can a bass see a plastic worm at night ?
how do they detect bait in the dark?
what lure would work best in the dark?

Bass can see the silhouette of the bait well if there is any moonlight or dock lights. Solid black will cast the best silhouette. If you have sufficient moonlight you can throw just about anything but with less light or clouds you will will have to slow down your presentation. Adding a bead to your Texas rig might entice a bass closer to your bait or dragging a Carolina rig seems to work good. Black/Blue anything seems to work well for me but sometimes junebug or black/neon does the trick.

See it, smell hear feel taste it.

My favorite night time baits are a 5/8 oz black Hildebrandt spinnerbait with a big single colorado blade in either gold or nickle finish.
Just reel in in so slow that you just keep the blade thumping.
Also love fishing a Black Blue tip Santone rattling jig with a 6" Larew Hawg Craw trailer in Black/Blue. Just cut off part of the craw to make it fit the jig. I fish this around docks or when fishing underwater lights.
And hang on with either of these. I've had some vicious strikes at night when you are least expecting it!
Good luck!

Bigger dark plastic with a garlic scent fished slow will get ya bit. Instead of a pumping motion, a slow drag works better at night.

I have never tried it but I heard that a white crank or spinner bait works well during a full moon. I have just always used darker soft plastic colors but one time while night fishing they were hitting watermelon colors better than the darker ones. Who knows?

Use a 10-12inch black or black and Blue flake powerworm. It's scented. Bass can see silhouettes Really well at night

thanks
i am going tonight
wife is having a jewelry party

I have caught allot of bass on green pumpkin worms at night along with black and June bug. 10" curly tail worms seem to always do the trick. Big shaky head style worms are also very good.

Bass can see just slightly better than humans can at night.

Typically they feed by using vibration and smell more at night, but if the water has enough clarity, they can definitely see a silhouette. That's why a lot of guys say to use black at night, it gives a better outline.

from what i have read bass have a much greater density of light gathering rods in their eyes and can actually see well with only starlight. the article said something crazy like 17x better or 30x better than us. Of course I got that from a post on here with a link to an article by some biologist on the topic, but at the end of the day it was on the internet, so it was accurate, right?

anecdotally just by the # of fish you can catch on a new moon its safe to say they are danged efficient at finding baits, however they do it.

this is what i am going to try
just picked up Shaky Head jigs

thanx

Ive had bass jump out of the water trying to take a lure hanging over the side of the boat when I couldn't really see it myself. I have no doubt they can see much better than we can in the dark.

I used to try dark colors because they supposedly could see the silhouette better then heard a guide ask, do the shad change color at night? Got me to thinking and I stopped worrying about color as much.

Night, Day, clear water, off colored water and all the rest you will encounter makes very little difference to a Bass that is feeding. Make sure the baits that you are fishing hold as many of the senses that the bass uses to feed and you will be successful.
- Sight
- Sound
- Movement
- Vibration
- Scent
When any of the conditions changes Bass will rely heaver on the other senses to find it and feed. A spinner bait and a jig can hold all of these senses very easily; so they are excellent baits for night time fishing.

Yes, they can see a worm at night.
Bass have significantly different eye structure than humans. Their night vision is considerably better and is enhanced by their eyes ability to amplify light.
They have the ability to detect scent and taste to some degree.
Sensors in the lateral line assist them in detecting vibration and movement in the darkest night or in zero visibility mud.
Research indicates that they also have the ability to detect faint electrical impulses such as muscle contractions or a heart beat in their prey. This could explain one reason why live bait is so effective.

In my night fishing experience, which is extensive over forty plus years, bass do not have the slightest difficulty in locating any type of lure or any color of lure at night. After much trial and error a white spinnerbait has proven to be just as productive as a black one at night. The same has proven to be true with any type of bait.

If you aren't catching them in the dark, it's not because they can't find what you're offering.