Texas Fishing Forum

Struggles with night fishing

Posted By: Jerod Pontello

Struggles with night fishing - 04/11/18 12:11 AM

I have struggled for years figuring out why some nights the crappie feed all night and others you can’t buy one, been several times real early in the AM and not a bite and then at daylight it was like turning on a light switch, so I no the fish wer there, has anyone experienced this or have some insight what makes them feed heavy some nights and not others, maybe moon phase
Posted By: leanin post

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/11/18 01:18 AM

What is happening is the shad go into different coves and creeks at night to feed and the crappie follow. wind direction can have a big effect on where Daphnia get blown,{ bait fish and crappie eat Daphnia), so keep that in mind when choosing an area.

one way to figure this out is try and locate schools of shad on your lake late evening, and follow them . they will use river channels like highways and exit into creek channels.
Posted By: crapicat

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/11/18 03:57 AM

For a slightly different version of the above comment, crappie usually head out to the lake flats to feed on the shad, that are chasing daphnia?!, on the flats as they are heading to the coves from the main river channels on the lakes...key idea...set up off the edge of a feeding flat, (around a large tree stump, or other under water feature, that leads from a main channel towards a cove...turn on green lights, get the daphnia/shad coming to the light, catch fish! Finding The right location is a trial and error process, at best...but a good location is a cooler filler...hope this info helps...
Posted By: hawghoover

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/11/18 10:22 AM

iv been 20 times at night and caught 0...............30 min after daylight they start biting like crazy! never figure them out.
Posted By: Jerod Pontello

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/11/18 01:20 PM

Thanks Leanin post and crapicat for the info, so y’all think when i show before light and they don’t start biting till right at daylight they are just coming back in from wherever they wer feeding at night
Posted By: crapicat

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/11/18 02:00 PM

Nope, to me that is the morning bite (breakfast) and you are on a good spot...in reality, that could be the case, but realistically, you just can’t tell without much more research on the subject...
Posted By: Jerod Pontello

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/11/18 03:22 PM

Gotcha
Posted By: crapicat

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/12/18 02:39 PM

Jerod, I used to mostly fish at night; primarily because, I couldn’t take time during the day, to do so. There was a lot of trial and error involved in me finding my nighttime crappie holes. I have never really studied shad movements, but if I had there may have been less trial and error involved in the process. One thing I did, and recommend you do, find a fishing buddy that likes to night fish as well...it will greatly aid the safety factor, give you more confidence in moving around at night (on stumpy lakes, especially) and trying harder to locate feeding fish.

A good crappie light is the key to attracting shad/other baitfish into an area, which brings the predator fish. The better the pile of shad, swimming around the boat, the more crappie will move into your area. A good crappie light can attract shad from a long way off, almost a 1/4 of a mile. The LED strip lights I use on my boat, aren’t nearly as strong, but do a fairly decent job of attracting crappie, without the need to throw in an extra battery to run the Green Monster.

Another suggestion, use minnows at night, as the fish are actively feeding;however, they tend to bite in spurts at night. As such, they will actively seek out live bait of any type, with shad and local lake type minnows eaten first, with store bought minnows way down the list. Do yourself a favor and purchase a large minnow net, the type bait store use to dip minnows from their tanks...and use it to dip shad from the lake. Hook the shad upside down (through the belly) or through the tail and toss it out...and hold on!

I learned a long time ago, a “flats area” that is 5-12 feet deep, may as well be designated a feeding flat, especially at night. If you leave the dock about an hour before dark, look around the flats area for shad balls, then locate some ambush cover near the shad balls, get tied up/anchored up and get the lights on....it takes a while to get the shad to your area, so don’t get frustrated until an hour has passed...then if no activity, move around until you find shad and set back up...hopefully, you will find shad, if so it is just a matter of time till the crappie come calling. Hope you can find this information useful!
Posted By: Mckinneycrappiecatcher

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/12/18 02:42 PM

Only time I’ve caught them at night is over lights
Posted By: gar1970

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/12/18 06:42 PM

Excellent info there crapicat thumb
Posted By: Spiderman

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/12/18 06:53 PM

Crapicat did share allot of good information.

I would usually set up near the mouth of a large pocket empties into the main lake. Crappie will move in waves and you are trying to intersect their path. Sometimes they are moving into the pocket, sometimes out to the main lake.

I also always fished with Minnows at night, you need to spend an hour in a spot then evaluate staying or moving based on the keeper fish you have caught.

For me the most fun was fishing shallow water at night during the crappie spawn. During the day there would be boats everywhere. But at night just ease down the bank in 4' of water and work them over.
Posted By: Jerod Pontello

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/12/18 07:53 PM

Thanks crapicat and spiderman for the info I’m ready to get back out there and give it a try
Posted By: Tex5000

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/12/18 08:41 PM

Grab a lantern, let the fish come to the light of the lantern and go for it.
Posted By: Jerod Pontello

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/13/18 01:36 AM

It doesn’t always work for me some nights I slaughter em but most are slow, that’s why I was wondering what’s the difference from night to night
Posted By: crapicat

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/13/18 02:53 AM

Originally Posted By: Jerod Pontello
It doesn’t always work for me some nights I slaughter em but most are slow, that’s why I was wondering what’s the difference from night to night


Night fishing becomes more consistent post spawn.
Posted By: Jerod Pontello

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/13/18 06:53 AM

Good to no since ours is coming to an end, I’m ready for some night trips
Posted By: leanin post

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/13/18 06:56 AM

What lake are you fishing? studying the lake online NAVIONICS web app can really help you locate the fish high probability areas. also look for areas in the evening where the gulls and terns and cormorants go to roost or rest, they usually hang out near where the baitfish are concentrating. They roost nearby so the next morning they can locatr the baitfish from above quickly. The gulls, terns, cormorants, herons, egrets, they all must eat every day, so they always know where baitfish schools are. or are actively searching. . keep hunting the crappie movements, because once you find the areas they go to, you can go back again and again and they will come thru. If I looked at the map of the lake your fishing, I could likely show you several places where the fish would go at night, my belief has been, that most feeding takes place at night. too many times ive been fishing brush late in the evening, then the fish just leave. they are schooling up and herding the baitfish into creek channels, then onto shallow areaswhere they feed on them heavily. the crappie you catch during the daytime are the fish that were not very successful the night before. thats why you can go to one brushpile in the morning thats loaded with fish and not get a bite, but 40 yards down, on a different pile, they are hungry and hammering your bait.
Posted By: crapicat

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/13/18 11:07 AM

Originally Posted By: Jerod Pontello
It doesn’t always work for me some nights I slaughter em but most are slow, that’s why I was wondering what’s the difference from night to night


Wind direction and shad movement...even if you have located a good night fishing spot, if there are no shadin the area, you are not going to catch any fish, or at least not many...so you have to give yourself enough time to find shad and a good ambush spot before dark sets in...eventuallyyou will have numerous areas that are good depending on wind direction.
Posted By: crapicat

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/13/18 11:35 AM

Originally Posted By: Tex5000
Grab a lantern, let the fish come to the light of the lantern and go for it.


When I started out night fishing, two Coleman lanterns, slung out over the side of the boat (on specially homemade hooks) was the way it was done. Dealing with refueling the lanterns in the boat was often a messy affair and the bugs were a constant reminder, if the fish weren’t biting. Of course the newfangled lanterns were less messy. Then the floating and submerged fluorescents came along, and suddenly there were not as many bugs flying around, but the extra batteries/cords on the boat were a hassle...now, waterproof strip leds stuck on the underside of your rubrail are the standard, almost bug free, no extra cords or batteries or contraptions to deal with, you just got to spend time to set them up and wire them to an accessory switch, which is easy for some of us, but not to others. In summary, all the lighting methods work, it’s just a matter of deciding what works best for you. If you are unwilling to go to this trouble, you are limited to fishing dock lights, ramp lights, or other night lights, which is a serious hit/miss affair....
Posted By: SlabNSteve

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/13/18 11:48 AM

Originally Posted By: crapicat
Jerod, I used to mostly fish at night; primarily because, I couldn’t take time during the day, to do so. There was a lot of trial and error involved in me finding my nighttime crappie holes. I have never really studied shad movements, but if I had there may have been less trial and error involved in the process. One thing I did, and recommend you do, find a fishing buddy that likes to night fish as well...it will greatly aid the safety factor, give you more confidence in moving around at night (on stumpy lakes, especially) and trying harder to locate feeding fish.

A good crappie light is the key to attracting shad/other baitfish into an area, which brings the predator fish. The better the pile of shad, swimming around the boat, the more crappie will move into your area. A good crappie light can attract shad from a long way off, almost a 1/4 of a mile. The LED strip lights I use on my boat, aren’t nearly as strong, but do a fairly decent job of attracting crappie, without the need to throw in an extra battery to run the Green Monster.

Another suggestion, use minnows at night, as the fish are actively feeding;however, they tend to bite in spurts at night. As such, they will actively seek out live bait of any type, with shad and local lake type minnows eaten first, with store bought minnows way down the list. Do yourself a favor and purchase a large minnow net, the type bait store use to dip minnows from their tanks...and use it to dip shad from the lake. Hook the shad upside down (through the belly) or through the tail and toss it out...and hold on!

I learned a long time ago, a “flats area” that is 5-12 feet deep, may as well be designated a feeding flat, especially at night. If you leave the dock about an hour before dark, look around the flats area for shad balls, then locate some ambush cover near the shad balls, get tied up/anchored up and get the lights on....it takes a while to get the shad to your area, so don’t get frustrated until an hour has passed...then if no activity, move around until you find shad and set back up...hopefully, you will find shad, if so it is just a matter of time till the crappie come calling. Hope you can find this information useful!


Good read right there. ^
Posted By: Abbott (MCM Tackle)

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/13/18 12:25 PM

some very good information in this topic. Thanks guys
Posted By: Jerod Pontello

Re: Struggles with night fishing - 04/13/18 12:39 PM

Palastine
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