Ended up with 13 speck fished till 12
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Ended up with 13 speck fished till 12
Just curious- could you tell a little more about your experiece in detail.
The more people know about night fishing the more will well get interested.
From past experience - it is a lot of peaceful relaxing fun.
A partner - generator - bait - several rods - clear - star lite skiy -
quietness. Doesn't matter whether you are vertical or bobber fishing it is
fun and peaceful.
I use 2 over head white led shop lights got them at Lowes 19 dollars each I mount them close to the water to bring the crappie in close and to keep the bugs away from me I also keep them on the same side of the boat one in the front one just past the middle to create dark spots between lights crappie like to ambush from the dark I then put out 6 to 8 micro rods 1 to 2 foot from bottom in deep water starting with the deepest hole in the lake or if you have structure in a hole the better until I find them If I have not caught anything in a hour I move I also find the higher I fish in the water column the more gar I catch this is a fun way to fish and you can load the boat plus you don't have all the other boats to contend with you can also drift at night I still use lights only to see the rods and it works pretty good but I like sitting in a hole and let them come to me hope this helps forgot to mention I use minnows with jigs and some without jigs and a split shot I use 2 lb test no more than 6 lb and use different colors on your jigs to see which one they will eat better it makes a difference and sometimes the plain old minnow works better
Good explaination gw.
Interesting that you said you use Jigs -various colors and hooks - have
never tried that idea. Usually use 1/4 oz bullet weight with tiny pinched split shot approx
1' above #2 hook - set up various depths down water column from one ft down to
1 ft above bottom. I work around drop off's - try and set boat on edge of drop with
single anchor on top of drop. Wind will move boat around back & forth over drop.
Have you found any Florida lakes you like better than others.
Is there any time of month you prefer better.
Again, thanks for your response - would like to how others night fish during summer
months
I have killed them in east lake and lake Conway this year I been trying to figure out Maitland chain and it's been ok not alot of numbers but have hooked some big ones and caught some decent ones the crappie that come out of Conway and Maitland chain taste better than any lake I have fished as far as time of the month don't like a bright moon darker the better so my lights are more effective and I believe in two anchors to keep the boat in one place to keep the bait in close plus it helps with the light bites alot of times a crappie will grab the bait and not move or very little and if you don't see it they will sometimes spit it out and you bring up a half dead minnow that has been my experience unless they are feeding heavy then it doesn't matter the last night I went they were hitting really hard and fast now the biggest crappie came out of East lake and there are giant schools one time me and my buddy were fishing in the main lake out from the canal that goes into fells cove and one hour before daylight my fish finder went almost completely black and we loaded the boat craziest thing I have seen have you ever tried Monroe at night I would suspect the i4 bridge would be pretty good also what lakes do you like at night
Am somewhat familiar with East Lake Toho - if this is lake your speaking of,
however, do not know where Maitland Chain - Lk Conway or canal into Fells Cove
would be.
Night fishing i have been on Lake Kissimmee number of times (not too much past
4 yrs) Usually work grass lines during happy hour off Grassy Island.
Than set up Southwest end of Bird when just about getting dark.
Years ago Marker 8 was exellant area...........
Been on Tiger Lake few times............kinda so so.
Lake Tarpon - Tarpon Springs is excellant for night fishing working the holes &
just off Sandbars
Set up couple of times yrs back with both anchors - got beat to death when winds
came up - have always considered it somewhat dangerous holding a boat tight when
working in windy conditions (just my thinking)
East Toho to me is a somewhat dangerous lake in wind........and the amount
of hydrillia abouding on it.
Thanks for your thought GW
I have night fished yeas ago with little success so I gave up on it cause boat was not set up for it, fishing buddy didn't care for it. Harold, what kinda lighting do you use, how do you set it up and do you use a generator? GW do you use a generator or battery?
Usa a generator -
use 2 - 250 halogen lights on 5' poles straight up off of pedstal seats and than
out at 45 degree over over water about 5'.
Use 4 flood lamps along side on top rail - use 100 w - cool bulbs (will not blow if
rained on) and when shut off can handle on deck without burning hands or carpet.
Usually run 12 -14 rods off one side of boat - vertical drops using 1/4 wgts, pinched
1 ft above hook with spit shot. All hooks minnow tippedAttachment 201497
Gonna have to be different budget year for me. By then hopefully I can drum up some night fishermen around here and get the boat set up. Harold, if you get your boat done this summer, let me know and maybe we can plan a trip or 2. Thanks for the info and pic.
The night picture was when we had it set up for night fishing with the Procraft. We used same principal with the Starcraft.
Hoping to get my new rebuild
back from Manufacture "Big 0" by end of May - still have to rig it
out, (change over the to I-pilot, put electronics on, mount new Spyder Lok rod holders
and 3 bank charger system, etc)
and make decision on having tandem axle alum trailer made for it before we get
it into compeititon. Been thumbing it since end of March......
The attached picture is of another boat i riged out for one of the guys down hereAttachment 201560Attachment 201561Attachment 201562
I use leds that are 70 watt equal
Advancement in technology - isn't life great.
Remember the days when we used 2 coleman lanterns hung out over the boat
on heavy wire inserted in oar locks
Than onto two -3 12 volt batteries with 12 volts bulbs in floodlamps
Still have some of the 12 items in garage - in case might be needed again.
Used chalk line with heavy wgt on one end, marked off in 1 ft ingriments to tell
depth we were in - to set up rods /cane poles accordingly.
Harold you have been around the block a time or 2. lol. Are the overhead lights on the Z-7 the only lights you use on your set up?
No - the overhead lights are basically used to see whats going on in the boat
and surroundings, being out over the water to bugs collect on and fall into water,
thereby, no persay bother to fishermen. I also use 4 lights on edge of boat ..
these are 100w cool lights - inside alum 8" covers. These give off good light and
are cool to touch when unhooking and putting on carpet deck when done.
The 250's up above are hot and got to handle them a little different.
Take a look at picture i posted on this thread showing lights down the side.
Believe GW said they move around lake at night and have taken hits on the move.
I have tried this over the years and was not too sucessful. When setting up - usually
takes about 1/2 - 3/4 hr for things to settle down and lighting to take effect. Again
prefer the edge of a hole vs in center of the hole. Crappie are an ambush fish.