Fishing at night?

[arkpov56]

Hi, guys.

As days are getting hotter and windier and it gets increasingly more difficult to stay on the water as soon as son comes out of the mountains, the nights are looking more and more attractive.  Winds are insignificant, temps are much cooler and there is plenty of time between dusk and dawn.  Why do we struggle to stay afloat and fry ourselves at daylight when even the EFP Fishig Forecast (http://www.eprofishing.com/epf/forecast/fcf.asp?lat=41.07361&lon=73.77262) consistently shows higher peaks at 23:00 than at 06:00?
For me the answer is: I don't know how to fish at night.  I know night fishing is not prohibited and lakers do bite in the dark, not sure about browns and bass though.
Are there night fishing experts?  Given that I am fully equipped and experienced in day time trout fishing getting into nights should be relatively easy.  Therefore any specifics on night fishing: additional equipment, techniques, use of light, special regulations and limitations concerning night time on city properties – would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Ark.

[KenH]

The answer for me is that I often fall asleep by 2300. 
(of course that's cause I'm up up at 430 to go fish...)
But let me add my two cents.
1) Large Browns and Bass are known night time feeders.
2) I've been out when it's dark, bit of a pain just finding your boat spot.
I think stationary bait fishing is the way to go. I wouldn't want to troll
around except maybe during a full moon (hmm...food for thought there..)
Lantern fishing to draw baitfish to the boat is a known night time tactic.
3) Getting home after midnight and then cleaning fish isn't fun.
In the cold months you could leave it till the morning, but not the summer.
I remember this from my night bluefishing days.
4) I read through the DEP regs and didn't see anything specific regarding
night fishing. I've run into the DEP bird boats at night but never the DEP police
anyway. But, I think there might be some USCG regulations regarding lights on
a boat in any waterways at night, although I don't know
if they apply to small boats. In anycase I wouldn't imagine that's enforced anyway since DEP assumes patrol responsibility rather than the USCG.
 
Ken

[KenH]

Oh I forgot to add that Lakers aren't generally considered to be
big night feeders. However apparently there have been enough reports
of Lakers being caught at night from northern Ice Fishermen that perhaps they should
be. Lakers are unique amoing trout/char in that they have a special eye structure
that allows them to see in very deep dark waters, which perhaps supports this.

Ken

[VinnyH]

I've been on Kensico a couple of times for night fishing. Usually it's a relief from the 90 degree days. I wear a $12. led lamp headband from Home Depot. It has a red and clear lamp that I keep on red generally and clear when tying things, etc.

It helps a lot to have my handheld GPS to get me to spots and especially get back to the boat area.

Best to All,
Vinny

[Uncle Crappie]

Bass will be al lover the surface Free line a sawbelly at night for bass . Jitterbug and Torpedo will kill them they always get fish at night .Fish the torpedo in short jerks and pause for 10 somtimes 30 seconds.Just slow reel the jitterbug .If they stop hitting one use the other for a few .Shallow cranks and 6 ft runners on clean lake also work they need sound to find it .Somtimes they need it slower on darker nights. thats where the torpedo shines it stayes in the zone!   

[arkpov56]

Thanks, Uncle Crappie, that was one great advice.  Sounds so appetizing, especially on a full moon night as it is going to be this weekend.  I can almost see bass hitting topwater lures in the calmness of the night.  Actually I was thinking of trout, but may change my mind and try bass first.

Ken,
Lantern fishing for trout: how bright should it be?  Directly above the water or soft, reflected light from the middle of the boat?  Where the bait should be positioned, in the lighted area or aside?  I imagine the browns would stay around thermocline or would they come up to the surface attracted by the baitfish hanging under the light?
Also, full moon is known to be a showstopper for daytime fishing.  Do you think it might be the opposite at night?

Again, this weekend seems very attractive, especially Friday night, I am seriously considering it!

[KenH]

Ark;

The lantern is hung over the side ocer the water with a holder. I've seen one that was simple and fit into
an oarlock socket. Here's one that's more sophisticated.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0001618012426a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=lantern+holder&sort=all&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23

You fish your bait in the general area, not directly under the light itself. As you stated, the light will
attract a school of baitfish and the trout will come to check it out.
Actually, there are products sometimes called "crappie lights" which float on the water that do the same thing but I think most of them run off a 12v battery.

As to night fishing during a full moon, I've never done it but it certainly is tempting as a concept.

Ken

[HungryFisherman]

Hi guys,

Thinking about taking a stab at this myself.  Can you troll with the lantern hanging out the back, or do you really need to just sit in one spot?  Also, will the Browns stay down in the thermocline at night, or should I expect more surface action?

Best,

HF

[KenH]

HF

The idea of using the lantern is to attract a school of baitfish which in turn would attract
the game fish. So this calls for sitting in one spot. Or slow drifting.

Ken

[Tom]

Hungry Fisherman,
I am not a night fishing expert at all but it is my understanding that the light attracts a ball of baitfish and you should position your bait on a free line or weight it down below the ball. You need to do this on a moonless and relatively calm night.
Good luck,
Tom

[HungryFisherman]

Ken and Tom,

Thank you for for your replies.  I usually like to fish with lures instead of live bait, but I'm wondering if a slow drift will be enough to give my rapalas the proper action.  Have either of you tried this sort of thing with lures?  If so, what's the best way to go about it?

Best,

HF

[Tom]

Hungry,
I think the night fishing process requires you to anchor in one place. Your objective is to attract a large bait fish ball that is illuminated in the dark water. I don't think a drift achieves this. I guess you could try to jig into the bait ball but I don't think this is the usual way to fish for browns. At night, the last thing you want to do is drift in the dark. A stationary position, actually in a cove not far from shore, makes the most sense, and may even be the more practical and safer option. This method enables you to have the live bait do the work.
Tom

[HungryFisherman]

Thanks Tom - point well taken about drifting at night!

I think my method of attack will be to troll a bit before sundown and then drop anchor near my boat spot and try some still fishing with lantern and sawbellies.  I'll let you know how it goes.

HF

[JMG343]

When I was 16 or so I cut a piece of plywood to fit over the front two seats in my boat on cross river.  I would get to my boat a few hours before sundown with all my night fishing gear, a pillow, and a sleeping bag.  I would fish all night, and sleep on the boat, with lines in the water.  I caught tons of big browns this way and a lot of my biggest ever were on these nights.  I slept pretty lightly most of the time but once I woke up to the boat slamming against the dam.  I always drifted, never dropped anchor, and almost all the nights were still.

[Biz-R-OWorld]

haha thats awesome! closest thing to that is when me and my friends used to be bored on weeknight summers night when we were 17-18...we used buy beer with our fake ID's and then go fishing in small local lakes/ponds....One night we came across a snapping turtle that had to be 50lb+ easily on the edge of the water...we tried for hours to get it on shore to see how big it really was....we never got it on shore.....its shell had to be like 3 feet by 2 feet! Another 1 of these nights, my friend at the time was 17 and caught a 16" bullhead catfish that weighed just under 2lbs...he wont Jack Stewarts "Kids" division for biggest Catfish, and got his kid's pole, hat, etc...haha i think the age is lowered now.