Can anyone give me advice on how to troll at night? Is there a simple rule of thumb for night trolling like staying in shallow or deeper water flats or points and what type of lures work best at night stick baits or your typical shad rap types? Sure could use a little help
hey let me know if you hear anything I'd like to know..
You'll have to change your tactics considerably at night. Mostly because of the difficulties of fishing in the dark, but there are some changes I make in presentation also.
1. Find someplace that's easy to fish, don't try to follow a countour that's shaped like a slinky, stick with shallow flats and weedbeds, trolling your lures just above the weeds, usually less than 15 feet, and the best ones are less than 10 feet IMHO. You don't want to be turning around every five minutes, lines get tangled, and you'll just get frustrated. Also, keep a clean, organized boat. Specifically I like an area between 4 and 8 feet, with either some rock/boulders or good weedgrowth. It helps if there is some depth change in the area, like adjacent to a sharp drop into 20 feet. The active fish will usually scatter all over the flat, so there's no need to try to follow the edge.
2. For lures, I prefer orig. rapala's in sizes 11-13, and huskies even bigger. Also Hellcats, rogues, or just about any stick bait. Rattles can make all the difference some nights. Also at times large shad raps or similar lures trolled very slow banging into the rocks/boulders can be very productive, just make sure there's not alot of snags in the area first.
3. Be quiet, I usually use my electric bowmount for trolling at night. I can get to around 2.5 mph with it if I lift the big motor. That allows me to use shorter lines to minimize tangles. Some nights I'll only run the lures 40 feet back if I'm fishing in less than 6 or so feet. If you need to use a gas motor, go with longer lines, depending on the lure and depth.
I'm no expert on this, it's just my experiences on my home lakes. I'm sure you'll find differences wherever you go.
Eyez
I- think Eyze is right on. Some of the best night trolling areas are sandy swimming beaches if they are not ropped off. No weeds and straight runs. I particularly like to troll flatfish with nightcrawlers hung on the back treble. It has a slow wobble, large profile and the nightcrawlers add scent. The only problem with two sets of trebles at night is more to get tangled. Couple of other tips; put luminous tape on your landing net handle, your pliers and always put them back in the same place as you don'nt want to be turning on lights and ruining your night vision.
ufda