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What does everyone look for in night fishing spots? Does it change with the seasons?
I started doing some night fishing last year in late summer. The one half decent location from last year was the Dead Sea for bait accumulation last week.
Thanks
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#1 - setup where the bait is
#2 - see rule #1
use your FF to find bait then pick a place in 25' or less depth (20' is my go to) The reason for this setup is to control how deep the fish can be feeding. To start drop your offerings down to the bottom and reel up two turns then cover the rest of the depth in 4' increments. The bait will come to your light and when the crappie move in to feed you will soon learn the depth that your hooks should be. Feeding depths can change and it seems that some crappie will always feed close to the bottom. if the bite slows down start adjusting your hooks until you find the right depth again. The biggest mistake I see people making is using to much weight, use just enough to keep your lines vertical and you will see the lite bites. Sometimes the rod tip will come up instead of going down. Watch your rod tips constantly or you will miss many bites.
What StumpHunter said! :woohoo look for bait around flats or on a ledge. Seasons don't matter to me that much. I go year round. Some nights are better than others. Dark moons and clear water are the best factors along a bright light with bait being present. Muddy water is not good because the light doesn't penetrate the water. Keep at it you'll develop your technique, also anchor down good so you won't have a lose end or swaying with your boat. Steady boat with tight lines mean more visible bites. Hope you join in with us sometimes. We are due to go, I got that feeling ofish will holler out soon.:biggrin
I'm ready for a trip to highrock r South of the borderQuote:
Originally Posted by BigDawgg
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That can happen if the weather gets right. To many scattered showers day and night time lately!:highfive
Appreciate it fellas. I知 ready I try out some of this knowledge after the Holiday/ Rain.
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Me and Stumphunter fished alot together at nite back in the day (in different boats but closeby). He and I fished the same way. I always left my sonar on so I could watch and see where the most lines (fish) appeared on the graph and made sure my hooks was slightly above them. Like SH said....during the nite the depth could vary so keep an eye out. Also, WATCH those rod tips cause sometimes it only twitches or the line barely moved and the fish has the minner in his mouth. Set the hook!
"Scout" for possible places to set up. Meaning....before dark spend an hour or so easing thru likely areas looking for bait/fish on the sonar in areas you think you might wanna fish. If a good spot is found then go there THE NEXT TRIP to the lake. Always scout before setting up cause you never know....you just might find "that Mother Load".;) When you do....you will know it! Places I like to look are in wind protected areas back in coves away from any timber. Sometimes you will find where a couple creek beds comes together causing a slight depth difference of just a couple feet and sometimes that is all it takes. I preferred flats averaging 20-25' deep with wind protected banks in areas where it is known to catch daytime crappies. 'Course there has to be food there or there wont be fish. Anyway...my 2 pennies worth.:) Good luck.
That's exactly the way I fish at nite gabowmanQuote:
Originally Posted by gabowman
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Gabowman, Stump Hunter, and myself along with others have enjoyed some great nights on Russell. It's been awhile and I've been considering night fishing on the Hill, but a weekend visit found heavy stain in all my favorite upper lake creeks, and I've not known dirty water to produce good night fishing. So I may just have to go out on Russell if we can ever get a trustworthy forecast that it won't storm as soon as the anchors are set!
Update and continuing questions!
Went last night in upper Wylie. I found bait around and set up in 20 ft if water near a flat and a 30 ft channel. I had small bait circling within minutes and after an hour or so larger thread fin shad. Caught 10 keepers and few throw backs. Most fish caught after about an hour of fishing. To my untrained night fishing self, it appeared after about 2 hours there was so much bait to choose from and not many crappie feeding. My chances of them taking my Minnow was small. I kind of verified this when I threw my cast net for bait right after I took 4 rods out of the water before I left. 2 keeper crappies in the net! Blew my mind!
Also all crappies were caught within 3 ft of light and within 7 ft down. 8ft rods were never touched. All fish came from jig pole with Minnie directly under light.
1. Is it possible to have to much bait in a spot and not enough crappies?
2. Is it legal to keep a crappie caught accidentally from a cast net? (Asking for a friend)
3. Should I try harder to find crappie and bait on sonar before setting up?
Thanks and I値l figure this out before the summer is over.
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Maybe casting and pulling a crank bait would get their attention when it痴 flooded with bait.
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Something else to throw out there.. I caught some of my best night crappie by slow winding a jig while waiting on interest in my minner offering. We usually fish 4 downlines with minnows per man. Anyway, after I have my minnows out and ready, I値l take out a rod with a small jig like a slab tail (1/32 oz, plus darker colors work best at night). Cast out and let it fall to the bottom. I get a lot of bite on the fall so watch the line. Wind it very, very slowly back up through the water column. Some nights the jig out performs the minnow bite. Hope this helps. Good luck!
Rob
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Never keep any crappie not caught legal. Hook and line caught in the mouth. Snagged crappie can't be kept either although I doubt many would throw them back.
A lot of bait is very common on any lake that holds a good population of crappie so pulling in a lot of bait is normal. You can turn off your light for an 1/2 hour and a lot of the bait will leave but bait is what pulls in the crappie. Try throwing a line or two with a lighted float out past the light ring. Try different things, the fish are there you just have to catch em :)
Appreciate it fellas.
I知 going to try some of this knowledge next time. That small crankbait seems like a great idea. I already throw a jig while I wait on the minnow bite and I知 going to check out those lighted bobbers.
Also, question 2 about cast net caught crappie was an attempt at humor.
I am also thinking I need to get the light on a pole and out from the boat. I currently have a green led that I hang from the rail.
Thanks again.
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Something you said made me laugh and it's having four rods per person out! That will be a heck of a time when the perch move in.:biggrin
But that's fun too!:popcorn