Night time line?

[NightFish]

Hey guys, first post. I've been walleye fishing at night for about 3 years now, at the dam end of a reservoir. From what I've seen based on the panfish caught, they run bluegill and pumpkinseed to the shore. I shore fish, and use shallow diving crankbaits 90% of the time. Now I first started with mono, and did just fine, however getting snagged caused me to lose quite a few good lures, the area is ridiculously rocky. I switched to 20lb braided last year, and had slightly less success, but nothing too major. I've always assumed that braided was fine at night, due to the low visibility, however I'm not sure anymore. I want to use fluorocarbon, anyone night fish for walleye with some helpful tips?

[1625rebel]

I use a Fireline 10/4 as my main line. I've used 10 or 15 lb fluoro as a leader. Say 8-10 feet or so. Not sure it helps at night, but I do believe it makes a difference in the daylight on clear lakes.

I still haven't seen a flouro that wouldn't jump off a spinning reel, so I've been reluctant to spool all fluoro. Lots of flouro brands I haven't tried though.

[NightFish]

Well, I use a baitcast reel for walleye. I've used Trilene 100% fluorocarbon for bass a few times, however I didn't see a difference vs. braided. Typically when a crankbait gets snagged under the rocks, I can easily pull it free with pliers. However if Fluoro will increase catch rate, I'd take the chance.

[Guest]

Is the diameter of the braid the same as the dia of the mono you ran? If not, baits may be fishing different depths?

Haven't tried it but I've seen guys use extendable painting poles for retrieving lures from shore.

Good Luck

[eyemike]

I would go with a heavy super line 30lb plus. The walleyes are not seeing the line at night and there is enough strength in the line to pull the lure free most times. Use a glove to pull on your line, super line will cut you pretty bad. I live on an inland river that is real snaggy so I know what you are talking about. At 6 to 10 bucks a pop it gets spendy. Mike...

[Phil T]

Try casting your crankbaits lightly downstream. When they get caught in the rocks, give some slack and hope the current will pull them free.

[SoleSearcher34]

Nightfish,
New to this board but I almost exclusively nightfish from shore here in colorado for big walleyes. I throw stickbaits 100% of the time, either shallow floaters or suspenders with my favorite and most consistently producing baits being suspending rogues and floating storm thundersticks. No matter what you will always be donating a few lures off and on to the rocks. If the fish are up real shallow in the rocks I use the floaters as much as possible to alleviate some of the snags since I can usually "float" the lure out. I do fish both mono and braid but I fish it at different times of the year. In my observation and opinion the difference in line is not a visibility issue at night.....it is a lure movement issue. The same lure will respond differently both visibly and more importantly audibly when pulled on mono versus superlines and even with different weights of mono. The inherent stretch or lack thereof can have a profound effect especially on jerkbaits. Early or late in the season I almost exclusively throw jerkbaits with 6# monofilament/copolymer line. As long as there isn't timber in the immediate vicinity, even the biggest walleye can be readily landed on this light line.(if in doubt check my recent catch in the ten pound club) I've had nights that I couldn't buy a bite on braid while fishing jerkbaits but as soon as I switched out to my spool of 6#, I started catching fish within just a couple casts. It seemed the more subtle acceleration of the lure was what they needed. Now later on when the water warms but you find the fish in a neutral or negative mode, the braid can often be the ticket. Due to the lack of stretch it allows you to give sharp, abrupt snaps of the lure and presumably more noise from the rattles thus garnishing more attention and "waking the fish up". Last night was my first night open water walleye fishing here in CO. We only had a small amount of open water to fish as the lake is mostly iced over still. I was fishing with my 6# mono and my buddy was throwing and identical lure on 20# braid. We were casting to the same small piece of open water. I got three bites and he got none. I have seen this scenario play out repeatedly on both ends of the spectrum. Just something to consider and try. Sorry for the long post.

Jeremy

[NightFish]

Thanks for that bit of info. So since Fluoro has no stretch either, I might be better off with mono? Eh, I've got 3 rod/reel combos that are medium/heavy, I'll try all 3 one night and see which one is the real killer. I've never used Jerkbaits for walleye though, I'll definitely have to give it a try.

[FishDr]

I don't have the night fishing credentials of SoleSearcher, but I've had some recent success throwing big swimbaits (8" stuff) at night over rocks that make you wet your socks, also in Colorado. I tend to use heavy line, either 25-lb mono or 65-lb braid, but that's really because of two factors:

1. I'm throwing big trout-imitating lures that weigh between 2 and 5 ounces; throw them on something lighter and you're likely to snap one off, especially at night when you're wearing heavy gloves and the ice is forming in the guides.

2. When I get snagged (it happens a fair bit), I can use the heavy line to get the lures back, either by straightening the hooks or moving the rocks. This wouldn't be an issue if the lures were cheap, but at $20 - $30 a pop, I don't like losing them.

3. The choice between braid and mono really comes down to whether I'm fishing on or near the surface (braid) or subsurface or walking along the bottom (mono). I find that the braid works best for near-surface work because it allows me to keep in contact with the lure, even during long pauses (simulating a sick hatchery trout trying to figure out where to go) and doesn't sink like mono does. For subsurface work, I like having the added stretch from the mono, and it also gives a bit more cushion when one of the big girls loads on 5 - 10 ft form the rod tip.

[REW]

Nightfish,
Load your reel with 10 lb mono - florescent blue line.
The very nice thing about the florescent blue line is that when you hit the line with a light, the entire line glows and really helps when you are having trouble landing a big fish.

If you are not getting enough bites, drop down to 8 lb, or if clean bottom 6 lb blue florescent line.

Take care
REW


Just pick up a spool of the line and use it before judging it one way or another. Another nice thing is that the line is very inexpensive, so changing line is not a big deal.

Also, the idea of using floater is a great idea to help with lost lures.

Another thing, the use of mono - is really to an advantage when freeing lost lures. You can normally snap your rod back and forth, and the combination of stretch in the mono and the back sweep - will generally free the lure.

However, with braid and the lack of stretch, you can't get this back snap due to the no stretch nature of braid.

My buddy and I fish the snag infested Mississippi river a lot. If I use braid, I will lose about 1/3 of the jigs that I am using for fishing. If I use mono - I lose about 1/3rd as many. There will always be times when a hook snags a piece of timber, a cable, or gets lodged beween rocks such that no amount of back snapping will free it.

[slipperybob]

Nightfish,
New to this board but I almost exclusively nightfish from shore here in colorado for big walleyes. I throw stickbaits 100% of the time, either shallow floaters or suspenders with my favorite and most consistently producing baits being suspending rogues and floating storm thundersticks. No matter what you will always be donating a few lures off and on to the rocks. If the fish are up real shallow in the rocks I use the floaters as much as possible to alleviate some of the snags since I can usually "float" the lure out. I do fish both mono and braid but I fish it at different times of the year. In my observation and opinion the difference in line is not a visibility issue at night.....it is a lure movement issue. The same lure will respond differently both visibly and more importantly audibly when pulled on mono versus superlines and even with different weights of mono. The inherent stretch or lack thereof can have a profound effect especially on jerkbaits. Early or late in the season I almost exclusively throw jerkbaits with 6# monofilament/copolymer line. As long as there isn't timber in the immediate vicinity, even the biggest walleye can be readily landed on this light line.(if in doubt check my recent catch in the ten pound club) I've had nights that I couldn't buy a bite on braid while fishing jerkbaits but as soon as I switched out to my spool of 6#, I started catching fish within just a couple casts. It seemed the more subtle acceleration of the lure was what they needed. Now later on when the water warms but you find the fish in a neutral or negative mode, the braid can often be the ticket. Due to the lack of stretch it allows you to give sharp, abrupt snaps of the lure and presumably more noise from the rattles thus garnishing more attention and "waking the fish up". Last night was my first night open water walleye fishing here in CO. We only had a small amount of open water to fish as the lake is mostly iced over still. I was fishing with my 6# mono and my buddy was throwing and identical lure on 20# braid. We were casting to the same small piece of open water. I got three bites and he got none. I have seen this scenario play out repeatedly on both ends of the spectrum. Just something to consider and try. Sorry for the long post.

Jeremy

I have pretty much the same experience with different line types and in different diameter. It's small subtle affects the lure just enough for bites. Unless you've fished a lot of night, daytime practicing with your eyes closed can also help your night fishing skills in rod sensitivity and reaction. There are some fishing buddies that I wouldn't want to fish next to in the night. They can't cast straight.