Question for you Night Fishing guys

[richg99]

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Since I rarely have fished at night..a couple of things happened last night that puzzled me.</p>

Small lake in Fairfield Lakes subdivision; "Night" tournament...4 pm to 9 pm. It got pretty dark right around 8 p.m. ( Central Daylight Savings Time).</p>


Around 6:30 or so, I caught one small bass, and missed two more on a spinnerbait. As the evening wore on, my partner and I tried all sorts of lures/worms/senkos/top waters etc. No fish, except one more for my buddy on a senko fished over heavy weeds.

Just about dusk, I am throwing the original spinnerbait tight to a very shallow shoreline. Blam, IMMEDIATELY as the lure hits the water, I hook and land another bass. Not big, but a keeper.

8:15 or so...I've got the original spinnerbait back on. Throwing it up against 1 to 3 foot shorelines. Bang...I get a big, splashy hit right up against the shore. She hit IMMEDIATELY as the lure hit the water..Probably the biggest bass I've ever "caught"....but....she got off at the boat.

Same thing ( hits IMMEDIATELY) happens maybe 20 minutes later, but a slightly smaller fish. She also pulled loose at the boat! D@#$% mostly my fault for not having a proper trailer hook, I guess. (the loss of the fish is not my question).

As I mull over the two incidents...I wonder if they hit The Spinnerbait...or would they have hit any splashing thing that dropped onto their nose in the skinny water.

We really don't know if they were bass, or maybe catfish, the way they pulled. We are believing that they were bass, because neither of us have ever caught a catfish on a spinnerbait in this particular lake. He lives on the lake and fishes it often.</p>

The real question is...is the spinner bait the key, or is any big splashing thing thrown into the right places..... all that it takes????

thanks

 

[fishinvol]

Sounds like they are just tight to the shore feeding , I'd think a topwater lure would work also . Buzzbait or a small version of the whopper plopper are perfect for those lakes .

 

[davisjeremy1981]

like you found the fish will get shallow at night and sometimes very aggressive. it sounds like you were getting reaction strikes from the bait landing right near the fish...if they are being that aggressive they will hit almost anything. for night fishing anything that makes noise or gives off vibrations tends to work better ie top water spinner baits loud cranks and rattle traps and jigs with rattles. also lean more toward throwing darker color baits like blacks blues and dark greens. these darker colors silhouette better at night and the fish can actually see them better.

 

[go blue]

Don't forget about the Sammy and spook. Also great top water baits for small lakes.

 

[Creekrunner6]

Sounds like it was just a reaction bite since they were hitting it so quickly. A spinner bait is one of the better night time lures though as the others have already posted. If they are that close to the bank try a spook, whopper plopper, Sammy, pop r and you will catch just as many if not more

 

[BulletTJ]

This is old school but trust me it still works and it works great. When the bass up shallow at night like you found them, I like to throw a jointed black Jitterbug. Just cast it out and reel it back in slowly. Oh and hang on to your rod. They will try and take it away from you sometimes.

 

[davisjeremy1981]

Thanks bullet I totally forgot about the J Bug...shows how much I've been fishing at night lately, hardly at all. Gonna have to dive into storage and dig them out.