Thread: Night Fishing for crappie.

Greetings..I live and fish in South-East Louisiana. I also work the night shift for local water treatment facility which means I sleep most of the day. I have tried fishing at night over the years without major success. I am in the possession of the necessary boat and tackle along with a hydroglow light. Would anyone offer suggestions on artificial lure colors, time of night to try, moon phases, etc.

Thank you.

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I like to fish during the dark of the moon. Hot pink is my go to color. Good luck

When we go for crappie, we troll jigs like an Northland gypsy jig with a minnow because the skirt glows that's my favorite. And to charge the jig we use a light from Venom floats. As for time off evening we start bout 7 to 8 pm because the we have the lake to ourselves and have stayed out till sun up. The next day can be tough. With the moon I know when there was a super moon the fishing was great but any time fishing is better than not going

Originally Posted by Rink

When we go for crappie, we troll jigs like an Northland gypsy jig with a minnow because the skirt glows that's my favorite. And to charge the jig we use a light from Venom floats. As for time off evening we start bout 7 to 8 pm because the we have the lake to ourselves and have stayed out till sun up. The next day can be tough. With the moon I know when there was a super moon the fishing was great but any time fishing is better than not going

Thank you!

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Originally Posted by J.M.

I like to fish during the dark of the moon. Hot pink is my go to color. Good luck

Thank you!

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Well...I'm no night time crappie expert,but I have caught a few.

I have always done good with these tubes called scale heads. They sort of reflect light a little. And two contrasting colors help.I usually use purple and chartreuse and red and chartreuse but sure other colors work.

Scale Head Lit'l Hustler 1.5" :: Southern Pro Tackle

I use chromaglow chartreuse crappie nibbles. I think it helps the fish to see them and leaves a scent trail they can find too. Use them on any color jig.

You may not want to always fish vertical right under the boat. Sometimes yes but you experiment.

You need to look for where the baitfish are hanging out. Find them. And then try to figure out if they are moving in or out from where they are holding . But they are generally going to move during the night.

Some nights the fish are right against the bank and shallow. Especially a bank that the wind has been blowing in too.It blows the plankton in and the baitfish go in to feed on it, crappie chase them up against the bank to catch them.

I use a bobber that when I hit it with my head lamp set on blue or red light it pops good so I can see it and my night vision is not effected that much. I throw to the fish.

Man I have fished many nights for catfish and snagging paddlefish. And those fish just have some triggers to determine when they feed and how long. Sometimes fishing all night they just have a period or two and that's all. I do sort of believe in the moon overhead and the moon underfoot thing. Regardless of the phase the moon exerts a force that moves the oceans,I think it does something that wildlife and fish can sense somehow.


https://www.usprimetimes.com/solunartable.html

Originally Posted by doggone

Well...I'm no night time crappie expert,but I have caught a few.

I have always done good with these tubes called scale heads. They sort of reflect light a little. And two contrasting colors help.I usually use purple and chartreuse and red and chartreuse but sure other colors work.

Scale Head Lit'l Hustler 1.5" :: Southern Pro Tackle

I use chromaglow chartreuse crappie nibbles. I think it helps the fish to see them and leaves a scent trail they can find too. Use them on any color jig.

You may not want to always fish vertical right under the boat. Sometimes yes but you experiment.

You need to look for where the baitfish are hanging out. Find them. And then try to figure out if they are moving in or out from where they are holding . But they are generally going to move during the night.

Some nights the fish are right against the bank and shallow. Especially a bank that the wind has been blowing in too.It blows the plankton in and the baitfish go in to feed on it, crappie chase them up against the bank to catch them.

I use a bobber that when I hit it with my head lamp set on blue or red light it pops good so I can see it and my night vision is not effected that much. I throw to the fish.

Man I have fished many nights for catfish and snagging paddlefish. And those fish just have some triggers to determine when they feed and how long. Sometimes fishing all night they just have a period or two and that's all. I do sort of believe in the moon overhead and the moon underfoot thing. Regardless of the phase the moon exerts a force that moves the oceans,I think it does something that wildlife and fish can sense somehow.


https://www.usprimetimes.com/solunartable.html

Thank you!

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Take some minnows

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Originally Posted by mighty

Take some minnows

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Thank you! I might try to catch some of the indigenous species around here since shiners in South Louisiana go for 10 to 15 cents a piece (lol).


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Some people use Sabiki Rigs to catch Shad, but they're generally looking to catch those 4" & over sized Shad. One "could" probably make a Sabiki Rig with much smaller jigs and use them for smaller Shad, but unless you have a big circular tank setup ... the Shad aren't going to live very long.

What some people around here do is to tie on a couple of small treble hooks & a small weight on the bottom of the line .... then when you get a good concentration of Shad circling under the lights, jerk the treble hooks up thru the school & snag a Shad, then transfer the Shad over to one of your other rods. You just have to be careful and gentle when transferring the Shad. You don't want to handle the Shad any more than necessary, as you will de-scale them with your fingers and they'll die a lot faster. Best to hook them with the regular hook (thru the lips, nose, or eye sockets) before you remove the treble. Then grab the treble & gently shake the (hooked) Shad off the treble hook (or gently nudge it off). Unless you tear the Shad real bad snagging them, they'll survive long enough for a hungry fish to smell the wound or sense the damaged (wounded/crippled) Shad's erratic behavior.

If you have Brook Silversides in your waters, they're even better bait than Shad or minners, just a little more cumbersome to catch. What my Grandparents & I used to do is take a home made net and hang a lantern over the side of the boat, then ease around the banks until some Silversides were following along with the light. We'd dip them up and put them in a 5gal bucket full of lake water. After catching a few dozen, we'd go tie up to our favorite tree or brushpile & fish with them just like with minners (but, you have to hook them thru the eye sockets due to their pencil shaped body). The "net" was a square shaped deal on a 10ft handle and the "netting" was wire weaved screen. The "screen" was like window screen, but the holes were 2-3 times larger. They have to be, because you have to be able to pull the net thru the water pretty fast or the Silversides will just swim out of the way.

I tried that technique with a landing net with fabric mesh netting & it didn't work. It took too long & was too hard to pull the net thru the water due to the tiny holes of that type of mesh netting. (just some FYI for those thinking to use that type of netting)

Here's what a Silverside looks like :