night fishing help

Though I'm an experienced crappie fisherman, I've only night fished ( for crappie ) once before. And it was during warmer weather. So here's my questions; first off, is it worth fishing at night during cold weather? ( tonight will be the coldest this year ) Do they go deeper or shallower at night? Do they hang out in the middle of the creek channels or hold tight to shallower stumps/falldowns? Or do they turn off? I'll be in a brackish tidal creek, so I know that probably illicits different fish behavior patterns than the piedmont lakes, but an educated guess would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help.

Really? Nobody can help me with night fishing? I give detailed reports with pics and locations, GPS locations sometimes., and I can't get any advice on night fishing?

I just read your post. I fish almost exclusively at night, late fall and winter, under lights and have good success. I use either minnows or spoons. You have to give them time in cold water but you don't get many small ones. You don't get the numbers but the fish are quality. Good luck. Mike

Aint got much on a tidal flow creek. But here we hunt for schools of bait fish in an area. Any kind of drop or ditch or ledge seems to have a traffic pattern to it. I choose between 20 to 30 fow. and start with minnows tightlined from the bottom up till I find fish willing to bite. Just my 2 cents worth. And yes cold weather nightstalkin can produce some amazing results. Last Sat. I had a limit by 10:00 and kept culling some 9 -10 in. fish for the prize. Good Luck to ya.

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Originally Posted by ofishlbizzness

Aint got much on a tidal flow creek. But here we hunt for schools of bait fish in an area. Any kind of drop or ditch or ledge seems to have a traffic pattern to it. I choose between 20 to 30 fow. and start with minnows tightlined from the bottom up till I find fish willing to bite. Just my 2 cents worth. And yes cold weather nightstalkin can produce some amazing results. Last Sat. I had a limit by 10:00 and kept culling some 9 -10 in. fish for the prize. Good Luck to ya.

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What he said. Also read this.

The night was coming on fast as I picked up my fishing partner Gary Kunes at his dock and we set out for a night of Lake Wylie

I don't nightstalk much when air temp drops below 50*. I use a green light and set light 8/10 ft. deep on a dropoff. I use a slip cork so I know for sure where every things at. starting about 6/8 ft. outside of the light and working into the light.

So most people agree that submersible lights are more effective than floating light?

The submersible lights help keep the bugs away.

I ordered one of those 12 volt floating car headlight type lights on amazon tonight for 10 bucks. I'm goin to give it a try on my local creek when i get it.

A couple of thoughts...You are not fishing really deep water so crappie can't go really deep. Another thing is the tide. As you know falling water is better most of the time. If you have a creek that floods a large area and have had a few sunny days that black water heats up fast. The crappie will hold in the deep water in the river but move to the mouth of the creek when that warm water starts falling out. I think that is where I would fish and let the tide tell me when to fish. Remember, the outflow will be the warmest just before sun set. The fall that comes early at night will be better I think. What do you think?

Crappie do not seem to do nearly as well down here(east) in the rivers and creeks at night, and many say it's due to the tannic acid stained water. I know folks who have caught them at night at Sutton Lake and Lake Waccamaw, but very few people do it down here.

Very few would ever try down here jack. The creek I fish is neither tidal or brackish and never gets very black like brices or bachelor creek would at times. Where I'm fishing the average depth is 10 to 15 foot deep with 22 being about the deepest I've seen within a mile or two of the launch. Near the mouth of the creek 10 miles downstream there are spots over 30 foot deep. I'm not planning on slaying them but I have found a few good brush piles that hold some crappie and plan to just put a light out and see if anything happens.

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Originally Posted by SEA DANCER

A couple of thoughts...You are not fishing really deep water so crappie can't go really deep. Another thing is the tide. As you know falling water is better most of the time. If you have a creek that floods a large area and have had a few sunny days that black water heats up fast. The crappie will hold in the deep water in the river but move to the mouth of the creek when that warm water starts falling out. I think that is where I would fish and let the tide tell me when to fish. Remember, the outflow will be the warmest just before sun set. The fall that comes early at night will be better I think. What do you think?

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Honestly, these fish around here behave so crazy that I don't even know what to think. I know I sound like a broken record, but it is just such a different game in these shallow, tidal creeks and rivers. I definitely agree that an early outgoing tide would be the best. I have for sure figured out that they behave just like like flounder or drum as far as staging at a creek mouth to catch bait washing out on the falling tide. I don't even know if I'll go night fishing. If I do it won't be for a while, as I don't have all the equipment to do it right. And I don't expect I'll be buying many more toys till after January, although I did get another Wally Marshall rod for half price at Dick's the other day. This one was 14'. Make a point every time you go in there to look for broken rod tips, broken reels on combos, etc. You can talk to the manager and get it for 1/2 off. (I made a post about this already, sorry).