Help with Nightfishing

I have never specifically targeted crappies at night. I've done a lot of striper fishing at night and caught shad/herring at night for stripers but never tried for the crappie while doing it. I wanted to take a couple of buddies I played ball with in high school and one of them is always asking me to take him for crappie. With the spawn wrapping up I was wondering if late May/early June is a good time to target them at night? I was planning on going to Clarks Hill and fishing SC Little River or Soap Creek because that's where I have experience catching crappie in the daytime.

The place I was thinking about trying is near the creek mouth on the edge of a big channel bend. It drops from 25 down to 45 there. In the area are several isolated pockets of standing timber that come within 10 to 15 feet of the surface that tends to hold a lot of crappie in the fall...don't know about May. But my guess is they would be there because there is a ton of bait there. From some of the things I have read on here I should set up near the trees but not right over them...Correct?

For lighting I have an old green hydro glow submersible light that I bought from a guy selling his striper gear. Will that light work OK? Could it be too bright? What kind of spread of lines do I need to put out? I was thinking one cork rod about 5 feet down at the shadow line and another 5 or 6 rods set in rod holders straight down from 10 to 20 feet down. Is there any point in dropping a jig down and slow reeling it up like I do over deep brush in the day time?

Will it hurt anything if I put out 3 more rods with live herring for the hybrids? How much does water clarity matter? SC Little River can get pretty stained but not as much in mid May or early June. Would I be better off to just tie up under the bridge in Soap Creek? I worry about a little too much current under that bridge when they are pumping back into Russell at night. It's amazing how much current those pump backs generate.

All advice is greatly appreciated.

I may can help you some but the whylie boys will chime in and help you. They do a lot of night fishing because most of them are to ugly to fish in the day. :Rofl:Rofl The light you got will work good just put it about 5 ft deep. The trees will be a good place to start and keep the closest bridges as a back up spot. The 378 bridge on sc little rive is suppose to be good. So far as putting out lines that will depend on the crappie and at what depth they are at. Stagger your lines until you start catching and then move all lines close. I would not fish for striper and hybrid while crappie fishing because of the tangles that will happen when you hook one. You could fish for crappie off of one end of the boat and hybrids off the other end. Hope this helps some

[QUOTE They do a lot of night fishing because most of them are to ugly to fish in the day [/QUOTE]

I'm no night fisherman, but I know good comedy when I read it. lol

Thanks. My biggest concern was whether I had a light that would work or not so I appreciate your vote of confidence on that Sinkermaker. My second biggest concern is if late May/early June would typically be a good time for a night bite. The 378 bridge in Little River was recently replaced with a new bridge, I can't remeber if the old bridge was still there last time I was there or not. But I could see how that would be a really good spot as you suggest.

The fellows on whylie fish at night all summer long. So far as when you will just have to go and see. They have torn the old bridge roadway down but the pilings were still there 2 weeks ago. I will be over there Friday or Saturday and will let you know. There are a couple bridges on the SC little river that should be good. Good luck and come on Whyle boys give the man some help

I like driving across the new bridge over Little River but I've got some memories of that old bridge and hate to see it go. Back in 1980 or so my Dad and I made our first trip to try to catch shad for stripers under that bridge. We had a terrible little florescent light and a 4 foot cast net we couldn't open. I'm not even sure Dad practiced with it before we went. We did this in early January with temps in the 20's. We were soaking wet from throwing that net most of the night and it was the coldest I've ever been. We caught 8 tiny threadfin shad for our efforts. We went on out Little River to a hump we had been catching hybrids jigging and caught 10 slab hybrids in 10 minutes on those baits. The first 7 were eaten immediately as soon as we could get them down. When we were down to the last one, I got a fish on it but it stayed on the hook so I dropped it back down and jigged it and caught two more before it got knocked off. Almost no one was fishing with live shad or herring back then and they worked like magic to us. Needless to say we went home and worked on our net throwing skills.

The light you have will be great. Around the trees is ok. We don't have that much cover like that over here. We hunt for the drop offs or ledges in 25 to 35 fow. mostly. Not right on a brush pile but close to it. Use light line and as little weight you can keep the minnow down with. I use 1/4 or less on 4 or 6 lb. line. Look for bait schools in the area you will be fishing. They will be close to the bait. I run 4 rods per person on my boat. Each person has his own drop light. Can use green or white. Have seen blue on occasion. We start with putting bait down to bottom and then three to four cranks up. Keep coming up till you find the sweet spot they want to be. Be a line watcher. The bite can be very light some nights. We will be starting some night stalks very soon. Welcome to come over and get in on the fun. Some of us are a bit crazy but we keep a muzzle on those. Good luck and post lots of pictures.

That sounds great on meeting up with you guys sometime. Especially if you do it on a Friday or Saturday night. I rarely get to fish anything but weekends. I am taking my boat down to the Keys tarpon fishing in early May. When I get back from that trip I will see what your group has planned for night trips.

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Originally Posted by ofishlbizzness

The light you have will be great. Around the trees is ok. We don't have that much cover like that over here. We hunt for the drop offs or ledges in 25 to 35 fow. mostly. Not right on a brush pile but close to it. Use light line and as little weight you can keep the minnow down with. I use 1/4 or less on 4 or 6 lb. line. Look for bait schools in the area you will be fishing. They will be close to the bait. I run 4 rods per person on my boat. Each person has his own drop light. Can use green or white. Have seen blue on occasion. We start with putting bait down to bottom and then three to four cranks up. Keep coming up till you find the sweet spot they want to be. Be a line watcher. The bite can be very light some nights. We will be starting some night stalks very soon. Welcome to come over and get in on the fun. Some of us are a bit crazy but we keep a muzzle on those. Good luck and post lots of pictures.

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I’m going to assume that comment about being ugly is talking about oldfish however it could’ve been uncle Remus any number of guys CK? The DAWGGGG??


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Actually I do have one constructive comments. You’re going to need to anchors, and at those depths you’re gonna need 100 feet of line on each or more you want to stay in one spot.


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Brett is turning into quite the crappie Guru, nice informative answer. Well played!

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Originally Posted by brettw

Actually I do have one constructive comments. You’re going to need to anchors, and at those depths you’re gonna need 100 feet of line on each or more you want to stay in one spot.


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Crappie are a most cunning and creative species. I often lay awake at night ,thinking of what does a crappie thinks.
What do they see , what do they know ,what they feel, what are their goals in life [emoji848]


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Good tip on the anchors. I have the equipment for that. Prior to spot lock trolling motors we had to anchor on two ends quite a bit for stripers. I really don't miss those days. No big deal setting them once for night fishing but doing it several times a morning with a 28 pound navy anchor on each end was terrible.

Night fishing for crappie can be done year around. For the setup it sounds like you have what's needed but where you are thinking about setting up is not the best place. You want to be able to control how deep the crappie can go and for that reason it works best if you will set up in 25' depth or less. What you are looking for is bait fish and once found wherever that may be is where you want to set up. Bridges is one place to avoid because of the boat traffic and other nightstalkers pulling away your bait and as so the crappie that will come to feed.
Once you pick you place to fish in 25' depth or less (25' to 20' is preferred ) set your light no more than 2' below the surface, the rod setup works best with a single gold hook and just enough weight added to keep the line vertical (maybe 2 #7 split shots ). Now for depth drop a couple lines to the bottom and two cranks up will be good (this is the reason you want to be in 25' of less depth, you know the crappie will never be deeper than you are fishing). Now start working the water column 4 to 6' increments until you have a couple of baits at each depth to within 4' to 6' depth from the top.
With bait already found they will come to your light quickly and shouldn't be long before the crappie follow then you can adjust the depths of your offerings to the bite zone. Crappie will move up and down throughout the water column so be sure to adjust if the bite stops.
Good luck on your nightstalking at the Hill and I look forward to hear about your trips.

Ronie

Excellent tips Ronie, I really appreciate it. There are a couple of cove mouths 50 yards off or a little more off this channel bend that would bottom out at 25 feet. One of the reasons I am fixated on this spot is it loads up with bait that time of year and has been a spot I catch a lot of crappie in the daytime. But it makes total sense what you are saying about pulling them up shallower so you don't have as big of a water column to cover.

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Originally Posted by 91tiger

Good tip on the anchors. I have the equipment for that. Prior to spot lock trolling motors we had to anchor on two ends quite a bit for stripers. I really don't miss those days. No big deal setting them once for night fishing but doing it several times a morning with a 28 pound navy anchor on each end was terrible.

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Does the spot lock feature work for night fishing?
I’d think the TM would wash over the baits too much or go crazy and spiral the boat


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I know guys who drift at night and do well sometimes. I prefer to anchor but if the bite is slow I'll put the trolling motor down. I've never used spot-lock, but I won't say not to use it. The lights, just use whatever you are comfortable with. I fish water 20-30 ft deep at night, sometimes I'll set up beside a brush pile, sometimes a drop-off. Only a lake I'm not very familiar with would I fish a bridge, too many other boats there plus I don't like being that close to the concrete posts. Different lakes usually makes fishing depth challenging. I fish High Rock Lake NC most of the time and I'll fish lines 10, 12, and 15 ft deep. It's not unusual to catch fish less than 10 ft deep. Lake Norman and Wylie I very seldom catch a fish 10 feet down and the deeper I fish the better. As far as a rig, I just use split shot( not sure what size) just over a hook. I also use corks on some rods, part of that is for light bites and entertainment! Hope this helps!

Yes sir, very helpful. I never would have thought about drifting for them at night. That's interesting.