Night Stalking Help

[badbrad]

I've read the posts on where to set up to try the night stalking venture. I've got a couple of areas on the lake that I think would be good places to try. I have just a couple more questions I'd like to ask. What about the moon? when is the nightfishing best for crappie, full or dark moon? If the fish are in a deep channel do you fish deep for them? or will they come up to feed? So what's the best depth to start with, if there is any standard rule? Gonna give things a try this week, appreciate any help.

[gabowman]

Badbrad, I always try to set up in water 20'-35' deep. Most of the time the fish are caught between 10'-18' deep. I usually start out with one line down 10', another 12', another 14', etc. I fish 5 rods at different depths until I see a pattern as to what depth the fish are gonna bite. Once determined I set 'em all within a foot or so in depth. Now, I say "usually" cause during the cold months we caught alot of fish right on the bottom. Not know your water conditions I'd stagger the depths until I started getting bites then adjust the depths.
I like fishing clear water. I believe the light drawing the baitfish penetrates the water farther in clear water vrs. stained water drawing in more bait.......thus drawing in more crappie. When you get started fishing try different places to learn more about your lake. Some spots will be better than others. Some places might not pay off at all. You wont know until you go. An hour or so before dark I like to ease around in the area I plan to fish to see if I can see balls of baitfish on the graph prior to anchoring too. Someitmes I dont see 'em but still catch fish. Smetimes I see the bait but dont do so good on the fish. You just never know. I guess that's why they call it "Fishing" and not "catching"!!
Oh, and by the way, dark nights are way better than bright nites. This is one thing I've watched this year and light nites turns the fish off. If the moon rises late you're alright but if the moon is already up when it gets dark you wont do as good.
Go fishing. Report back what worked good and ask questions about what changes you might can make. There's alot of experienced night stalkers on these forums that might be able to give you some good advice. Good luck!

[SwampHunter]

For any kind of stalking I like a ghillie suit.

[badbrad]

gabowman, thanks for the reply.....really good information. I'll give it try this week and let you know how things go. I figured out Saturday morning that the day time fishing is pretty much done. By 10:00 it's way to hot and there's way to much boat traffic for my liking. I believe I'm going to become nocturnal till fall.

[KCBH]

Are you fishing next to a creek channel or near a steep bank? I would be interested to find out where you start to look for them at. Think of it like this ... you are fishing a new lake, one that you have never been on before, ... where would you start by looking at a lake map.

Thanks.

[3's]

Going to take my first stab at it this weekend too. We used to fish at night for whites/stripes on Barkley lake in Ky so its not a totally new deal. The lake I am fishing is a fairly shallow lake but has some deep holes especially around the bridges. I think thats where I will start. Water depth is about 20-24 ft. there. A lot of the time you can pick up a few jigging the pilings. Wish me luck.

[gabowman]

KCBH, I havent had the problem of fishing a new lake. I used to crappie fish on my lake during the daytime several years ago so I already knew areas crappie used to hang out during that time. But if it were me I'd look at a map and try finding deep water near banks. Usually the channels run along side the deeper banks too. This time of the year I'd look farther back into coves also. As stated earlier, I'd pick areas where the water was clear and pinpoint several different spots to try, mainly for the reason of having multiple places so I can try avoiding the wind regardless of the direction it is blowing from on any particular nite. Also keep in mind any fish shelters the maps shows. My lake has standing timber still in coves set aside for fish shelters and they do pretty good from time to time. Any narrows running back into a cove pays off for me. When in deeper water when the banks narrow considerably it seems the water drops off deep rather fast from both banks and stays fairly deep as well until the narrows opens back up. I would try spending some time idling thru different areas I've pinpointed looking for any activity on the graph. Not always, but most times you'll see SOMETHING on the graph and that helps me to determine which spot I'll fish for that night. The more you go and set up on different spots the more your gonna learn. Get out there and give 'er a try and dont be disappointed if on your first outing if you dont fill coolers. You gotta find 'em before you can catch 'em and that might take a few trips getting on 'em.

[KCBH]

So it's pretty much like fishing for bass. Follow the creek channels and look for bends or turns close to the bank or a flat.

Have you noticed that crappie hang out closer to the trunks of large trees or spend most of the time near or in brush?

[treeguy]

Which kind of lights tend to work better?
I have seen the old headlight style and flourescent ones.
If the flourescent work better, which color?

[gabowman]

Which kind of lights tend to work better?
I have seen the old headlight style and flourescent ones.
If the flourescent work better, which color?

KCBH, I usually hang my anchors on a clean bottom. I do believe the crappie will stick near structure but with using chene anchors I dont want to hang and loose them. If I'm fishing in the trees I just use a rope from each end of the boat to tie off.

Treeguy, there's ALOT of different lights out there to use. Anywhere from flouresent lights in different colors to hanging lanterns over the side of the boat and I'd bet they would all work, maybe some better than others. Years ago I hung lanterns like most other folks did but they always seemed a little dangerous to me. We still caught fish though. A guy here named Rango recommended the starfire lights and they are smaller, easier to store, and gets the job done very well for me. I also use clamp on shop lights to light the inside of the boat while fishing. All my lights store in one plastic ammo box when not fishing. I picked up my starfires from Bass Pro for $17 ea. (this included shipping) but have since seen them in Walmart stores for @ $14 ea. I usually use two everytime I go fishing. I think the lights you get are a matter of preference. They should all draw baitfish, which is the goal here. Hope this helps.