Thread: Grand Bayou Night Crappie

What kinda bait where you using? Shinners or Jigs?


Thanks to all the great info and people here at crappie.com I had a wonderful night on the lake sat.

~Fishin' Magician~[/QUOTE]

Fishin' Magician....if there is anything prettier than a pile of nice crappie, it would have to be a bowl of beautiful fillets like those. Tommy's sure taking care of you, he's one heck of a nice guy. :D Great catch!!

Magician,
You just got the "You da man" trophy. That is some nice fish man! Wish I was with you.

Magician,
That is the "gotRdid" of fishing if there ever was. I have been going to go out and try that night fishing and still have not done it. What color light and what bait was you using. Wait to go catdaddy!!!!!!!

Thanks yall,

Here is the post I used to gear up for night fishing.

Originally Posted by Kunes

You should have a minimum of 4 rods to use tightlining minnows over the side. Use a split shot 10" or so above a #4 hook. You need to have the right rods to consistantly have good catches. If you're not willing to make the commitment to using the right rods then follow the rest of these instuctions and take an extra lite and a book to read cause it will be a long time between fish being landed. In a 14 jon I would suggest going with a 5' ultralite Ugly Stix rod. Use the SPL 1102 model. It is the only one with the soft tip needed to detect the bite. Dick's in Pineville is where I get mine. You can sometimes find them in that jungle tangle they call a rod display at Wal-Mart in Rock Hill. Cabela's has some 9' Ugly Stix for crappie fishing that are excellent but might be cumbersome in a small boat. Dectecting the bite is one of the most important aspects of nitestalking. Having a soft tip rod is the first step. Painting the rodtip white is the second.

For the sake of simplicity I would suggest the Q-beam lite. It is available at Wal-Mart or BPS. It is meant to be submerged in the water. A foot or two deep is adequate. You will want a dedicated battery for this lite. Figure one lite for each bank of 4 rods. Mount rodholders (Driftmaster is best, I think) close to eachother and on the same side of the boat so you can watch all your rodtips at the same time. For a lite to see inside the boat you can use a gas lantern or a clamp on with 12v incandescent bulb. This should also have a dedicated battery. You will also need 2 anchors in order to anchor both the front and back of the boat. This will hold the boat steady and help you see the bite.

Set up in 25 to 30 feet of water near a steep bank and put out your lites and bait. The bite will be indicated by the rodtip going down, or a rapid tapping or the line going in a lateral direction or a line going limp. Set the hook by raising the rodtip straight up.

Don't wait 'til summer. The time is now and should last thru most of May.

I ended up with 2 clamp on lamps one on the bow and one on the stern with a qbeam submersible light in between. None of the lights were colored. Then I set up rods all off the side of boat with lights. Caught 90% of the fish on the rods around the Qbeam submersible. We had it 3 feet down in 18 feet of water. I would drop these rigs down to the bottom and reel up 3 cranks. As far as tackle the best rig seemed to be just a crappie hook 8-10" under a split shot. Also caught them on minnows tiped on 1/32 oz chartreuse jigs.

Hope I can repeat this night I have a feeling I got spoiled my first night out!

~Fishin' Magician~

Good stringer man! How does the driftmaster rod holder mount. I have a champion boat so I would need to have something that I could mount on the deck. If I could remove it easily would be that much better. Thanks Keith

One other thing magician, what kind of qbeam did you use. the one that is made for fishing or the spot light itself? thanks

Thanks niteman,

Well my rod holders are Black Widow Spider Rig by Tite-Lok and can be purchased at www.crappiestuff.com. They are mounted by means of the base which has 4 holes for screws/nuts/bolts so it would take unscrewing all of these to remove. You can move your T-bars around to where ever you have a base mounted. I have one of these mounted on both sides of the bow and one at either side of the engine at the stern. (more of a slow troll daytime setup) I used only screws because I cannot get under to attach bolts. So far they have held true...

As for the Qbeam light it is a submersible fishing light with 250,000 candle power. The one I got came in a box with crappie all over it.

Hope this answers you question,

~Fishin' Magician~