Night stalking

Hello all,

Being new to Florida I was wondering if anyone goes night stalking for Specks?
I'm in the Palatka area of the St. John's River and also close to some local lakes with decent speck fishing. Being from NC we did alot of night fishing for them.
If any what would be a couple good areas or lakes to do some night stalking?
I've only been in Florida since Nov, and work alot so I haven't been able to explore like I hoped to so far.
Looking forward to hearing how the night bite is or reasons why not to go or stay after dark.
Thanks in advance.


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I'm pretty much a "Newbie" to freshwater fishing and most definitely to speck fishing - but I'm liking it!!! I used to work an area of Lake Rousseau over towards Inglis, FL and I would see A LOT of guys night fishing with lanterns for specks over that direction. . .not sure why it wouldn't work over your direction. I hunt quite a bit along the St. John's and Lake George, and would really like to learn the areas from the Barge Canal south through the lake and into Dexter and Woodruff for specks. I know that is a big area to cover, but I would like the adventure. Anyone fishing these areas and need a partner, please touch base. . .I can clean the boat/days catch, pretty much go anytime, have my own tackle and I have a bank account.

I was working in Sebring and saw guys night fishing for specs but at the time had no idea what they were doing. This was on lake Josephine. I have tried some night fishing but don’t really know how to do it right. Let me know when y’all figure out this Florida night fishing cause I’ve heard crappie really like to feed at night! Wish I could be more help

I've only been on Lake Rousseau a few times and didn't do much but that's mostly my fault. The first time the wind was blowing at about 30 mph and the next few times I was still learning my way around. I haven't had time to go back yet but I will. By the reports, it's a great place but you need to learn your way around. Also, there is NO place in Lake Rousseau where it's safe to run above idle speed!

There are marked channels but there's still an occasional stump there, too. The lake is about 100 years old and when you get out of the marked channel you'll find that most of the trees that were flooded are still there - just below the surface. You need to explore it in the day time and chart some safe passages before you try it at night. Good luck!

I hear that a great place but very stumpy and hard on boats a motors if you're not careful.
Not a place I would try at night until I knew it super well and even then I'd probably only go a short distance from the ramp. Just to be on the safe side.


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I thought about it and went there today! I'm trying to learn the lake a little so I spent more time looking around than fishing. I found a couple of drop offs & holes I'd heard about that are supposed to be good for crappie fishing - about 25 ft deep. Got the waypoints marked.

I don't know that you'd hit any more stumps in the dark than you will in daylight. Today is the first time I haven't hit one there - but I go slow in there just because. My boat will run around 50 mph but not in that lake! Outside of the channel it's trolling motor or idle speed only but I saw half a dozen boats on plane in the channel.

I tried throwing a spinner bait some but I was spending more time cleaning the spirogyra/snot grass on my spinner bait than fishing. Had to stop and clear my trolling motor a few times. The lake appears to be about 10 feet deep on average.

I grew up fishing in the SC Lowcountry rivers & lived on a beach near Southport, NC for a while. First thing I learned when I moved here is that most of what I learned up there doesn't work here - especially salt water fishing!

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Originally Posted by Bud in Fla

I thought about it and went there today! I'm trying to learn the lake a little so I spent more time looking around than fishing. I found a couple of drop offs & holes I'd heard about that are supposed to be good for crappie fishing - about 25 ft deep. Got the waypoints marked.

I don't know that you'd hit any more stumps in the dark than you will in daylight. Today is the first time I haven't hit one there - but I go slow in there just because. My boat will run around 50 mph but not in that lake! Outside of the channel it's trolling motor or idle speed only but I saw half a dozen boats on plane in the channel.

I tried throwing a spinner bait some but I was spending more time cleaning the spirogyra/snot grass on my spinner bait than fishing. Had to stop and clear my trolling motor a few times. The lake appears to be about 10 feet deep on average.

I grew up fishing in the SC Lowcountry rivers & lived on a beach near Southport, NC for a while. First thing I learned when I moved here is that most of what I learned up there doesn't work here - especially salt water fishing!

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Thanks for the info.
Hope you find something worth your efforts on your next outing.
We used to stay at Holden beach every year. Love that place. Very laid back.
Used to fish out of Southport for many years with a Capt. Named Jake. He ran the boat Idle On and then Moving On.
Great memories of those days.

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Originally Posted by FisherFore

Used to fish out of Southport for many years with a Capt. Named Jake. He ran the boat Idle On and then Moving On.
Great memories of those days.

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When I was growing up in SC a group of us made several trips to Southport and took the Idle On II out to the wreck of the USS Gill to go scuba diving. Years later I was working at Brunswick nuke plant in Southport and living on Long Beach. Lots of good memories from that time here, too.

Shouldn't be a problem finding fish @ night in the Palatka area, seek out a deep hole that provides a Eddy & it should be the ticket....the hardest thing about night fishing is finding excellent insect repellent....good luck when ya get out!

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Originally Posted by Speck Detector

Shouldn't be a problem finding fish @ night in the Palatka area, seek out a deep hole that provides a Eddy & it should be the ticket....the hardest thing about night fishing is finding excellent insect repellent....good luck when ya get out!

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A few years ago we had a discussion on Fla Sportsman's Big Bend section about "no-see-um" repellant. It sounds like the no-see-ums around Savannah are even worse than they are in Yankeetown! I was told they use ORS Olive Oil Frizz Control up there - I guess it works like Skin So Soft does for mosquitos but I tried it and it does work!

Robot or human?

Been a little over a year since I was here.... Learned my way around the lake a little bit. You can put in at the Dunnellon city landing and run all the way into the lake. Once you get to there, watch out for stumps! Stay in the channel and you're fairly safe even on plane. There are so many islands, you won't find your way back to town if you don't have a track to follow! You'll be running basically West and the channel markers in the lake make a "T" that shows on some maps. The channel runs basically north & south where it splits and near that area is a 30 foot deep hole that usually has some crappie in it.
I may have to try it again soon - been pretty much crippled with sciatica since October and had back surgery 2 weeks ago today. Staples come out tomorrow. If anyone needs it, check with Citrus Orthopedics, Dr Silverstein! He's great!

I figured I was going to be laid up for a while so I took my boat to the shop for the routine stuff (Action Craft 1820 w/Evinrude 150). When we pulled the cowl off, the mechanic backed off and said he didn't do rats.... I pulled the nest out with my Leatherman pliers and found 2 baby squirrels in it. They went to a squirrel rescue near the shop but mama squirrel turned a $350 job into a $1500 job! My engine still ran but she chewed up the most expensive parts she could find! I might get the call my boat is ready tomorrow but my Dr still hasn't cleared me to drive yet, so it'll probably be a few more weeks before I can get back on the water.

Hope everything heads in the right direction now, you’ve had enough for a while.

Wow, yeah, not good. Best of luck going forward. Tree rats once at my fuel line in my F250, wasn't a fun repair. I ended up with a nice burn from the water I heated up and spilled on myself. I needed to heat up the fuel line to get it on the new nipple while awkwardly lying under the truck. ouch

Night fishing is a big thing at Okeechobee.
But like everything else, it requires being properly setup for doing it.
A pontoon boat is ideal for that, lots of room for moving about and good for stringing up lights.
Richard Gene has a few videos on that, mostly tied up under a bridge and using a light.
When i lived in the Keys it got very hot in the days during the summers.
From my dock it was only about 6 miles to the reef and good fishing.
So a friend and i decided to try night fishing.
We went one time.
There are hundreds of lobster trap floats, and its hard missing all of them even in daylite.
i ended up dragging a pot back to my dock that had gotten tangled on one of my motors.
But it did have 3 lobsters in it.

Seemed like time to bite the bullet and repower. As hard as it was to get repair parts for my 150 Evinrude this time, I decided I wasn't going to wait 3 years until I HAD to do something. My boat guy still has my boat at his place but he's bring it down here and we're taking the engine off in my shop. It's 40x40 and I have a gantry with 2 chain falls. The Evinrude is already sold and my mechanic is looking for a deal on a good used Yamaha. I'm 3/4 deaf anyway so the noise form a 2 cy won't bother me and 1/2 mpg won't make enough difference to matter no farther than I go. By selling the Evinrude now, I'll get enough to help pay for the replacement instead of selling it for scrap in a couple of years.

All I want to say about night stalking is that not all wildlife has four legs. Be careful and prepared

And becoming more so all the time!!! If you don't CC now, you'd better start!

Florida allows you to open carry while going to, during and coming home from a fishing trip. We live in "Troubled Times". Stay Safe and enjoy your night fishing trips. When I was younger I spent a lot of time fishing at night and never had any trouble. Now I would not think about night fishing unless I went with a couple of other boats. Tight Lines.

JJ

So i guess leaving my truck and trailer at the ramp parking lot in wee hours ain't a smart thing to do?

I and friends have had trailers stripped of tires and wheels, keel rollers, lighting, and trailer jacks. I hope you never experience the horror of coming back to a stripped trailer. I fished at night mostly for sea trout not specks. I used to do a fair amount of salt water shrimping. Most incidents happened at Haulover Canal, and various launch ramps in the Titusville Fl area. Tight Lines.

JJ

And with the newer battery tools it takes no time. It just ain’t right.