Thread: night fishing help

Crappie do not seem to do nearly as well down here(east) in the rivers and creeks at night, and many say it's due to the tannic acid stained water. I know folks who have caught them at night at Sutton Lake and Lake Waccamaw, but very few people do it down here.

Originally Posted by SEA DANCER

A couple of thoughts...You are not fishing really deep water so crappie can't go really deep. Another thing is the tide. As you know falling water is better most of the time. If you have a creek that floods a large area and have had a few sunny days that black water heats up fast. The crappie will hold in the deep water in the river but move to the mouth of the creek when that warm water starts falling out. I think that is where I would fish and let the tide tell me when to fish. Remember, the outflow will be the warmest just before sun set. The fall that comes early at night will be better I think. What do you think?

Honestly, these fish around here behave so crazy that I don't even know what to think. I know I sound like a broken record, but it is just such a different game in these shallow, tidal creeks and rivers. I definitely agree that an early outgoing tide would be the best. I have for sure figured out that they behave just like like flounder or drum as far as staging at a creek mouth to catch bait washing out on the falling tide. I don't even know if I'll go night fishing. If I do it won't be for a while, as I don't have all the equipment to do it right. And I don't expect I'll be buying many more toys till after January, although I did get another Wally Marshall rod for half price at Dick's the other day. This one was 14'. Make a point every time you go in there to look for broken rod tips, broken reels on combos, etc. You can talk to the manager and get it for 1/2 off. (I made a post about this already, sorry).