Night Time Bassin

For night fishing, the best time is when hot weather arrives. Early spring is fair; late summer is good, but mid summer is somewhere between excellent, and down right wonderful. Most fishermen say when the weather is hot, the water is hot; when the water is hot, the fish don't bite. In July and August, the night temperature drops about 10 or 15 degrees. Four or five after hours sundown, the first 10 to 12 inches of water has dropped about half that much. The drop in water temperature will bring everything that can swim up into the shallow to feed. The best time of the year to start night fishing is anytime between the first of July and the last of August. The best time of the night to start is around midnight, but that time may vary between early, mid, and late summer. Another factor, involves what the fish in any given lake have been feeding on. As a rule, the bait fish are feeding on insects and algae in the water, and the bass are feeding on the bait fish. Fish are easier to spook at night because, like you, they can't as well at night as in the day. So your success depends a lot on how you approach your favorite spot.

LIGHTS: One good piece of equipment you shouldn't be without is a small flashlight for retying your line in the event of a breakoff. A good tip is to cover the lense of the flashlight with a red colored lense. The white light will attract insects and make retying miserable unless your very fast at tying a lure on. Another item you shouldn't be without is a blacklight which is normally pointed out over the water. This will help you see your line provided you are using fluorescent line. The blacklight will make your line glow and it will be much easier to see in the event of a strike while fishing a plastic worm or jig-n-pig.

LURES: Many fishermen prefer shallow running crankbaits, surface baits that make some noise, buzzbaits, plastic worms, jig-n-pigs, and spinnerbaits. The key to night fishing is speed and rhythm. If your using a worm , fish it slow, the slower the better. Some anglers even put worm rattles in their worms for more noise. The same goes for the jig-n-pig. When using crankbaits, surface lures, or spinnerbaits, remember: it's dark, and the fish can only see a silhouette of the lure. Crankbaits with rattles, spinnerbaits with big Indiana or Colorado blades and buzzbaits with clackers is a good choice. When you're retrieving your lure, retrieve it at a steady pace, or regular rhythm. You can use the stop and go method, but try not to alter the rhythm. On some occasions you may need to experiment on different retrieves with all these lures to see what the fish prefer.

COLOR: Since your fishing at night and the fish can't see color at night, your choice should black or purple the reason is when they do see your lure they will only see a silhouette. If a fish strikes short a couple of times he may return, but if he hits a hook, you won't see him again.