first attempt at night fishing

[murdok]

hope u guys can help me figure out what im doing wrong. went sat. night. put in at 8pm and fished till midnight this is a small lake in south ms of about 110 acres but is full of black crappie. found the fish with my electronics stacked thick as fleas all allong the thermocline, which started at 8ft and went to 10 ft. i marked no fish suspended in the water column all were right on or within thermocline. water temp 92.7 at start and did not drop much at all. i had my submersible light down around five or six feet and two coleman lanterns hanging off the side of the boat. had a decent baitball going and the bugs were matted on the water surface. i caught three dinks and never got another bite. i had four rods out with 2 jigs w/nibble on each. i had two set just above were i was marking fish and two that should have been right in there face. do you think the water is just too hot. i know fish have to eat reguardless how hot is but i couldn't buy a bite. any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[Gabepeeps]

I use live bait when night fishing. Hard to get them to eat a jig when they have bait fish all around them.

[Kywareagle]

I also am a fan of live bait at night. And in my opinion 5to 6 ft deep would have been deeper than I would have ran a light while only fishin 8-10ft but that's just my two cents and may not have changed anything at all. Hope it picks up for ya.

[shipahoy41]

Dusk to 11pm it is hard for the crappie to resist live minnows or if you use a soft plastic lure then add a wax worm to it. The scent of live bait is an attractant. Once they are attracted and take the lure ....set the hook.

[strmwalker]

you should try using live bait and put your lights down about 1 to 2 feet of water , it will help you not to tangle a fish into the lights !!!

[lol11]

I do not claim to be an expert at night crappie fishing, but I have had 20 plus years of night crappie fishing experiences on the boat. My two cents might help. Was the moon out? Go during the new moon phase, usually around the middle of the month. Dark nights with no moon seems to be the secret for me at night as crappies have no other option to feed but under my light where the minnows and shads are. If the moon is out, crappies have options to feed elsewhere and will not touch your bait. With the moon out, I have had better luck fishing in complete darkness with black/red jigs or road runners. Good luck this summer and do not give up.