question for you night fishermen

[abarkley]

i'm thinking of going on my first night trip for crappie tomorrow night. i'm planning on fishing a few drop offs close to creek channels in 8-12 ft of water. would you tightline or use corks? how long before dark would you put your lights out to attract baitfish and crappies? any other tips ya'll have feel free to share.

[crappiequeennc]

First off good luck to you on your first nightstalk.
We tightline...Unless you use a lighted bobber,your going to have trouble seeing it...We also put our lights out about an hour before dark...By the time it's good and dark the bait fish is all around the boat...We also use a green light...

[shadow]

I usually just straight line shiners straight down but I have also used slip corks and have been able to see them fine right next to the lights.
Like Crappiequeen said put your lights out about an hour before dark but if you don't have time, I have put them out just a few minutes before dark. You will just have to wait a little longer for the bait fish to arrive.
Good Luck,
Dwyane

[jigsbydirk]

bump

[rango]

we like to get set up a little before dark if possible. i try to have everone meet at the landing about an hour before dark. by the time we get unloaded, run to the spot we fishing and get anchored and set up its pushing dark. sometimes we have a stubborn anchor and it winds up being after dark before we get it set. unless its dark when we arrive, the lights are are the last thing we do before baiting up. if its still daylight when we finish settin up, we dont put our lights out till darkness falls, usually about the time we have to light the lanterns. i dont fish water 8-12 ft deep, prefering depths 20-30 ft, fishing around ten ft to start will usually get you on the fish. we use white lights, however i have one green light made by jumping cholla jigs we are trying for them. I consider gettin a good anchor the most important thing you can do settin up. be patient and get em set good and the boat drawed tight between them and dont be fast to move to another spot if the bite is slow. i seldom move once i anchor. dont get discouraged if you dont see baitfish swarming around your lights. a lot of nights you may not see much bait activity. its a good idea to make a few trips if you can with someone whose sucessful at nightstalkin when you get a chance. youll learn a lot of shortcuts if you do. it will save you some time learning and may save you some money. thats the way i do it. others have their own take on it. good luck and be careful. most of our cork activity is with a couple lighted corks tossed out from the down current side of the boat. everything else is tightlined minnows

[abarkley]

this may be a stupid question, but i'm assuming that the lights you put out stay pretty near the boat right? you are kind of fishing on the outskirts of the lighted area right?

[rango]

this may be a stupid question, but i'm assuming that the lights you put out stay pretty near the boat right? you are kind of fishing on the outskirts of the lighted area right?

we hang our lights over the side of the boat, a foot or so deep, just below the bottom of the boat. i use six rods. 3 short ones and 3 9 footers. the shortones stay in the light beam. the long ones out in the dark. we catch fish both places. it helps a lot to paint your tips white with a flat white paint, especially on any long rods you may have. makes it a lot easier to see the bite.

[turkeyfootnc]

abarkley
It depends on what kind of light you use. I have a flounder gigging light with a 40" rod. It goes out a good ways. If you use a Q-beam light it doesn't go far from the boat. If you have one of those headlight shaped floating lights they can go out some. A friend of mine has made his own lights powered by a generator with long rods leading to the lights. Don't know how long they are but they stick out!

As far as my nightstalk setup I tell everyone if possible I want to be at the spot 1 hour before dark. At the least, 30 minutes. Just a few minutes before dark, we'll put the lights out and get ready to catch fish. Based on how many rods we use is how deep we fish. 12' is a good depth. Get 1 rod 12' deep, another rod maybe 15', another 10' if you have any more rods you may want to try deeper or shallower. When one rod seems to catch more than the others just adjust to whatever depth is the most productive. If you have something as bright as a gig light and if you can keep a cork near the light, you can use a regular cork. Otherwise I recommend a lighted cork-if you use a lighted cork, bring plenty of batteries, they don't last overnight.