Night fishing advice?

I've only been night fishing once but I want to do it again this summer. My plan is to take the pontoon out right before dusk, pick a good point and anchor down there until daylight. (I'm not brave enough to navigate in the dark even though I know the lake by heart and have gps.) Should I bait up a few different options or stick with jigs and minnows in hopes of catching some crappie? I'm not picky, I'll be happy with anything that bites. They all taste good.. especially when tossed in the smoker. :fish

Welcome from Manchester. I use plain hooks or maribou jigs with a minnow, or plastics tipped with minnows. Some busy nights they will take jigs but the minnows are good insurance. Good lights and extra batteries help a lot too.

X2 skeet, bad feeling when the lights go out due to dead batteries. If your just now trying to night fish then keep it simple...hook and bobber with a bunch of minnows. set back and have fun. Most times when you look down and see that you have a ton of bait under the boat, you wont have time for much else :biggrin

Good luck and hope ya catch a boat load!

You can do well anchoring but I tend to use the trolling motor and move very slowly. You have a chance of finding for fish for sure. The bait fish will follow you and make sure that you go slowly. Use either green or while lights as it does not seem to matter to me. I use a combination of both and put 4 over the side. The LED lights will not use much power. I run them off of my trolling motor batteries and have never used up a battery in a night. Good luck. Points are good and creek channels near the main channel may be even better.

I am not a good night fisherman. Have only done it around here about 6 times with limited results. Best time I had out was on the shore with a coleman lantern. And even then we only caught smaller ones. I only have 1 white floating light so I may take bigcarp's suggestion and get a couple more or maybe even a green submersible if I can find 1 local. Does any know where to get them around here?

I enjoy night fishing quite a bit and I definately prefer it to daytime fishing once the temps are in the 90's. First off, let me say this for those of you who are new to night fishing.
LIGHTS--------Buy ones that do NOT require sinkers to keep them down and a string to hold sinkers...This is cumbersome, and aggvating, and just good for a novice to know. Wish I'd known this first and would have saved me time, effort, and money waisted on lights that wont sink.....Academy sells a light that looks like a test tube and its about 6 inches long and bright as can be and has 6 foot cord. $15 bucks and your in business...Dont just buy one if you can buy you a couple or three. I put out 3 or 4 of these on every night trip now. Sometimes I too will try the green light out with my regular lights, but I dont always do that.

Minnows-----One of the Best baits especially for a night time fishing Novice....Minnows can cover a multitude of sins for you.lol, but they tend to be just slightly at a disadvantage at night due to some the newer brighter baits that get seen much quicker, Thats just my opinion. You can always take minnows and try both and see what your experience is.

Where to fish----- I try the deeper water most the time in the summer but usually never fish any deeper than 22 feet. Stay above the thermocline which is now present for best results as below it is very low oxygen.

How do I fish----- As C1bigoCarp suggested already, you can anchor but why do so? You can keep on the move but move very slowly and you will eventually find what your looking for if you looking in the right places.

Watch the surroundings and the minnows under your lights... When you arrive at the lake, did you see minnows treading the surface of the water? If so, try fishing shallower on these nights than you do if you dont see any at surface when you arrive or are heading to your spot......If you notice you have minnows under your lights, but they are deeper than up close to surface, those are the nights I spend fishing at a deeper depth.....

The Moon---One the most important factors while night fishing....The moon is out and waters glowing everywhere, it may be a tough night for catching crappie. The best nights have little to no moon, IMO, so I try and pick moon less nights if possible. Have been many times and the moon come up during the trip and bam, the fish and the bite are both gone for the night.

Try vertical Jigging....IF your like me and enjoy vertical jigging, hold that rod in your hand use a 1/32 to a 1/16th or even heavier if thats your style and tie on a bait that is easy for the fish to see under the lights. If they are not finicky, they will come up and give you that thump you love when its good. Hard to beat that thump. Hope these few tips helps somebody out there. Im first to say I can stand to a good bit more myself but Ive spent several days and nights of my life chasing these crappie year around now for many years and still cant seem to get enough of it. :)

Some nights are just better than others, just like days. I have sit over fish before and knew it was crappie and just couldnt get a bite. Other times you cant keep your bait in the water for a fish hammering it.

Float fishing---- This is one area I lack in terribly. Lots of guys float fish, and they cast out and fish minnows 2 to 7 feet deep under the floats sort of on the edge of your lighted area. This method has beat me quite a few times in tourneys as I just about refuse to sit and watch a float but I am spending more and more time learning this method. Have caught them on floats at night, but its not my chosen style for sure. Caught these with JohnW a couple weeks ago. These 18 weighed in at 20 pound 3 ounces and all but 2 came after dark. :) Good luck to you.

And lastly, if your in the Middle Tennessee area, why not come on down and check out Middle Tn Crappie Club? We talk about how to be successful nearly every single meeting. We have a good time talking crappie at our meetings and want you to know if you can spend time with us, your certainly welcome to come by. Check out website for meeting times and more information. Middle Tennessee Crappie Club

nice

Yes great info. And all that chimmed in are in the Middle Tennessee Crappie Club. So Fishinchik if you get a chance and live near by come check us. We fish Normandy, Woods, and Tim's Ford.Good fishing to you. And thanks for the tips guys.

I'm in East Tn, and boat is docked in Douglas... but I travel down to Priest to fish often. Next time I'm heading that way, I'll give you guys a shout. Many many thanks for the advice.. if this darn rain ever stops, I will be out there! Hoping to wet a hook or two this weekend. :fish

Good question and great answers. When it gets hot (August & September) the day time bite is always slower for me. I am going to try night fishing this year.

Thanks for all the advice.

Last night's tourney was proof that we all hit on fish sometimes, and sometimes we just dont. Last night was definately a didnt hit night for me. Lots of fellows fishing the tourney said they only caught 3 or 4 fish on the night but 1 or 2 caught a few more, lots of smaller ones. Good to meet some new folks from crappie.com last night there and see such a big crowd for a night time, summer time, wildcat tourney. :) Yall want to keep having some more before it cools off again? I wonder how a night tourney would work on Tims Ford? I have been on Woods many nights and although they can be caught there, it can be tough too. :)