Thread: Post spawn night fishing ?

I am wondering how many of you do this ... where and how . I've seen posts by Locator79, so he probably has some advice. Usually as summer rolls in and the days heat up, I usually park the boat for other activities as daytime fishing is too hot for me. I am thinking I should give night fishing a shot. I used to bass fish at night during hot summers but that has been yrs ago. What equipment do I need to get started, what techniques work, and where do you usually set up? Do crappie roam the shallows at night like the bass do... or should I set up over deep water?

Can you do better if you get a group of boats together in one spot, with a lot of lights in the water? Hint... opportunity for future collaboration on a local lake.

Help a guy out that has never night fished for crappie... I'm all ears and eyes.

HHD

Hey hoosier, I usually use two floating lights or one floating light and a submersible light,and a cheap car battery to run them. i usually set up over a creek channel. Just watch in the lights and see if the baitfish are comeing to the light. I set my bobber up right on the edge of the light beam so the crappie kind of ambush it.

HHD,

We like to go on the darkest nights possible. Put a light out off each corner of the pontoon boat and one submersible light about 6 feet down. We sit in 25 to 30 fow. We set out poles with slip floats just out side the edge of the light on the water 6 to 10 ft deep and jig with ice fishing rods and ice jigs with minnow or beemoth off the front by the submersible light. Worked the last two years of my limited experience. And we always use ice jigs that have some sort of glow to them that we recharge with an led light.

We always drop a green light next to the boat right under the surface anchor up in around 15' of water or so, wait somewhere around a hour for the baitfish to show up, and tightline minnows at different depths until you get into them. I have not had much luck so far this year, but in years past we have caught fish until the sun has come up. Usually I dont start doing this until July and later, but had a so so spring, so we have gave it a couple shots this year. Went last weekend on Sun. night, caught a couple crappie, and a striper. Having trouble getting the baitfish to come in. Its takes a little patience to get the hang of this type of fishing, with a little trial and error, but it can really pay. Being on the lake at night is some of the most peaceful fishing you can do, other than the bugs eating you up. Give it a try, its a whole different way to catch them.

Some questions for you guys... do you ever gang up with other boats to throw a lot of light into one area? Lights and bugs are a concern, has anyone tried making a floating station to hold the battery and lights...eg anchor it away from boat? What do you guys use for onboard lighting to see what you are doing... hat lamps, or what? Anybody try one of those thermocells? I think it is called for the bugs? Florescent line and black lamps ?

I use the thermacell for early season bow hunting when it is muggy out. It works great in a tree stand! I guess it would work in a boat too. I do use a headlamp or i have a hat with a light built into it to. The floating lights i have put of some surface light too. I use some metal fence posts, and stick them through the cleats on my boat and i have the ends slightly bent up with the wire from the floating light wrapped around the end to hold the lights in place