Night fishing for Crappie

I have never fished with lights in the water and I got me some fancy new led crappie lights and tried them out Friday night and didn't catch a single darn crappie. I was out till about 3am on Thunderbird.

I was over by the channel that runs by the island and there were lots of shad schools and minnow schools on the fish finder so I anchored and dropped the lights in the water. Stayed in that spot for about 4 hours and the fish finder showed a ton of fish under me at about 13ft. Water was about 25ft deep. Used jigs and minnows and not even a bite. That was the first spot.

Next spot I tried was over in willow branch cove. Tied off to the first bunch of trees as you come into the cove with all the trees. Was there for close to 3 hours. Same thing there, not a single darn bite. The fish finder shows all kinds of stuff under me swimming around as well.

I'm thinking i was wrong in my assumption that night time crappie fishing, with lights, would be easier than daytime crappie fishing.

Did i not spend enough time in one spot to lure the fish in? Is t-bird too murky for night light fishing?

Most of my summer catfishing (and now crappie fishing too) is at night as I'm not a fan of summer heat, so I got to get the hang of this fishing with lights. Is there a night fisherman out there that can tell me how it's done?

I'd love to go night fishing but don't think I could last!

Was talking to an old school a few years back and he had many of stories fishing by light under the twin bridges. Channel side that is. You might try there.

I did the same thing at Lake Hefner Saturday night I can't stand the summer heat so I fish at night. I have used the light several times and had success but Saturday I didn't have one bite. Seen lots of fish on the finder and also seen fish chasing the bait that the light attracted. Some nights when I do this I can catch them just as fast as I can pull them out of the water and sometimes not even one bite I don't know maybe they prefer the bait fish that the light attracts over what we are using. I even tossed out some small live perch hoping to get a catfish or walleye. I still had a good time listening to the live band that was playing at the restaurant there

DrNip. I'm old and fat so I get a good nap prior. Lay down about noon and sleep till about 4 then by the time I get to the lake the sun is on the way down and It's prime time for getting big fat perch from my secret honey hole. Can catch about 10 in an hour and then it's dark and it's time to find some structure for crappies n cats.

My goal is to find out if I can successfully catch catfish while I got crappie lights out and am also catching crappie. Now from Friday night i know I can catch catfish with lights out since I cought 2 eaters. None on perch but both on stinkbait. But can I also catch crappies is my struggle. Sparky405 gives me hope that it can be done.

Friday or Saturday nights are my usual fishing nights and I don't know anyone that enjoys fishing like I do. My wife says I'm plum ate up with fishin. If you or anyone else are lookin to do some night fishin Gimme a shout and we can chase some crappies and cats by the light of the moon.


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Originally Posted by Okie405

DrNip. I'm old and fat so I get a good nap prior. Lay down about noon and sleep till about 4 then by the time I get to the lake the sun is on the way down and It's prime time for getting big fat perch from my secret honey hole. Can catch about 10 in an hour and then it's dark and it's time to find some structure for crappies n cats.

My goal is to find out if I can successfully catch catfish while I got crappie lights out and am also catching crappie. Now from Friday night i know I can catch catfish with lights out since I cought 2 eaters. None on perch but both on stinkbait. But can I also catch crappies is my struggle. Sparky405 gives me hope that it can be done.

Friday or Saturday nights are my usual fishing nights and I don't know anyone that enjoys fishing like I do. My wife says I'm plum ate up with fishin. If you or anyone else are lookin to do some night fishin Gimme a shout and we can chase some crappies and cats by the light of the moon.


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I'll be there one day! Have a 3 and 6 year old that dictates my schedule. lol

Next time your out set up your light shop between the West side bridge pillars of twin bridges.

I thought about going there last time but theres a couple stobs right at surface level going into that area and I didn't want to risk it in the dark. I suspect that whole twin bridge area would be great at night so yesterday morning I ordered a new lightbar. The one I had prior was just a 9 inch flood and it only shines about 10ft in front of the boat with it mounted up high on top of the console bars. I'm gonna move it to the bow and put the new incoming 26inch flood spot combo where the 9inch is now. That should really light up the area up in front of me and make me feel safe enough to get up there in the shallow stumps.

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We did this show 3 summers ago with Outdoor Oklahoma. Hope it helps
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lwsHDp23VSI

Thanks for the link EB. I had already seen it. Already 2atch3d allot of videos on the subject and there seems to be one vital piece of information missing on all the videos.

What is the decision that makes the person operating the boat stop in that spot and setup lights for the night? Why in that spot and not over there? How long were the lights out before the action started?

I'm guessing here but was it because there was stumps n trees an such down below or fish seen on the finder?

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Ps... is it legal for me to haul a bunch of old dead trees out in my boat and sink them... for making crappie habitats? And if so how long you think it might take for crappies to move in?

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Okie, when we did that show we set up in the deepest part of the channel and put the lights around the thermocline. When the water gets to 85 degrees the fish will go to the oxygen. The other reason I picked that spot was the clarity of the water. When night fishing the fishing is better in clearer water, not saying you can't catch them in murky water you can. But the same rules apply in clear water fish are deeper, murky water the fish are shallower. EB