Quote Originally Posted by PAM3417 View Post
Good report cause. When you set up next to Bestfriend did you have minnows around your light? I have found too many lights in an area can cause a problem. I bet the fishing picked up after Bestfriend left. When I first started night fishing I thought more lights the better but was wrong. If I am fishing with another boat we will use just one light set between us. 1/2 oz egg sinker seem like way to much wt. May be why some fish are badly hooked.They can eat the minnow before you know they are there.
I think you are onto something with the "too many lights on the water" idea. As I think about your question, I am forced to refer back to my "Barren waste land of water" comment. Now that I really focus on that detail and in discussion with my wife, I do not believe that there were many minnows at our boat at the time. The fishing did indeed pick up after they left, not immediately but especially between midnight and 2 am. This was really the first time that we have been within a few boat length of another boat using lights. Now that you mention it, I remember a discussion somewhere on the forum about bait running between lights set too far apart on a boat and its effect on the density of the bait ball.

My wife and I were discussing the egg sinkers today and tossing the idea of going down to a 1/4 oz. or less for a while. The issue with that is that our current set up is the first that we have ever enjoyed any type of real success with, and I have been gun shy about changing something that is working. As a side effect of the ˝ oz. weight we have both become fairly proficient at using forceps for removing deep set hooks.

Would you suggest a smaller egg sinker on the line, or split shot? And what size weight would you recommend?

Thank you for your comments they have gotten me to thinking again.