had different experiences myself.

Color doesn't matter as long as it's dark. Don't use light-colored baits at night - I guarantee you'll catch fewer fish with light colors.

Strike King Midnight Special Spinnerbait

The same baits they were hittin in the daytime.....

Big 4" tube in a dark color with a rattle slowwwwwwly dragged across rocky drop offs and at the end of the flats. Also around lighted boat docks.  

My #1 big fish producer at night is a chrome flatfish. I'm also fond of the Jitterbug.

I don't fish for smallies but my luck at night has been with senkos.

^^ This.  Dark Senkos and Roboworms are my go-to.

I night fish at least 2 times during a week, I'm fishing in a river but i have tried a lake a few times. I have tried different baits the best for where i fish is a jitterbug, the color depends on how dark the night is, what the moon phase is in. most of the time black is the all around color.

There will be night that a lighter color works better, we had a few night that white with a red head caught more fish, nights that chartuse worked better, other nights yellow was the best color or maybe it was a color you just happened to try. thats what makes it a little more fun trying to figure out what works best.  all around black catches more fish.

Swim Baits like Storm Wildeye Swim Shad and the Power Bait Hand Poured Shad on a 3/4 jig head have been a consistent producer this year at night. I stumbled on it fishing for walleye ~

I was out late last night - with a light rain and some of the big moon. Around midnight the SMB were really chewing these baits up !

A-Jay

I have never caught a smallie at night, been skunked every time. I will be trying everything I just learned here.

Thanks

G

beetle spin with willow leaf spinner!