Newbie Night Fisher with Lighting Question

[rentonhighlander]

Quick question for any night fisherman out there. How far out from your lights do you fish? I'm up in the Pacific North West and most of our water is fairly clear. I used a combination of a lantern and floating light. This light makes a pretty bright beam straight down but the water gets pretty dark outside its initial radius. I've only been out once. I would cast about 10-15ft (using bobbers) from the light and slowly drift to within about 3-4ft. Does this sound like I'm on the right track? There aren't to many nightstalkers up here so I don't have anyone to learn from and was figuring this forum was the next best option. Also, what would be the number one piece of advice that you would give to a newbie to increase their success at night. Thanks in advance to any of you that take the time to respond.

[STUMP HUNTER]

Start by reading this.
Nightstalking for Crappie | Articles 2008

[John Brower]

Rangos article about says it all, you might try not using floats. I start with
several rods out at different depths and in the light/out of the light,
until i find out what the fish want on a particuliar night, i'm partial
to the long green submergible light at b.p. Just a preference.
Good luck
john b.

[rentonhighlander]

Yes, Rangos article is quite extensive. It looks like he has quite a bit of money invested in having his boat lit up like a football stadium. I was only using 1 lantern and one floating light. I think I might buy another light but I don't have the resources to have 4 deep cells, converters, etc... I'm hoping that 2 of those floating lights for in the water use and a combination of lantern and headlights for above the water vision should work.

We can't fish live minnows in my state do any of you have success fishing jigs tipped with other kinds of bait at night and how much action do you give the jigs or do you just let them hang?

[slab-in-the-box]

I always put my rods in holders. I just drop my lights down right beside the boat about two ft. deep and use three poles. 10', 6', and 5' ul rod at all different depths. This way, your fishing directly inside the light beam, on the edge of the beam, and just outside the beam. I usually catch fish on each pole at some point during the night. Pay close attention to your line and your rod tips, if one pole's line looks like its not sitting in the same direction as your other lines, set the hook. Good luck.

[CrappiePappy]

We can't fish live minnows in my state do any of you have success fishing jigs tipped with other kinds of bait at night and how much action do you give the jigs or do you just let them hang?

Highlander ... are you not allowed to use ANY type of minnow, or just the non-native (store bought) kind ?? Reason I ask is because there are other "baitfish" that can be substituted for "minnows". If you have Shad, or Silversides in the lakes you fish ... could you use those ?? They do require different equipment to catch, so we'd have to know which one is endemic to your waters.

If you aren't allowed to use ANY minnow species ... consider wax worms as your next best "live bait" option.

Personally, I haven't done much night jig fishing for Crappie. But, the times I have, I've always been casting a jig (Roadrunner) into the dark areas around any light source, especially where an object or cover blocks the direct light/casts a shadow. One thing you could try, is doing this
Vertical Casting | Older Articles while fishing at night ... principle is the same, regardless of time of day.
Most of my night Crappie fishing has been done with one double burner Coleman gas lantern, hung over the side of the boat. But, that was back in my "tightline / minner fishin" years, over 30yrs ago Doh ... LOL !!

... cp

[rentonhighlander]

We are not allowed to use any type of live minnow for bait in the state of WA. We can use live bait (worms, maggots, crickets, etc.) just not any type of live fish. We are also limited to using one pole. We do have an endorsement you can buy to use two poles but that doubles the cost of your license. Thanks for the information. What I'm gathering is fish in the light and out of the light and at different depths until something works.

[slab-in-the-box]

I guess you have all of those wonderful tree hugging liberals to thank for those laws.

[rentonhighlander]

I don't think that's the biggest contributor to those laws I think it's that our fishery is completely different and therfore managed differently than what you have in the SE. 30% of Eastern WA is owned by Federal Government agencies. Any fishery that has salmon in it's system (The Columbia) is regulated by the Feds. The Feds have also found that Native Americans get 50% of the fishery (which they net). The biggest influence comes from DC not the tree huggers (located mostly in Seattle).