If you haven't been night fishing in a while, you need to try bass fishing at night from now until September. It doesn't matter if you're fishing your local pit, pond, or stream….or if you're taking the bass boat out on your big lake; night fishing right now is getting hot all over the country.
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| James Smiley is a professional tournament bass fisherman winning over 20 tournaments & 5 angler of the year awards at various levels of competition. |
Understand the night
Just like during the day, you need to consider all the factors. Water clarity, moon phase, wind, and cover types all play major roles at night. I night fish thirty to fifty nights a year and overall the best nights for me have been a crescent moon with a light crop on the water or full moon with a good chop on the water. I treat the moon light just like the sun light; especially if you have clear water. Out West in the ultra-clear water, a full moon should be treated just like the bright sun so without wind your night is going to be focused on deep fishing or fishing tight to cover in shady areas. The wind is always your friend so try to fish the wind whenever possible.
Lure selection
People get confused with lures at night. Just remember that you should start with what you use during the day and expand slightly from there. If your lake is a good swim bait lake, try the same swim bait at night but maybe try a darker version. If the fish are hitting chatter bait during the day, you better believe they will slam it at night but you might have to change to a darker color. If you'd be fishing a worm during no wind during the day then try and same at night. Besides the color, another big modification is to try to get more vibration and water displacement at night without changing your lure type too much. If during the day I were to use a double willow Lucky Craft Redemption spinnerbait, at night I'd use the tandem version and sometimes change the willow in the tandem to a Colorado blade. If I were to use a Lucky Craft LC1.5 silent version during the day, at night I'd use the DRS knocker version.
Remember to cover water as well especially if you're bank fishing ponds. I'll walk an entire pond in a night without stopping unless I catch a fish. I love to cover the shallows with the LC1.5 square bill or a Lucky Craft BDS2 if I need to cover two feet of water or less.
And always be extra safe at night and make sure you bring a head lamp so you can re-tie easily.
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