Nighttime Crappie Fishing Tips….?

Went out night fishing for crappie the first time last night… I purchased a really bright green LED fishing light off Etsy some years back, but just hadn’t had much of an opportunity to use it, as I fish mostly at dawn and dusk. We set-up under a bridge around 8:30 pm and got the poles rigged up with slip bobbers and small jig heads.

We were fishing in 14 foot of water and originally, I had the light pretty deep, maybe about 8-10’ down. I eventually brought it up higher several times, finally having it about 4’ down, which attracted a mess of minnows, Shad, and mosquitos!

I kept my fishfinder on the whole time and marked a lot of fish under the boat. However, whenever I adjusted the floats to put the bait in the range where I was marking fish (4-6’), I never got any bites. All the crappie we caught were in about 8-10’ and none were keepers (10” on that particular lake).

I want to know what type of set-up you use for nighttime crappie success, and what I could do differently next time to locate at catch some bigger fish, because I know they’re in this lake. I thought about using bigger bass minnows next time, or just trying a simple double drop rig and not nothing with the floats. Any tips / insight would be greatly appreciated.


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When I was doing a lot of night fishing I would put a light just under the surface. Turn off your depth finder unless you want bugs. Lights above water for seeing bites were off the side with shields to keep light out of the boat. Rods were 8' to 12' long set a various depths until the fish told you what they wanted. Rigs were no more than a hook and just enough weight to keep them minnow from tangles with other lines.

On a really bright light most of the crappie especially the larger ones are on the outside fringes of the light. Well outside of the visible light you can see. Sometimes small fish are what shows up

You need to talk with the pro's like TurkeyfootNC and mac crappie. Last time I offered to help someone it turned on me so I hope you find someone to give you some advice. :highfive

Don't worry about how deep you have your light underwater. You need it to see if you have a bite. When I used a submersible light I kept it just under the water. I seldom fish in water less than 20 ft deep and use a hook and split shot. Hope this helps!

Light just under the surface. Lose the floats. Deeper water. Expect spotty results until the water cools in fall. Set lines at different depths until one depth proves to be most effective.

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Originally Posted by ncnat

When I was doing a lot of night fishing I would put a light just under the surface. Turn off your depth finder unless you want bugs. Lights above water for seeing bites were off the side with shields to keep light out of the boat. Rods were 8' to 12' long set a various depths until the fish told you what they wanted. Rigs were no more than a hook and just enough weight to keep them minnow from tangles with other lines.

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Good to see you Nat.

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Originally Posted by ncnat

When I was doing a lot of night fishing I would put a light just under the surface. Turn off your depth finder unless you want bugs. Lights above water for seeing bites were off the side with shields to keep light out of the boat. Rods were 8' to 12' long set a various depths until the fish told you what they wanted. Rigs were no more than a hook and just enough weight to keep them minnow from tangles with other lines.

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I seconds Kunes "good to see you back" I been wondering where you were, Still cooking fish like the old days?

Thanks everyone for the good input… I’m looking forward to trying it out soon and will report back.


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I would suggest that you anchor off the bow and the stern. This holds the boat steady. Also paint your rod tips flat white.

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Originally Posted by fishfinder8

I would suggest that you anchor off the bow and the stern. This holds the boat steady. Also paint your rod tips flat white.

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I use the bobber lights on my rods


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Pond Pounder

Which lake do you fish?
Here's an article written by a member Rango who wrote the book on nightfishing. Sadly he passed away recently but many of us learned from him thru this article and/or fishing with him.

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I live about 10 minutes away from Jordan Lake, so it’s my default crappie lake. I’m a lifelong multi-species fisherman, but just started pursuing crappie a few years back. My very first outing, I accidentally dropped one of my rods in the water, so it may still be somewhere near the 64 bridge, lol…

I fish with ultralight rods a lot and love to catch panfish. Crappie are a nice go between bluegill and bass and definitely takes some patience and skill to learn how to fish for them properly. I’d love to be able to get to the point to be able to consistently fill a stronger full of keepers every time I go out for them. But that may take a few more years of learning before I get there. But I will get there eventually.

Thanks for all of the info. Looking forward to experimenting with it!


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Good to be seen. Look for a PM

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Originally Posted by polarcrafter

I seconds Kunes "good to see you back" I been wondering where you were, Still cooking fish like the old days?

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No, but still thinking about it.

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Originally Posted by ncnat

No, but still thinking about it.

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We’d thought you’d been MIA had i not see you on NCHF ��

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Originally Posted by TreednNC

We’d thought you’d been MIA had i not see you on NCHF ��

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Went out with Mac Crappie last night on Shearon Harris. After the idiots skiing around us finally left, we got settled in and down to business. Missed a bunch and had a number of catfish in the mix, but ended up with 10 keepers for the box, plus a few perch for catfish bait. I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of this nighttime fishing… Thanks, Jim, for showing me the ropes!

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Originally Posted by Pond_Pounder

Went out with Mac Crappie last night on Shearon Harris. After the idiots skiing around us finally left, we got settled in and down to business. Missed a bunch and had a number of catfish in the mix, but ended up with 10 keepers for the box, plus a few perch for catfish bait. I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of this nighttime fishing… Thanks, Jim, for showing me the ropes!

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No problem glad we got on some


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Dang, you are lucky to get special training. Glad you had a great guy to show you a few things. I have never been offered a seat in his boat when he was fishing, but he will let me lean against it when parking at the ramp. As long as I stay away from the tires! Glad you'll got a few good fish for the ride home!

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Mac always get to rub my belly for luck!

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Originally Posted by BigDawgg

Dang, you are lucky to get special training. Glad you had a great guy to show you a few things. I have never been offered a seat in his boat when he was fishing, but he will let me lean against it when parking at the ramp. As long as I stay away from the tires! Glad you'll got a few good fish for the ride home!

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Mac always get to rub my belly for luck!

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Thnxs dawgg for the kind words [emoji190]


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