Green Light Night Fishing for Sand Bass

KQT and I hit it hard last night with the green light. We used homemade jigs that KQT made. The bats kept the bugs at bay while we mopped up on sand bass.





Here is a video using a 4 foot fluorescent light (go to settings on bottom right and set to 1080p for HD):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-98XDaCwwU&feature=youtu.be

Here is a video using two lights (4 foot tube and 2 foot LED light):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOSYUTl555k&feature=youtu.be

The 2 foot LED was much brighter than the tube. The shad became ultra active with two lights but we actually caught more fish using the single tube. Not sure if it was a coincidence or not.

What lake were you fishing?

If you decide to try this be very careful and make sure you know the lake really well and that you can navigate using your depth finder. With the low water conditions to get to my spot I have to get past a couple of long sand bars and trees that are normally well under water, there is literally a 15 yard wide path I have to get through that is 4 feet deep and 50 yards long. It always makes for an adventurous return in pitch dark with no moon.

PS it was very cool having bats picking off bugs around us almost all night. We had at least two species, one much bigger than the other. Dan could not get any video of them, they are really fast and just dart in an out.

I'm kind of curious about this... Do y'all find them a lot at night at the same types of places they are during the day? Or do you have a completely different set of spots to get on 'em after it gets dark?

Looks like a good way to escape the heat and fill the freezer at the same time!

I don't fish for them much during the day; I usually just fish the edge of a drop off such as a river channel. I really don’t think it makes much difference; it just might take longer for the fish to show. Last night we started right at sunset but they did not turn on until after 10:00 PM, then they quit about 12:30. The wind really picked up around midnight which was quite strange. They just shut down after that. I usually set up in 30-40 feet of water and the fish can be anywhere from just off the bottom to 10-15 feet down. Last night they were 11 to 15 feet below us, the time before they were 3 cranks off the bottom. Luckily Dan fished shallow and found the sweet spot.

I was wondering if those were DIY lights and were you using live-bait or jigging?

Thanks!

Kelly's Green florescent is custom made with a true green four foot tube. He will need to tell you where it was made. Being a florescent tube in a waterproof housing, you need to be careful not to break it in transit. My LED light is by AlumiGlo from Cabelas and is practically indestructible. They come in 12, 24 and 48 inch lengths. I bought a 24 inch model to carry on my Kayak. They are SUPER bright with LEDs on four sides.

As far as bait, we used some "old school" jigs that Kelly made. Each jig has four brightly colored weighted "flies" set about 12 to 14 inches apart. Orange, bright pink and yellow seemed to be the best combinations. We used blue ones as well the first time out and the fish never hit them. KQT can fill in details on how he made them.

With the amount of minnows and shad circling the lights we had a good source of shad that was easily netted. KQT hooked some on his fly jigs and had some success, but the "naked" jigs caught the bulk of the fish.

Here is what the LED light looks like:

I've been wanting to get out and try that for a while. Looks Like fun.