Night crappie fishing?

[Captain Dan]

Has anyone been fishing after sunset with lights in the water lately?
I'm going to give it a try at Clinton Saturday night either in the standing timber near the State Park beach or up rock creek depending on the wind and boat traffic.
If the shad come in to the light I'll do good on the crappie until the whites or wipers move in.

[Fish Taxi]

Please post if you have any success at it. I was thinking seriously about giving it a shot next weekend since the water is pretty clear and the nighttime temps are pleasant. A good report might just seal the deal!Thumbs Up

[HaleDamage]

Has anyone been fishing after sunset with lights in the water lately?
I'm going to give it a try at Clinton Saturday night either in the standing timber near the State Park beach or up rock creek depending on the wind and boat traffic.
If the shad come in to the light I'll do good on the crappie until the whites or wipers move in.

Dan---Heard a few guys fishing from 2am to 7am around the marina / docks where there are lights.. Getting lots of fish..mostly short.
But getting a few in the 10" to 11" range..Just using jigs....some times they will hit it on the way down...
only a foot or 3 down..
O ya -- watch out for the coons..they will steel your fish right off the string when your not looking.

Good luck my friend.

[BigRiverMarine]

Coons always steal your fish. Try them BBQed.

[Captain Dan]

I did not get on the spot I wanted to fish until 9:30 PM. Put out the 4' green light, dropped 3 lines with minnows, first crappie didn't hit until around 11. Only caught 3 shorts until 3 AM, no shad around the light, so I headed to my slip at the marina. Started catching 8-9 inchers until around 6 before the slabs showed up. Had 3 big fish on that staightend my gold hook, probably flatheads, but did get an 8 pound channel in the live well. He got cleaned with the 7 keeper crappie and headed home by 11.
I'll be doing this night fishing again when I get caught up on my sleep because the temps at night are way cooler than the daytime temps.
Good luck guys.

[Sow tamer]

We have been doing some night fishing with the lights on Smithville. Best luck isfinding a spot before dark wher the bite is good and putting the light in to attract the baitfish and hold the crappie and attract some more. We have caught some whites and catfish while using the lights.