Night Fishing!!!

[REW]

Fish at night whenever you have an open night.

REW

[UGLYSTIK52]

Im just starting it also.....im just putting lanterns in the boat and i have lights all around my cockpit......and my planer boards have blinking lights on them also....i ll be hitting the lake very early mornng reather then going out after the sun goes down.....theres alot of catfishing on my lake when the sun goes down,

[grizzley]

fished at night for years at a local lake. working middle shift sort of had something to do with that.
trolled "OLD" J-2002 4 1/2" rebels very close to shore, in may and june.
there were alewifes in this lake, and they were in close to shore, and the walleyes were feeding on them.
also fish a local river at night. there we usually anchor and cast firetiger HJ-8 or HJ-10 Rapalas in both the spring and fall. We have pretty good luck with these.

[octanehi5]

While fishing at night you need to have red or green leds do not use white light it scares the walleye, the walleyes can see just fine in the natural night time light.only you can't. they tend to be in very shallow water at night chaseing bait 8'of water or right up to shore. Fish the coming of the full moon and the full moon and a few days after they are the best night fishing for walleye. June 30 to july 6th would be great times, I will be on a fly in lac in northern Quebec starting July 1 to the 8th you can bet I'm going to be night fishing. You can use your favorite way to catch them, stick bait are killer at night, floating rapala cast to shore and retreave, jig case to shore retreave. Some of the best fishing happens at sunset though moon rise in low light conditions. just before a cold front.

[UGLYSTIK52]

Originally Posted by octanehi5

While fishing at night you need to have red or green leds do not use white light it scares the walleye, the walleyes can see just fine in the natural night time light.only you can't. they tend to be in very shallow water at night chaseing bait 8'of water or right up to shore. Fish the coming of the full moon and the full moon and a few days after they are the best night fishing for walleye. June 30 to july 6th would be great times, I will be on a fly in lac in northern Quebec starting July 1 to the 8th you can bet I'm going to be night fishing. You can use your favorite way to catch them, stick bait are killer at night, floating rapala cast to shore and retreave, jig case to shore retreave. Some of the best fishing happens at sunset though moon rise in low light conditions. just before a cold front.

Good tips brother...I'll be mostly going on the full moon before and after...I have the lights on the planer boards so knuckleheads don't run into them...but if i'm fishing shallower then 15 ft....i'll be casting to them....planer boards will run in 20 ft to 30 ft..anything deeper and their not in feeding mode and its a waste of time....UGLYSTIK52

[RedNeckWino]

Heading out in about an hour to hit the water. Will be trying crawler harness in the shallows first and a bit of casting cranks. If that doesn't do it, I dug out my old planer boards tonight. Wow were they covered in cobwebs and dirt. Stowed in the crawl space. Anyone ever use these or even heard of them? Bought 3 of them years ago when they were just starting.
http://www.lureleader.com/index.htm

I use them on top only as planers. Have not tried the diving setting on them. I have down riggers and dipsy's for that. Also found some of my yellow bird boards but think they need replaced. Looks like the mice got hungry.

[1625rebel]

4th of July marks the beginning of my night trolling cranks season. It's live bait for me in May/June. Now I will only do some spinner trolling with live bait during daylight. I have better luck with trolling cranks at night on Full Moon's this time of year.

We'll be up at the lake all week next week, and it looks like the full moon timing is perfect. Better yet the moonrise and sunset are aligned on some of the nights. Just need some clear skies! Something about trolling at night is so soothing.

[Canga~]

i tried some of the suggestions posted in this thread (little to no light, keeping it more quiet, etc) on the spot i mentioned earlier in this thread.

was casting a 4.5" "king midas" color (black back, gold, orange belly) smithwick limited rogue on the eges of a grass bed with some deeper cabbage, caught a small largemouth not long after dark, then a few casts later something bigger HAMMERED the bait, i knew it was a big fish when it started fighting, few mins later i landed my personl best, a fat 26.5 incher, i estimate about 7.5 pounds. got her out of the net, took a quick pick and she swam away.

nothing like setting the hook at night and not knowing for sure what you have till it gets to the boat, then you turn on your headlight and see that eye shine and its a big one! night fishing is so awesome!

[1625rebel]

Originally Posted by Canga~

nothing like setting the hook at night and not knowing for sure what you have till it gets to the boat, then you turn on your headlight and see that eye shine and its a big one! night fishing is so awesome!

And that's what sets apart the small fist pump walleyes vs the hang-your-head-in-the-dark rock bass catches. Love the headlamp eye indicator too!

[1wannabe]

Been fishing the spring night bite for several years now in the Saginaw Bay. Method for our success is pulling silver, chrome, gold, fire-tiger F-18 Rapalas behind four Off-shore planers and two straight lines in shallow water. Small glow sticks placed in the planer board flags help keep track of the boards and the bites. Love when the glow stick breaks formation and heads for the back of the boat, even better when the glow stick goes under - usually a big fish or a snag. Targeted depth in the spring is between 4' to 10' of water, as the year rolls into summer the fish seem to get deeper and the presentation changes from F18 Rapalas to crawler harnesses on bottom bouncers. For lighting we use a spot-light and head lamps and never had a problem with normal white lighting vs red lighting, eyes dialate and acclimate to the light change rather quickly. It's good to have a sequence of events worked out with people on the boat who aren't accustom to the routine. It's good for newbies to observe a couple times before undertaking in tasks such as netting and releasing planer boards. I'm sure I could write a small book on this topic but this is general ideas and statements. Slow down, navigate cautiously, wear pfd, and most of all have fun!