Welcome to Crappie.com ! I fish almost exclusively late afternoon in to the night . I fish Guntersville 99% of the time. This time of year I fish the deeper creek channels, bends and junctions with the river. Humps near deeper water work well also. I used to tie up under bridges this time of year but I dont any more. I do fish bridges in the fall thru April. Often without a boat. I prefer the open water fishing and have had a pretty good summer. No limits of late but 2 guys averageing 23 - 25 fish. I try to keep stuff over 12" had 1, 17" a couple of weeks ago.
I use a green light in the water, a white light works just fine. it doesnt really matter if you a have a good setup. You must be patient. You can troll at night but I prefer to anchor and setup preferably before dark and get my lights in the water. I use minnows most of the time , but I am useing jigs with success lately. I use a minnow 6 " under a split shot, or 2 minnows 18" apart with weight to hold the line vertical. I use a count down method of "pulls". I pull from the reel face to the first eye or just beyond it. We use different depths until we establish a pattern. * pulls was the ticket for several weeks, Last week it was 6-7 pulls. Be flexible and try different depths.
Sometimes it's 9 oclock before the bite starts, sometimes it is right away,sometimes it is late. I rarely move and if I move I am only gonna move once. It takes 45 minutes to really get a good bait ball most nights. The key for me is to go look at 2 to 5 different "spots" before I setup. The spot with the most fish or the biggest baitball wins. Thats where I setup.
I fish at night year round and the fall, winter bite does change. One you can start and finish earlier once the time changes. I just follow the fish back from the river channels and deep creeks. Jan Feb and March I may be sittin in 8' -14' of water near a causeway.
Be sure and have a spot light, I carry 2, I fear those navigation buoys ! Go slow I came within 30 yards of a parked sailboat before I saw it recently. I have more storys if you need slowin down. LOL.
I would start at the lake closest to you to save money and I would look at putting some bamboo out in places as well. Check out the structure forum and also the South Carolina forum. Rango is the GO TO guy for nite stalkin. Gabowman fishes at nite alot also from what I can tell.
PM me if you want more info.