CFF #7 Dropshot and Copyman 1st Place 5/26/2023

[Dropshot]

Started out heading up river. Caught a few fish on a texas rig. Right at dark caught 1st keeper on texas rig, 2.01lb fish. After dark, caught a few smaller fish before going to spinnerbait and shaky head. In a 30 minute span, I caught 4 fish, with the largest a 3.27 largemouth for our second keeper and the third one a 2.75 largemouth. Kept fishing and right before we were deluged by rain, Dusty caught the 4.79. It started storming, which moved us to a boat slip for nearly 1 hour 15 minutes. Once rain let up it was Dusty's show as he caught 6 more largemouth to my 1. We culled the 2.75 with a 2.76, and had a few more keepers that would not help.

It was very odd that prior to the rain, my bait in a different color and config seemed to be the hot bait, and after the rain, with lightened skies, his became the hot ticket.

Got back to the ramp thinking we had a good bag, and ended up with the win after Ken and Charlie's good bag had a dead fish which penalized them a pound. Also got big fish pot.

 

[Smalliefan2]

Congratulations on the win. Nice to have a place to duck in the rain.

 

[Justfishin]

Congrats guys. Spinnerbait was what we caught all our fish on after dark.

 

[trbr81]

Congrats guys. Spinnerbait was what we caught all our fish on after dark.

never have done much night fishing but know its big down in Tn - do most guys use the black lights still

 

[ChooChooSnakeMan]

never have done much night fishing but know its big down in Tn - do most guys use the black lights still

Tom, I don't night fish much but when I do I always use a black light. So much of my fishing is soft plastics even at night and being able to see the line move is critical. Once you get down here and experience a 95+ degree high humidity day fishing trip you will appreciate the comfort that comes with night fishing. I need to do more of it. I love the fun of fighting a jumping fish that is way off in the darkness. Way back in the day (late 80s) my bass fishing mentor took me to Watts Bar for many night fishing trips since he owned a cabin on the lake. We would fish until 2 or 3 in the morning and head to cabin for a few hours rest and then go right back at it. There was a stump field on a main lake point that we would pull up on and I'd throw a C'rigged black or junebug lizard up into the stumps. Man it was fun, if we happened to be there when the fish had come up to feed, it was on big time. I loved the sound of those fish jumping off in the blackness of the night. You never knew what you would get, largemouth, smallmouth, even big cats. I am very blessed to have those memories.

 

[Springmillvol]

Tom, I don't night fish much but when I do I always use a black light. So much of my fishing is soft plastics even at night and being able to see the line move is critical. Once you get down here and experience a 95+ degree high humidity day fishing trip you will appreciate the comfort that comes with night fishing. I need to do more of it. I love the fun of fighting a jumping fish that is way off in the darkness. Way back in the day (late 80s) my bass fishing mentor took me to Watts Bar for many night fishing trips since he owned a cabin on the lake. We would fish until 2 or 3 in the morning and head to cabin for a few hours rest and then go right back at it. There was a stump field on a main lake point that we would pull up on and I'd throw a C'rigged black or junebug lizard up into the stumps. Man it was fun, if we happened to be there when the fish had come up to feed, it was on big time. I loved the sound of those fish jumping off in the blackness of the night. You never knew what you would get, largemouth, smallmouth, even big cats. I am very blessed to have those memories.

I have night fished some but haven't gotten completely comfortable with it . would you shar what type of blacklight you use? I've seen those that plug into the auxillary recepticle and stick to the rail on the boat that looked pretty powerful. I also have see some nice installations on some of the bigger boats that look great. I fish out of a G3 aluminum.

 

[bronzeback45]

Great job, Dusty. You as well, Patrick.. Sometimes it happens to me, but its still a team effort.

 

[trbr81]

looking forward to it when I get down and would like to see some installations also and suggestions on types of lights

 

[ChooChooSnakeMan]

I have night fished some but haven't gotten completely comfortable with it . would you shar what type of blacklight you use? I've seen those that plug into the auxillary recepticle and stick to the rail on the boat that looked pretty powerful. I also have see some nice installations on some of the bigger boats that look great. I fish out of a G3 aluminum.

The unit I use is a very old but still usable black light from Bass Pro. I'm sure there are better units available now but my unit works fine. It has suction cup feet that stay on the boat gunnel pretty good and it has a long cord and plug that goes into the auxiliary 12v receptacle in the boat. I don't trust it to stay put when I move so I always take the unit off before moving. My unit has two black light bulbs pointing outward and a regular blub pointing inward for light in the boat. I never use the inward pointing light much because it destroys your night vision. I carry a small light that has a red led that works pretty good for bait tying.