Nighttime Crappie Fishing Tips….?

Went out night fishing for crappie the first time last night… I purchased a really bright green LED fishing light off Etsy some years back, but just hadn’t had much of an opportunity to use it, as I fish mostly at dawn and dusk. We set-up under a bridge around 8:30 pm and got the poles rigged up with slip bobbers and small jig heads.

We were fishing in 14 foot of water and originally, I had the light pretty deep, maybe about 8-10’ down. I eventually brought it up higher several times, finally having it about 4’ down, which attracted a mess of minnows, Shad, and mosquitos!

I kept my fishfinder on the whole time and marked a lot of fish under the boat. However, whenever I adjusted the floats to put the bait in the range where I was marking fish (4-6’), I never got any bites. All the crappie we caught were in about 8-10’ and none were keepers (10” on that particular lake).

I want to know what type of set-up you use for nighttime crappie success, and what I could do differently next time to locate at catch some bigger fish, because I know they’re in this lake. I thought about using bigger bass minnows next time, or just trying a simple double drop rig and not nothing with the floats. Any tips / insight would be greatly appreciated.


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When I was doing a lot of night fishing I would put a light just under the surface. Turn off your depth finder unless you want bugs. Lights above water for seeing bites were off the side with shields to keep light out of the boat. Rods were 8' to 12' long set a various depths until the fish told you what they wanted. Rigs were no more than a hook and just enough weight to keep them minnow from tangles with other lines.

On a really bright light most of the crappie especially the larger ones are on the outside fringes of the light. Well outside of the visible light you can see. Sometimes small fish are what shows up

You need to talk with the pro's like TurkeyfootNC and mac crappie. Last time I offered to help someone it turned on me so I hope you find someone to give you some advice. :highfive

Don't worry about how deep you have your light underwater. You need it to see if you have a bite. When I used a submersible light I kept it just under the water. I seldom fish in water less than 20 ft deep and use a hook and split shot. Hope this helps!

Light just under the surface. Lose the floats. Deeper water. Expect spotty results until the water cools in fall. Set lines at different depths until one depth proves to be most effective.

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Originally Posted by ncnat

When I was doing a lot of night fishing I would put a light just under the surface. Turn off your depth finder unless you want bugs. Lights above water for seeing bites were off the side with shields to keep light out of the boat. Rods were 8' to 12' long set a various depths until the fish told you what they wanted. Rigs were no more than a hook and just enough weight to keep them minnow from tangles with other lines.

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Good to see you Nat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ncnat

When I was doing a lot of night fishing I would put a light just under the surface. Turn off your depth finder unless you want bugs. Lights above water for seeing bites were off the side with shields to keep light out of the boat. Rods were 8' to 12' long set a various depths until the fish told you what they wanted. Rigs were no more than a hook and just enough weight to keep them minnow from tangles with other lines.

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I seconds Kunes "good to see you back" I been wondering where you were, Still cooking fish like the old days?

Thanks everyone for the good input… I’m looking forward to trying it out soon and will report back.


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I would suggest that you anchor off the bow and the stern. This holds the boat steady. Also paint your rod tips flat white.

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