winter night fishing/lights

[RickK]

I've not done much winter nite fishing and wonder how productive it is. The few times I have been out I never caught any Northerns or pickeral,..even very late in the day,when light levels are low,. and I thought they shut down when it gets hard to see.I've caught a few brown trout at nite early in the year.We don't have a lot of walleyes around here but I'm guessing that walleyes do bite at night but wonder about on a cloudy nite and with snow on the ice..have you had anything hit your bait other than catfish/ling? I don't know the laws in your state and if its allowed,..but does light attract fish in winter? (like a crappie light in the water) I understand that walleyes are often turned off by lights but what if its XXX feet away,from yopur bait?...does the lights bring in prey and thus preditors? I also saw an underwater shot looking up thru the ice at lights on the surface and it was surprising how much penitrated the ice. (little snow at the time) this was like the light from Colmann lanterns on the ice . I know that no creature can see in total darkness and wondered how low can light levels be for walleye to stop biting.

[Rickk]

err anyone DO night fishing? Are lights illegal in your state?

[punch1]

We do a lot of our walleye fishing after dark and have been successful at times. It's a whole another world fishing inthe dark but fun! I've never done well for any other fish after dark except walleyes, catfish, bullheads, eelpout, some great lakes salmon and trout and certainly inland brown trout. I might be missing a few, but I believe the rest of the game fish and pan fish are better sought after during the day. In a ton of years of both open water and ice fishing at night, I have never caught a northern pike after dark. Generally, Wisconsin has no restrictions on fishing during the night other than for trout and salmon during a portion of the year.

[Don in Denver]

Rickk-
I do a lot of night ice fishing here in Colorado. Unfortunately, it's mostly for trout. I've caught very few walleyes through the ice. My experience is that some lakes have a terrific night trout bite through the ice. There is one lake in particular where the night fishing is often better than during the day. There are other lakes where I can't buy a bite after dark and before dawn. Go figure. I have not tried artificial lights for attracting trout, but I know they work for crappie, white bass and stripers. I do think glow jigs outfish non-glow 5 or 6 to 1 at night for trout. Hope this helps.

[WAeyes]

I think a constant light that is always there on a daily/nightly basis becomes part of their environment and they get used to it. The biggest problem I see with lights spooking fish is that light produces shadows and if the shadows are moving it will spook the fish.

Here in WA state I fish walleyes exclusively at night and/or low light periods. We do not have any Northern Pike out here so I can not comment on whether they will hit at night. I do however catch several big Rainbow Trout on large Walleye size crankbaits. It isn't the norm, but fighting a 6lb Rainbow in the dark is an absolute blast. Occasionaly I will catch a large and small mouth bass but this is even more infrequent.