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To all..looking to begin night fishing for crappie. I live in the eastern bham area so my lake choices are either Lake Guntersville, Neely Henry or Logan Martin.
I would greatly appreciate any information on any of the lakes such as
- Bridge pilings vs humps, points or creek/river chanel areas....
- Techniques with minnows (corks vs bottom bouncers)
again any and all information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Welcome to Crappie.com ! I fish almost exclusively late afternoon in to the night . I fish Guntersville 99% of the time. This time of year I fish the deeper creek channels, bends and junctions with the river. Humps near deeper water work well also. I used to tie up under bridges this time of year but I dont any more. I do fish bridges in the fall thru April. Often without a boat. I prefer the open water fishing and have had a pretty good summer. No limits of late but 2 guys averageing 23 - 25 fish. I try to keep stuff over 12" had 1, 17" a couple of weeks ago.
I use a green light in the water, a white light works just fine. it doesnt really matter if you a have a good setup. You must be patient. You can troll at night but I prefer to anchor and setup preferably before dark and get my lights in the water. I use minnows most of the time , but I am useing jigs with success lately. I use a minnow 6 " under a split shot, or 2 minnows 18" apart with weight to hold the line vertical. I use a count down method of "pulls". I pull from the reel face to the first eye or just beyond it. We use different depths until we establish a pattern. * pulls was the ticket for several weeks, Last week it was 6-7 pulls. Be flexible and try different depths.
Sometimes it's 9 oclock before the bite starts, sometimes it is right away,sometimes it is late. I rarely move and if I move I am only gonna move once. It takes 45 minutes to really get a good bait ball most nights. The key for me is to go look at 2 to 5 different "spots" before I setup. The spot with the most fish or the biggest baitball wins. Thats where I setup.
I fish at night year round and the fall, winter bite does change. One you can start and finish earlier once the time changes. I just follow the fish back from the river channels and deep creeks. Jan Feb and March I may be sittin in 8' -14' of water near a causeway.
Be sure and have a spot light, I carry 2, I fear those navigation buoys ! Go slow I came within 30 yards of a parked sailboat before I saw it recently. I have more storys if you need slowin down. LOL.
I would start at the lake closest to you to save money and I would look at putting some bamboo out in places as well. Check out the structure forum and also the South Carolina forum. Rango is the GO TO guy for nite stalkin. Gabowman fishes at nite alot also from what I can tell.
PM me if you want more info.
Logan Martin is a good place to night fish and it will be close to you. The bad thing about Logan Martin is the boat traffic. Even at night there is more than you would think. Find a good spot and anchor down and tight line with minnows and keep trying different depths until they start biting. Good luck and be safe. If you want to travel a little further you could try Neely Henry, it has a lot less boat traffic and a plenty of fish also.
we been fishing where the bottom is 40 and we fish at 20 using lights also sunday nite is good for less boats at nite
Welcome to the fishing forum, from Indiana.
Dont night fish, let the experts show you how.
PS
The coffeee pot is on.
I have had the same experience as plantdr on Guntersville the last couple of weeks. This is about the only lake I fish now. On each of the last two friday nights I have only caught 3 crappie each time around the bridges. I have done a little better close to the channels. I usually try the bridges for a little while just to see what's there. There have been some minnows around the bridges but more baitfish closer to the channels. I set out four rods of different depths until I figure out where they are at. Fishing with minnows under white lights.
Its tough perch fishing most everywhere right know!!!!!!!!Thats why they sang the song toooooooooooo hotttttttt to fish.........just for the deep south this time of year..