Night fishin'

Hey all, I need some input about night fishin for crappie.
I have heard that night fishin is good for crappie, but what I need is the technical stuff.
I have a 10ft plastic 2 man boat with a trolling motor. I have 2 batteries, 1 for the TM and the other for lighting. I have a floating crappie light and I am wondering how to rig another to illuminate my bobbers. I have heard I can use a 12v light from a travel trailer, but I am not sure about it. I have limited juice for the outing so I want to hear what others use and how they are rigged.

Thanks for the information in advance.
tom

I buy the lighted slip corks. You can get them at Wal Mart.

I have used 2 of the floating lights all night on a 12 volt batt. They are low voltage 2of them light the area around the boat good but i just tight line straight down. i guess you could mount one on a pole stick clamped to the back of you seat for using floats.

thanks guys, didnt think of that

Sticko,
When night fishin, is there a "netter" time of year, or time of night?
Also, when tight lining, approx. how deep are ya fishin? and does it vary to what the electronics show?
tom

I use glowing slip corks, I think they are made by Thill.

Thanks barehook, appreciate the info.
Is there a particular depth u like to use starting off or does it vary?

I fish with 4 to 8 poles so I set up and different depth on each pole until the fish tell you what depth they are at. The water I fish is usually about 30 feet. What lake are you fishing?

I am thinking about trying Lake poinsett. Average depth is bout 8-15 ft with the deepest about 30ft.
Thanks for the information creekslick
tom

If you're going at night on Poinsett with a 10 ft. boat, I'd be pretty careful. Poinsett is one of those lakes where you can't get out of the wind. Fishing at night only makes it worse. Better not take your life vest off! Someone told me recently that it was pretty high. Haven't heard any fishing reports from there, though. Do you have one of those 'black lights' that lights up mono. line? I used one of those night fishing before and it worked well. Since they're flourescent, they shouldn't use much juice.

Tommy,

There are several light technologies out there and you might find one you like better than the one I like. I have always liked the LED light that is designed to clip or wear around my cap and I have fished with and without glow or lighted bobbers. Sometimes at night I just watch my line and the tip of my pole that I paint white so that just a little light shows me whats happening. There is also a 12volt Compact Flourescent available and they are not cheap, but pull very little and are extremly useful in the pitch black of a nightstalk. The most important light is something you can see where you are going with at night in case you have to move. Also it is important to know the lake pretty well in the daytime before you go out there at night. Good luck with night fishin, I don't think there is any more peacful time to haul em in.

thanks deep thought.
I have some of the LED lights that clip on the hat, as well as an LED lantern, and a good spotlight to use when we have to move.
Thanks for the information.

I know of some folks that were limiting out every night with slabs up to nearly 3 pounds
there but it was in September a couple of years ago.

Hey everyone,
Well went on my first night stalking trip. Not as good as I expected and this is what I hope all you guys experience may help me with. It was a cool night (50 degrees with falling water temps 65 down to 63) calm winds. We were anchored in bout 25 ft of water and could see the thermocline on electronics bout 15ft below. we had 2 floating lights and were fishing with minnows. But we did not see many bait fish approaching the lights,even after 4 hours of using the lights and did not get many bites off minnows fished depths from 4-12ft deep. So we started jigging and we caught 5, with 2 real good slabs approx 13.5 inches in length.

My question is, what depths should I try next, should I try coves or open water. And do yall think the cool temps may affected the fish more than my location and or presentation.
Also, the fish I did clean still had a few eggs in them. They were'nt bloated but still had them. Does that mean they have already spawned and have some residual eggs in them or probably not spawned yet?

By the way,
I really enjoyed the nightime fishin. Noone else on the water, quiet,stars out, clear sky and very relaxing even without catching many fish

Bullsprig,
Were your friends catching 3 lb crappie at lake Poinsett or some other lake.
Ringo

I know that it was not Poinsett. Poinsett has always produced a lot of crappie, just not any size.

whatcha think the weather plays in nightstalkin?

you asked me about tight line fishing. most people will night fish where they have caught fish before in the day time. bridge pileings are good place

I like to fish structure on the creek chanel drop 10 to feet deep I also like around bends in the creek. I drop my line to the bottom and start reeling up slowly count your cranks up till you starting to get hits. Then you will know how many cranks off the bottom the fish are holding.

or you can drop to bottom and count your cranks all the way to the top then you will know how many feet you come up on 1 crank. usually 1 to 1/12 feet per one crank on the reel. if you see schools of fish or bait fish in 10 feet depth while the bottom is 15 feet you know to come up 5 feet off bottom.

sometimes the fish bite good an hour after dark sometimes an hour or so before daylight . but most times it is the area your fishing if no bait fish there will be no crappie there also . So if your not bringing bait to your light it is time to move to another area.

good points on the knowledge of the amount of line out. Thanks for the tips for the baitfish and moving. Will try again soon and see what happens. Thanks for the information
Tom

Tommy, scout out some areas on your lake looking at the sonar for steep banks or creek channel drop offs running near the banks. Look for schools of baitfish. Fishing is the same as hunting.....gotta have food or they aint there. Find different places for a suspectable decent spot to set up for a nightstalk. People fish different ways but I use rod holders to hold my rods and fish tightlines. I usually set up in @30' of water and usually catch fish anywhere from 12' to 17' down, depending on the water temps/time of year. I stay away from bright moonlit nights. Better to take the wife out somewhere on those nights.;) I use Brinkman submersible lights but the floaters you use should do the job too. Main goal of the lights are to draw baitfish, which draws crappie. My rods stay in the holders with the tips painted white so I can see the bite. Sometimes the rod tip will only slightly bounce or barely show a slight pull and if they werent in the rod holders I probably wouldnt see the bite. I use clamp on type trouble lights with 12 v. bulbs inside the boat so everything in my boat is lit so I can see. I also use the light already mentioned on the bill of my cap for seeing to retie hooks, etc. Big weather changes will affect how the fish bite. It can completely shut 'em down. I like Jan./Feb. nightstalking the best. Cold water doesnt get affected as much and as a general rule larger fish are the standard. In my area this holds true up until the spawn is over then all the 'lil fellas seems to come out to play. Lots of hook swallowers after the spawn.

nope it was Poinsett. They had them figured out. For a while....

Much apprecitaed information. I have went nightstalking twice so far. did a little better keeping bout 8 crappie and 1 blue cat. never really any baitfish noticable around the lights. I have a lot more 'scouting" to do for sure.

Thanks so much again for the info.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tommyboyrn

and could see the thermocline on electronics bout 15ft below

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Don't think they have stratified yet. Mud line perhaps???

I dont know, could have been.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tommyboyrn

Much apprecitaed information. I have went nightstalking twice so far. did a little better keeping bout 8 crappie and 1 blue cat. never really any baitfish noticable around the lights. I have a lot more 'scouting" to do for sure.

Thanks so much again for the info.

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Down here in the south our waters are around 72 degrees surface temps. Not sure what yours is but before the water got this warm lots of times the bait wouldnt come close enough to the top to be seen. With the graph on you'll still be able to see 'em though....maybe 5' or more down. About an hour of so into the stalk check your graph and see if there's any baitfish. If so, try keeping your hooks just below the bait. The best bite ius usually just below the bait.

very good tip. We could see long isolated lines passing underneath on graph, and since we were anchored I didnt think it was anything "floating" underneath except the possibility of baitfish. But I did not nor have not tried to fish just below those depths. Thanks for theinformation, its much appreciated.
Tom

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tommyboyrn

very good tip. We could see long isolated lines passing underneath on graph, and since we were anchored I didnt think it was anything "floating" underneath except the possibility of baitfish. But I did not nor have not tried to fish just below those depths. Thanks for theinformation, its much appreciated.
Tom

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When sitting still, when a fish come underneath the cone the graph starts drawing a single line, 2 fish 2 lines, etc. It will continue drawing this line as long as the fish remains underneath the cone. You might notice these lines moving up or down as the fish will do. When the line stop you'll know the fish have moved out of the cone. When a group of baitfish moves under the cone it will be a "mass" of lighter gray (on a monochrome graph) usually ranging from a scattered thin mass up to sometimes almost the depth of the water youre in. I have had so many baitfish underneath the boat that they stop the ping from going to the bottom causing your graph to start reading 5' deep or whatever even when you KNOW youre iun 20 or 30' of water.Usually the mass of bait begins small, 3 to 5' thick and grows from there as your lights begin to attract more baitfish. Also, usually the baitfish doesnt show up on the surface first either. They may show up on the graph at 10' deep or more but usually moves up as the night goes on. With cooler waters they may not surface but each trip thru the cone and you may notice a pattern where the baitfish slowly begins coming closer to the top.

I'm your neighbor over in Texas, looking at different boards. I like the green stick when night fishing crappie. I have used every light there is, and nothing compares to the green stick. It is a submersible 4' and 8' florescent bulb with a lime green cover. It really brings in the bait fish, and then crappie. Get one and try it. Good fishing

Thanks. I have heard good things about it. I probably get one.
Thanks