Thread: First Time Nightstalker Notes.

I have been green carp fishing for many years now, and I wanted to try something that had a slower pace to it. I have been reading the posts dating back a year or two on this board for about two weeks in getting ready for my first night stalk. I am also very impressed with all the folks on this board, and their willingness to give out information and help others.

Fish caught = 0
Fishing depth = 10 to 25 feet
Water temp = 79 with bait fish everywhere around the lights.
Location = Tied off to 183 bridge next to the Hot Hole on Keowee Saturday night. (Windy most of the time.)
Date / Time = Saturday night between 6:30 and Midnight.

I thought I would post up some things I learned last night as a first timer in hopes it will help others. (And some questions.)

1. 3 green submersible and 2 white floating lights will run for at least 5 hours on 1 deep cycle battery. (Large deep cycle... I will get stats this afternoon. I am thinking it is 1000 cranking amps.)
2. Have plenty of light inside the boat so you can see your rod tips and lines. (I am looking to purchase a black light for this.) I ended up pulling one of the green submersible lights up just out of the water on each side of the boat to see the lines. (This worked pretty well.)
3. Green lights brought in more fish than the white floating lights. (I am sure this is going to get a response.) Since we did not have much boat light last night, I did a test. I only ran green lights on my side of the boat, and pulled my white floating light inside so we could see. My side of the boat had twice as many bait fish than the other side using the green and white lights. I will be testing this again in the future.
4. If you buy bait that is chilled, stick a piece of ice in the minnow bucket from time to time to help keep your bait alive. I was told from the fellow I bought the minnows from not to let the temp go over 52 degrees. (If you are like me and don’t catch any fish, you don’t need to buy 24 minnows from the store on the way to the lake.)
5. Minnows seemed to last longer if they were hooked through the back under the dorsal fin vs. the tail.
6. Weekend pleasure boats don’t always slow down for bridge “No Wake Zones”. Always keep and eye out just incase.

Questions:
1. How does current effect crappie fishing? We also noticed our lines were around a 45 degree angle in the water. The deeper we set them the more angle they settled at. The current was moving pretty good through there.
2. How deep should the lights be set? We set our submersible lights around 15ft to 20 ft, but moved them up closer to the surface as time went by. Lights ended up a foot under the water line.

Even though we did not catch anything, we had a good time. I was amazed at all the bait fish around the boat. It was memorizing at times to see the green light reflecting off the bait fish. I am now thinking about buying a Pontoon Boat for Crappie, Striper, and Trout fishing. If you would have asked me about buying a Toon earlier this year, I would have said you were nuts. I guess I have now been converted.

I would like to thank everyone once again for all the information posted on this board. I did look at several other sites and boards, but they do not compare when it comes to being friendly and information posted.

Joe

Hey Joe.Awesome first post man.I hope they keep coming.I use the floaters only so my depth of light is surface.I have found that the bait isn't always where you can see them.A lot of times they are below where you can see them and thats when the bite is better in my opinion.The fish are a little skiddish to come in the light especially the big ones.Most on here will tell you that the big boys often come from lighted bobbers in dark water.I personally catch them on my long (12' telescopic) rods at the edge of the light.Thats not a hard fast rule but something subtle I have picked up fishing Wylie.I also think that the white vs. green debate is mainly argued over different waters.Clarity and all that are key factors in what light to use.But it sure is fun to argue about it.Another tip I would give you about the ice in the minnow bucket....Put the ice in a ziploc bag so that the chlorine from the ice dosen't kill your minnows.Bridges tend to have the hard current you are describing and the main reason is that a bridge goes over the narrowest part of the lake usually.If this is in a channel then when the dam pulls water , you are in the bottle neck.Try using more weight if you insist on fishing that particular spot.More weight makes the bite easier to see anyway.It looks like you read for a while before posting , thats evident in the fact that you got half the battle won before getting strted.I think you will have a lot better time night stalking than you did Carp hunting.And the people are much friendlier if you haven't already gathered that.

Originally Posted by big "E"

I personally catch them on my long (12' telescopic) rods at the edge of the light.Thats not a hard fast rule but something subtle I have picked up fishing Wylie.

Hmmm? I had the idea of installing a couple of 5" round deck hatches in my crappie-toon's floor, so I can drop the lights thru and keep them out of the way. Maybe this would have my 5.5' and 6.5' rods in the big slab territory.

Originally Posted by snal

Hmmm? I had the idea of installing a couple of 5" round deck hatches in my crappie-toon's floor, so I can drop the lights thru and keep them out of the way. Maybe this would have my 5.5' and 6.5' rods in the big slab territory.

Thats a good idea about the hatches.I have just found that the bigger fish I catch come from around the edge of the light.Not just the outer edges but even the bottom edge as well.The smaller fish dart into and out of the light chasing shad but the bigger ones seem to wait on stragglers to get out too far.This dosen't mean that I haven't ever caught a slab right in the light but not that often.If you have the patience and are on the right side of the boat wind wise , the lighted bobbers are a killer for big fish in dark water.You'd be suprised how many big crappie are swimming around right under the surface trolling for bait.Rango and Davey catch them on bobbers all the time and Bam catches them as well on bobbers.I just dont have the patience and it seemes to detract from me watching my down lines.I find myself daydreaming watching the bobber.

Originally Posted by big "E"

I have just found that the bigger fish I catch come from around the edge of the light.

I agree 100%. When we set up in my boat we will both fish the same side of the boat. I will put one light (white or green) in the middle and I would say that the most productive poles are the ones we have set the furthest away from the light.

I have not been but a few times , just started last year BUT the few times I went I noticed that all the BIG fish caught came on th eouter edges of the lights , most times on the side away from the light.I never put my lights any deeper than what it takes so the light will shine under the boat ..

Its a great article on NightStalk that Rango wrote under the ARTICLES Section at the top of the page , well worth reading !!!

I P.M.ed you let me know if you got it

Originally Posted by snal

Hmmm? I had the idea of installing a couple of 5" round deck hatches in my crappie-toon's floor, so I can drop the lights thru and keep them out of the way. Maybe this would have my 5.5' and 6.5' rods in the big slab territory.

I have long thought that this would work well, I will probably try that also............Can't hurt.

Great post Joe. I'm particularly glad to see that youre the kind of fisherman to goes out and fishes and then brings your questions back to the boards for follow up questions. To me anyway, that's the way to learn.
You're already getting some great responses that got me well on my way nightstalking. One thing that I'll add is dont think that bridges are the only places you can go to catch crappie. Crappie are all over the lake, you just gotta get out there and do a little looking on your fish finder for the kinds of water they like hanging out in. Some folks like muddy water, but most here rather fish clearer water ranging anywhere from 20'-35' deep. Steep dropping banks can be good, also look at the creek channel dropoffs. You just gotta experiment around on your lake and it doesnt hurt having a map so you can plot where you do good at for future reference.
As far as green or white....I've never used green so I cant say. I use starfires & I set my lights (usually 2 lights) no deeper than the bottom of the boat hull so crappie dont get tangled in the wires. Sometimes the bait fish are instant, and other times it'll take an hour or more to get them surfaced. I watch my fish finder while stalking and see the balls of bait sometimes around 15' deep and it takes awhile for them to surface. Each time they pass by they are getting closer to the surface. You can also learn alot from your graph seeing the lines fish make underneath the balls of bait as they "sit" in the cone targeting bait to hit. You wont see arches as the boat isnt moving but the fish will show up in darker lines instead. All depends on how long they stay directly underneath the cone as to how long the line stays on the finder.
Read the article Rango posted on Night stalking. It's a very informative article that gives several good tips on set ups for fishing at night. He has it down to a science on lighting the boat as well as the lights in the water. A very good read.
This is my first fall fishing so I'll be asking questions too. But I can say if they start biting like they did last winter and spring we gonna have some more fun!! :D

welcome to the board butt ugly. thats a good post and you gettin some great replies. these guys know what its all about