I have never tried fishing for crappie at night but I'm going to try it out here soon. Anyone got any tips or tricks for me. Do you prefer using minnows or jigs? Casting into them or vertical fish them?
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I have never tried fishing for crappie at night but I'm going to try it out here soon. Anyone got any tips or tricks for me. Do you prefer using minnows or jigs? Casting into them or vertical fish them?
I do it different than most. I go to a deeper water, lighted marina, and fish around the boats, slips, etc. The lights draw the bugs, baitfish , and allow me to see relatively well without additional lighting.
Believe it or not fishing for crappie at night is as good and like fishing during the day. The fish are still there. Just got to give them something to bite. Use lights to draw in bait and that draws in predator fish like crappie and others. Use minnows if you can. That is the crappies main staple food and if they are there they will eat them. Once you find them with minnows you can usually switch to jigs and still get bites. Fish structure like you do during the day and looka t the moon phases or solunar chart for best fishing days. Good luck!
We have a night trip planned tonight on Stockton in Missouri. You can follow the posts in the Missouri fishing thread. Have 7-8 going at this time. My first time after crappie. Used to bass fish with fluorescent line and a black light with a lot of luck.
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boat docks with lights that run on a regular basis in deeper water seem to be great just around the perimeter of the lights in most lakes .
the set out with a light in the water program can be pretty good at times as well . sometimes live bait works well but you might go thru quite a few minnows in an evening . we typically jig for them about 6 to 10 foot down just out of the light visibility .
and keep in mind if you use LED lighting in your boat it will draw less insects , sometimes the bugs will really bug you at night ....
I have tried crappie fishing at night a few times. I have never done any good. I tried the same structure that I know holds fish during the day, but at night, they are not there (or don't bite). I have tried with and without lights. Someone told me that night time crappie fishing is best in clear lakes. The lake I fish has a little color to it most of the time. Maybe that's why I can't catch them at night??
There are two other threads on night fishing this week.
I prefer slip bobbers and minnows. Day or night. About the only difference is finding them. They prefer low light conditions and will be near food. Find the link in those two and you have fish.
I went with a buddy of mine a bunch of times down in NC on Jordan,We would go close to a bridge and put floating lights on the water.We used minnows and fished them straight down,caught a bunch and would have a lot of fun.
That's exactly how I do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by jigfisherx
I'm no expert but learning myself. The ole moon is your is your worst foe. If it's a quarter or more it can it can be a tuff bite. Fish the nights with the less moon. Fish the out side circles of the light also. If no bait fish show up, find another spot.
I have no issues with the moon. I get the crappie to bite on a full moon, on a half moon and on a new moon. I fish more at night than most people fish during the day. Believe me when i say that if you fish just by the moon you are missing out!!!
Heeeey....That's very interesting, I'm fishing very clear, and deep water, [Norfork Lake, Ar.] I know a couple excellent night fisherman here, and they say the same thing as me. I don't know what the difference is, but you'll go hungry on Norfork on moon lit night fishing for crappie.Quote:
Originally Posted by SlabSlider
Tell me what your set-up is, and how you are fishing if you would, maybe I'm not doing something right, I'm willing to learn your way of fishing.
Good Fishing....:fish
So, I plan to fish Friday and or Saturday night. I have no experience crappie fishing at night. I planned to try night fishing this summer from my boat but my truck has given up. So, I was thinking about trying from a public fishing dock that has lots of brush sunk by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. I bought a light tonight on the way home. Any other tips for a guy that is shore bound?
By the way, the light I got was $89.99 @ Bass Pro, same light @ Academy $59.99. Just thought I would add that to perhaps same some folks some $.
They will bite on any moon phase so long as your light draws in baitQuote:
Originally Posted by SlabSlider
No bait, no fish to catch. I prefer a green submersible light and fish
Points and just off of channels. At lake ozark I'm usually anchored in 30-50 feet of water. Good luck!
Bait can be harder to draw in on a full moon however you can stack the deck if you anchor in an area where the shad and minnows are more abundant.
Apart from trolling under a covered boat, night fishing is one of the most comfortable ways to fish in this heat.
Hard to beat a pontoon boat with a good Bimini top in the summer heat!
if you do your home work, the light will usually enhance the bite. some nights its instant and others it takes a while.
we set up over deeper water too. light down hhalf way to fish most times. minnows under slip floats. dont give up on the light if it doesnt amaze you. it will just give it time. i have sat for 2-3 hours before marking fish, with very few biters. then all the sudden the bait swarms ya and bam. then you cant run three rods(allowed here). you limit out n go home. been using lights since a kid, i have no doubts that it helps. NONE
I have tried it in the past and not really done great. I just built a new led light thanks to some of the directions on this site. It is about 2 foot long with an entire roll of leds on it. Bright sucker. Looking forward to trying it. Made it for probably $40 total.
Like Chris said above it is the basic setup with lights. Everyone knows that if the bait is present you can draw in plankton and bugs with lights which in turn draw in the bait fish which in turn draws in the predator fish. I fish both kayak and boat and have green lights all around both. The green lights on the sides keep the bugs out of my yak and boat while I fish. i also deploy a two LED light I made over the side shining directly on the water to bring in more bait. The more light you have the more chance of bait showing an sooner. The bigger the bait ball you make the more predator fish you will have. I fish in the light, around the light, and even a few feet away and catch good fish all the time. It takes about 30-45 minutes to draw in bait. If no bait after that time elapsed move to another spot. Fish spots just like you do during day. The fish are there liek the day. You just got to get them to bite and a bait ball will trigger feeding frenzy's. I always bring minnows to make sure they are there and then switch to jigs or jigs tipped with minnows if they still are finicky to jigs.Quote:
Originally Posted by crappie cowboy
Get yourself a dedicated light battery with high amp hours to last the night and you are set.
So, I gave the night fishing a try last night. I fished a public fishing dock that has lots of brush sunk around it. I dropped the light down about 6" in 12" at sundown. By dark the bait was there. I fished until 1:30 with minnows and jigs. 6 hooks in the water all the time, except to check bait. Never got a bite. I am thinking about trying a different spot next time. Any suggestions on what else to try?
Slackline it sounds like you were bit by the full moon also. Have talked to many who say the bite is worse when the moon is out at night. Tournament the other night and we only caught 2 crappie. Hope for better results next time when there will be no moon at night.
Thanks for the reply. The thought that the moon may have been a portion of the issue had crossed my mind. I also wondered if the distance from the main channels had an effect as well? Being shore bound due to the transmission in my truck going out limits where I can fish. There is an other public fishing dock that is much closer to the main channel, though it's on a different lake it is the same river channel.
\Quote:
Originally Posted by slackline
The fish we caught were just off the drop into the main channel.
This may be a dumb question, but are most of you tightening and just feeling the bites or are you using floats?
I use slip floats to set the depth. Once you locate them then you can switch to jigs and fish the same depth.
Well today my fishing partner and I will be building a couple crappie lights. I ordered some led lights from China, and with the help from a guy on another crappie forum we're gonna build two. I was gonna buy the Alumiglow light, but these will be much cheaper, and brighter....:fish
Well we got the lights built, and man are they bright, and can't wait til it starts getting darker, and goes to the new moon. Now we need to build the minnow nets from the netting my partner just ordered.....:fishQuote:
Originally Posted by crappie cowboy
I like night fishing because it is cooler for one thing but make sure you get setup before dark especially if you are in a boat. I also like slip corks with minnows preferably around structure like bridges etc. Be sure to give your lights time to work before giving up or moving.