Thread: Caught a few at the Cave

when's dinner I don't want to be late

3 am is the hottest bite here I have been waking up early and going out around 2. Rather than using lights I have been fishing a few places with natural light. I have lights and sometimes go out and fish all night but not as of recent

Wow, Nice night bite. Been a few times and never caught a fish. Care to share your pattern?

The Thermocline at the cave is around 25'. Been fishing underwater points and setting up on the first break,witch is around 30'. Catching fish mostly deep 10 to 18' deep.
Got to have the shad coming in,no shad moved around until they start coming to the lights. Not talking about the little ghost shad seem's like u always get them but when the bigger shad come's in the crappie won't be far behind.
LittleJohn

Congrats on a nice mess if slabs. Night fishing can be slow and then super fast in just a blink. Small mouths at night on full moon can be great at times.

Originally Posted by LittleJohn

Not talking about the little ghost shad seem's like u always get them but when the bigger shad come's in the crappie won't be far behind.
LittleJohn

LittleJohn ... what you're calling "little ghost shad" are likely Brook Silversides. They're the little pencil shaped fish that you see jumping out of the water, late in the day (they're jumping after small flying insects). My Grandpa used to call them "Skipjacks" ... but, that's actually another completely different fish.

He used to have a long handled, wire screen mesh net, and we would ease along the bank at night with a lantern hanging over the side of the boat. They'd follow the light, and he'd dip them up and put them in a 5gal bucket. We fished for Crappie with them, and the Crappie seemed to prefer them over minners or shad.

They look like this :



I've even caught Crappie on dead ones, cut in half (once all the live ones were used up).

... cp

How u been pappy, the ones I'm talking about don't look like they are a inch long
LittleJohn

Originally Posted by LittleJohn

How u been pappy, the ones I'm talking about don't look like they are a inch long
LittleJohn

I'm doing OK, buddy ... thanks for asking. Those Brook Silversides usually aren't very long. That one in the picture would be a "monster" compared to the size/length of what you'd normally see. That picture isn't mine ... I got it off the web, just because it showed the shape & coloration of them so well.

I don't think they live more than a couple of years, so they can't really get too big. And when they hang around under your lights, they usually stay right on or near the surface of the water ... and they don't "circle" under the lights like Shad do, they just swim every which way, darting & dodging around & sometimes just dead still for a few seconds.

... cp