Night fishing for Crappie

I have never fished with lights in the water and I got me some fancy new led crappie lights and tried them out Friday night and didn't catch a single darn crappie. I was out till about 3am on Thunderbird.

I was over by the channel that runs by the island and there were lots of shad schools and minnow schools on the fish finder so I anchored and dropped the lights in the water. Stayed in that spot for about 4 hours and the fish finder showed a ton of fish under me at about 13ft. Water was about 25ft deep. Used jigs and minnows and not even a bite. That was the first spot.

Next spot I tried was over in willow branch cove. Tied off to the first bunch of trees as you come into the cove with all the trees. Was there for close to 3 hours. Same thing there, not a single darn bite. The fish finder shows all kinds of stuff under me swimming around as well.

I'm thinking i was wrong in my assumption that night time crappie fishing, with lights, would be easier than daytime crappie fishing.

Did i not spend enough time in one spot to lure the fish in? Is t-bird too murky for night light fishing?

Most of my summer catfishing (and now crappie fishing too) is at night as I'm not a fan of summer heat, so I got to get the hang of this fishing with lights. Is there a night fisherman out there that can tell me how it's done?

I'd love to go night fishing but don't think I could last!

Was talking to an old school a few years back and he had many of stories fishing by light under the twin bridges. Channel side that is. You might try there.

I did the same thing at Lake Hefner Saturday night I can't stand the summer heat so I fish at night. I have used the light several times and had success but Saturday I didn't have one bite. Seen lots of fish on the finder and also seen fish chasing the bait that the light attracted. Some nights when I do this I can catch them just as fast as I can pull them out of the water and sometimes not even one bite I don't know maybe they prefer the bait fish that the light attracts over what we are using. I even tossed out some small live perch hoping to get a catfish or walleye. I still had a good time listening to the live band that was playing at the restaurant there

DrNip. I'm old and fat so I get a good nap prior. Lay down about noon and sleep till about 4 then by the time I get to the lake the sun is on the way down and It's prime time for getting big fat perch from my secret honey hole. Can catch about 10 in an hour and then it's dark and it's time to find some structure for crappies n cats.

My goal is to find out if I can successfully catch catfish while I got crappie lights out and am also catching crappie. Now from Friday night i know I can catch catfish with lights out since I cought 2 eaters. None on perch but both on stinkbait. But can I also catch crappies is my struggle. Sparky405 gives me hope that it can be done.

Friday or Saturday nights are my usual fishing nights and I don't know anyone that enjoys fishing like I do. My wife says I'm plum ate up with fishin. If you or anyone else are lookin to do some night fishin Gimme a shout and we can chase some crappies and cats by the light of the moon.


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Originally Posted by Okie405

DrNip. I'm old and fat so I get a good nap prior. Lay down about noon and sleep till about 4 then by the time I get to the lake the sun is on the way down and It's prime time for getting big fat perch from my secret honey hole. Can catch about 10 in an hour and then it's dark and it's time to find some structure for crappies n cats.

My goal is to find out if I can successfully catch catfish while I got crappie lights out and am also catching crappie. Now from Friday night i know I can catch catfish with lights out since I cought 2 eaters. None on perch but both on stinkbait. But can I also catch crappies is my struggle. Sparky405 gives me hope that it can be done.

Friday or Saturday nights are my usual fishing nights and I don't know anyone that enjoys fishing like I do. My wife says I'm plum ate up with fishin. If you or anyone else are lookin to do some night fishin Gimme a shout and we can chase some crappies and cats by the light of the moon.


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I'll be there one day! Have a 3 and 6 year old that dictates my schedule. lol

Next time your out set up your light shop between the West side bridge pillars of twin bridges.

I thought about going there last time but theres a couple stobs right at surface level going into that area and I didn't want to risk it in the dark. I suspect that whole twin bridge area would be great at night so yesterday morning I ordered a new lightbar. The one I had prior was just a 9 inch flood and it only shines about 10ft in front of the boat with it mounted up high on top of the console bars. I'm gonna move it to the bow and put the new incoming 26inch flood spot combo where the 9inch is now. That should really light up the area up in front of me and make me feel safe enough to get up there in the shallow stumps.

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We did this show 3 summers ago with Outdoor Oklahoma. Hope it helps
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lwsHDp23VSI

Thanks for the link EB. I had already seen it. Already 2atch3d allot of videos on the subject and there seems to be one vital piece of information missing on all the videos.

What is the decision that makes the person operating the boat stop in that spot and setup lights for the night? Why in that spot and not over there? How long were the lights out before the action started?

I'm guessing here but was it because there was stumps n trees an such down below or fish seen on the finder?

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Ps... is it legal for me to haul a bunch of old dead trees out in my boat and sink them... for making crappie habitats? And if so how long you think it might take for crappies to move in?

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Okie, when we did that show we set up in the deepest part of the channel and put the lights around the thermocline. When the water gets to 85 degrees the fish will go to the oxygen. The other reason I picked that spot was the clarity of the water. When night fishing the fishing is better in clearer water, not saying you can't catch them in murky water you can. But the same rules apply in clear water fish are deeper, murky water the fish are shallower. EB

Thanks for the info !!!

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Tbird is a mud hole so I need to be shallower than the 25ft I was in at both spots. Twin bridges channel is just such a spot. Like 10-15ft last time I went through there. And there is a channel through there.

I've caught many catfish in that area when I was shorebound so i think it will be ideal for both crappies and cats.

Will post again after I try it out this weekend, depending on the weather.
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Okie you need to call the people in charge of the lake you want to add brush to as rules may very per each lake.

I hate brush piles the last thing I want to do is stay hung up all night. In KY I look for deep channels and drop-offs even better if they come up close to point, Clear water and the darkest nights.

I use (2) lights when I night fish for crappie; One bright halogen light submerged about 12-16 feet and one floating light. I usually bait out the spot with hog pellets and then wait. It may take hours before they start coming in, but if the water is clear and you're patient, the crappie will come.

I think fishing with lights at night is something that relies entirely on the fact that there is structure there that already has crappie, or the light source has been there for awhile that forces the fish to come to the light because they know its a consistent source of food.
I'll give some examples. We have a small city lake that has lots of docks on it. Some of the dock owners, mainly the ones with covered boat houses leave lights on every night, suspended close to the water. There is nothing there to attract crappie or any other fish, but since its on and just above the water it attracts bugs, and bait fish, so the crappie and every other specie come as well.
On Kaw lake, the marina has a navigation light on at the end of the marina for boaters.
Both of the examples I've given have zero structure, only mud bottoms, but they are on consistently and that is the key to attracting fish to them.
Throwing out a light and expecting fish to magically appear probably won't ever happen unless your centered on structure they are already holding on.

Ok, my speculative answer with no substantive proof rant is over. I've got some bluegill to cook for my late supper. :biggrin

Haven't had bluegill since a kid. That is some good eating fish. Problematic with the bones when not filleted, but Its danged good!

My son, Montanaboy, uses lights quite often. We have fished with him, using the lights, on docks on three different lakes. We killed them every time, when others were only catching a few. Two of the docks had brush, and one didn't.
Last year, a guy on the dock at Arcadia was doing pretty well with a light.
This past year at Ft. Cobb, some guys did very well most of the time, but not so well on other nights.
Most of the guys I have seen at Carl Blackwell didn't do very well when using the lights.
Amen on the bluegills being great eating.

Okie, check the homepage for a decent little write-up on nightstalking crappie. I'll be trying this method when I get a chance.

I've been doing some experiments with bottom bouncers at night on a little local lake cause I don't much like the heat either. It's fun and different. One thing for y'all fishin out of kayaks at night - y'all need some lights. I almost ran over a couple boys out playing around. That was just trolling. Can't imagine if I'd been on the big motor.

Right from the ODW site:

Every boat must display lights between the hours of sunset and sunrise, and must display required lights during times of restricted visibility (fog, heavy rain, mist, etc.).
[See specific lighting requirements.].....


[specific lighting requirements.]
Unpowered boats less than 65.6 feet long
Unpowered boats less than 65.6 feet long (including sailboats and boats that are rowed, paddled or poled), must have:

Red and green sidelights:
The red light indicating the port (left) side, and the green light indicating the starboard (right) side of the boat.
Visible to another boat approaching from the side or head-on.
Visible from at least two miles (for boats less than 39.4 feet in length, visible from at least one mile).

Unpowered boats less than 23 feet long, must:

If practical, exhibit the same lights as listed above.
If not practical, have on board at least one lantern or flashlight, shining a white light, which shall be exhibited in sufficient time to avoid or prevent a collision.
All boats, when not underway, are required to display an all-around white light when moored or anchored away from a dock between sunset and sunrise.

Id sure feel bad if I run over some yahoo padling across open water at night but if you do run'em over and they aint got no lights out its thier fault.

I got high powered lights on the front of my boat now and can see a long darn ways out in front of me. Engineered and Installed it myself for about a $100. I can see stobs and genius's without lights in plenty of time so I ain't worried.

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Montanaboy, favorite fishing partner, and I fished lights at Mark Twain in Missouri, two nights ago. We were in 65 feet of of water, but only about 40 feet from the vertical cliff bank. Small bugs showed up immediately, followed by minnows that were about 1.5" About 45 minutes later, we had a swarm of 5"-7" shad just under the lights. Soon, we had small crappie under the lights. They bit steadily for about three hours, but they were only 7"-10" fish, plus a 3# channel cat. Just as we were about to leave, a 13" fish bit. We foolishly decided to fish a "little longer", and catch some more big 'uns. An hour later, we were still catching 7"-10" fish, so we went home at 2:00 A.M. We went back to the same spot in the morning and trolled Wiggle Warts, Bomber A's, and Norman lures, catching mostly 10"-11.5" fish, plus some sandies and drum.