You know, there was a time when I almost never saw the light of day. Night fishing has always had a special meaning for me, both in terms of success and aesthetically. At first, practically all I fished for were largemouth bass and crappie, and did quite well. Both of these fish are noted night biters and are very common in the lakes near my south east Wisconsin home.

The aesthetic aspect comes into play with the coming of the night. Any lake near a metropolitan area can be a zoo during the daylight hours. After the sun hides behind the trees and the boat traffic subsides, it is amazing how calm and peaceful any lake can be at night.

Throughout the Midwest, most of the most sought after walleye hot spots have virtually untapped night fisheries. Areas such as Little Bay de Noc, Green Bay, Sturgeon Bay and Saginaw Bay all are noted for their excellent walleye fishing. They all also have a tremendous night fishery as well.

I must point out however, that Sturgeon Bay has always been known for the fantastic night bite and recently, Little Bay de Noc is getting a little notoriety for night fishing, especially late in the fall. But, as a case in point, Little Bay de Noc has always had an excellent night bite, and for big fish! The odd thing was, few people seemed to be willing to take on the walleyes that were offering night action.

For me, it wasn’t until about 1992, that I first ventured out in search of a few night ‘eyes on Little Bay. Prior to my assisting at the M.W.C. Championship held on Little Bay in 1992, the only time I was able to venture up there was to compete in the annual M.W.C. tournament held there every summer.

My very first night outing was a complete success, and very unique, to say the least! After what had been a particularly hot day, we had a warm, beautiful, partly cloudy night. Complete with a gentile night breeze that kept the incessant bugs at bay. I had decided to fish only a couple of hours, so I thought a little wading would be the ticket.

The area of the bay immediately behind our hotel was basically a large shallow sandy flat, full of pencil reed beds and scattered weed beds. The sand flat dumped off into 38 feet of water at the break. The scattered weeds were between the edge of the pencil reeds and the break. If you are familiar with Little Bay, this spot is right out in front of the Terrace.

Armed with only one rod and a couple of big stick baits, wearing only shoes, shorts and a polo shirt, I made my way into the shallow reeds. As I walked out into water up to my thighs, I began to spook several large fish. “Carp.” I thought to myself. I made my way out to the edge of the pencil reeds and began to cast.

I hadn’t made 3 casts out along the edges of the sparse reeds, when I got the first hit. This fish hit so hard, it actually startled me. After a short battle, I slid the 5 pound beauty into my waiting hands. After briefly admiring my prize, and wishing someone had come with me to at least take a photo, I slid the fish back into the water. If I was going to keep any fish, I decided it would have to be the fish of a lifetime, or a couple of small eaters.

After 5 or 6 more casts, I had a brute of a fish just annihilate my stick bait. This was one of the most violent surface hits I had ever recieved! This fish had hit so hard and made such a splash, that I actually didn’t set the hook! I was caught totally off guard and just stood there with my mouth open, catching flies. “Pike.” I thought. Just to be sure, I made a gentile pitch just past where the fish had hit. Immediately, there was another violent explosion on my Thunderstick. This time I was ready for it, I stuck the pig!

After several minutes of surface waking runs and violent (and wet) thrashes, I was able to maneuver the fish close enough to get a good look at it in the gentile glow of the hotel lights on shore. The first thing I noticed were two silver nickel sized eyes glowing at me from the darkness, it was not a pike, but it was a huge walleye!

Upon realizing the fish that had been so arrogant as to smash my lure twice was not a northern, I was very relieved. Now don’t get me wrong. I would have minded one little bit if this fish that was easily over 8 pounds was a pike. I was relieved that at not having to try to grab an 8 pound plus, stick bait hooked mouthful of the devils own razor blades. Those of you who have had to land, by hand, a pike this large during the daylight hours, can appreciate my concern.

The calm that came over me as I made this realization, was short lived and turned to concern. After all this was a walleye, easily over 8 pounds. The concern then nearly turned to panic as the brute walleye ran right between my legs and headed for the bulrushes. There were a few obvious things wrong with this picture.

Oddly enough, my first fear I had was the possibility of loosing this fish. Never mind that a rather large fish, with a rather large lure, with three sets of rather sharp treble hooks had just run right between my legs. I also didn’t want to deal with the potential damage to me if I received a line cut anywhere down in the nether regions, where the line now freely passed.

With the grace and speed of an Olympic hurtle jumper, and the reaction time of a frightened coward, I managed to jump clear of the line and wheel around to face the fleeing fish. All the while, I somehow managed to maintain a tight line, keep the fish hooked, and not injure myself.

It took a few minutes more to turn the brute away from the weeds just so she could fake defeat and reluctantly swim right up to me. Using the tension on the rod like an archers bow, this little beast shot the Thunderstick right at my head as she seemingly let go of it. In doing this the walleye forced me to take a dive into the drink as to avoid sitting in an emergency room, getting a stick bait removed from my face. I’m allergic to pain, not water.

Two walleyes and a bonus 3 pound smallmouth later, the chill of being dunked finally caught up to me. It was time to wade back in. Did I mention, that in all my infinite wisdom, I wore only shorts, shoes and a polo shirt? Did I also mention the surface temperature was only around 59 degrees? I know, smooth move Einstein.

Fast forward to last fall and several night fishing runs later. My partner Max. and I once again ventured out onto the bay for a little night fishing. This time we had opted for the comfort of Max’s boat. Being as it was November, and the fish we would be pursuing were located in 10 to 17 feet of water, too deep to wade. Actually, most of my night fishing trips are done from a boat.

We hadn’t been fishing for ½ an hour when we netted our first fish. A scrappy little five pounder isn’t exactly little, but with what the bay is capable of during the fall and at night, five pounds is about average on a good outing. Sadly, this wasn’t to be a good outing. We didn’t exactly set the water on fire, but we did manage to catch a dandy walleye that weighed in at a shade over 8 ½ pounds, and we did have a good time . And that is the true definition of success in my book.