Night Fishing Question

[Rees Guide]

do yall fishing mostly brush tops or stick ups and use a light to attract the shad??

[M R Dux]

If I'm targeting white bass I usually fish bridge pilings with a pair of green submersible lights. If I'm after crappie, I'll usually pick out a tangle of structure on or very near a drop in water that is typically 20 feet deep or so. Crappie can be caught around the pilings but our bridges on KY Lake and Barkley are much bigger than the typical 2-4 lane highways bridges and don't hold nearly as many crappie as whites.

[skiptomylu]

Rees, I use green lights, but have used white ones as well and done really good. Usually do fish over brush, but I have also had success just tying up on the edge of a creek where some standing timber was also right in the right spot. One time I even just tied up across a creek just to see what would happen and did well.

So if your stick ups are at the edge of a creek you may do well there too. I would want some kind of stuff on the bottom, maybe just where a tree went down or a top came off.

[Rees Guide]

Most of our fesh are White Crappie, I fish Grenada a bunch and wont catch 5 Specks in a years time. With that said our summer and fall pattern is normally out on some flats as our lake was built from 2 large river bottoms. Lot of ourr creeks have filled in over the yearrs due to the rise and fall of the water here. Summer pool is 215 and winter pool is 193 so thats a 22 foot swing. Locate alot of shad pulling cranks in the summer time and was wondering if these fish could be caught at night under a lite on these open flats.

[skiptomylu]

If the fish are there I wouldn't doubt it at all. I sure believe the crappie will be near the shad. If they don't have creeks then they have something to get on or a patch they follow after spring and when fall hits. I would guess any change in depth almost would work then especially with a brush pile.

[Hanr3]

do yall fishing mostly brush tops or stick ups and use a light to attract the shad??

Yes!
I also use a Coleman Lantern to draw bugs, which die and drop into the water, feeding the shad. Create your own little ecosystem off the side of the boat and fish it.

[CrappiePappy]

Yes!
I also use a Coleman Lantern to draw bugs, which die and drop into the water, feeding the shad. Create your own little ecosystem off the side of the boat and fish it.

Actually, Shad don't eat bugs ... they eat the various types of plankton that come to the surface under the light. Small Bluegill, Silversides, Mosquitofish, and others may eat the bugs that "die and drop into the water" or simply fly into it. But, that surface feeding "noise" does alert other fish, along with the noise & vibrations put off by the circling Shad, that a potential meal is there. So, yeah ... you actually are creating your own little ecosystem, drawing in the potential meals of the larger predators, by simply supplying the light source that draws in the plankton, starting the chain of events.

... cp

[SeaRay]

RG,
I just bought a submersible light from BPS with the hope of taking my grandkids night stalking when they visit this summer. Lake Murray has a good Striper population and they are usually down around the dam in summer so I plan to target them to start with. I also hope to try the crappie at night as well. I have never tried it but am anxious to give it a shot. One of our guys posted an excellent thread on night stalking and you may have already read it, but if not this is the link. The night was coming on fast as I picked up my fishing partner Gary Kunes at his dock and we set out for a night of Lake Wylie
Let us know how you do. I won't go until later in June.
SeaRay

[skiptomylu]

Guys to keep the bugs at bay all you need is a Thermacell.

[Hitek]

Guys to keep the bugs at bay all you need is a Thermacell.

That does not work on the bugs around here, Mosquitos yes.

Hardly ever do we setup to night fish around much brush. I am sure it would not hurt but we normally target area along ledges or points that have baitfish. Ledges seem to work better for blacks and points for the whites. We use green lights in the water and white lights to see the rods. We catch our fair share of fish but we are not experts. The baitfish is the main key in my opinion.