Anyone done any night fishing yet / Since the bite in our baited slip is still real slow .think I am going to set some lights in it on a timer and try night fishing. If the stripers don't come in.
Lately our slip on Whitney is just ate up with black bass and stripers

Night fishing in a marina under lights is about the only time you’ll do well night fishing for crappie, otherwise it’s generally a terrible time to fish for them. That’s when the crappie spread out and feed a lot of times, making them very difficult to catch. Sunny days are usually the best time to fish for them.

at night crappie leave cover and structure and school up in river and creek channels, following baitfish that are also schooling up and moving thru river and creek channels, to feed on plankton that has been windblown into shallow coves, or on shallow flats . when the baitfish go into these "traps" , the gamefish herd them as shallow as they can and feed heavily.
if you can find some deep timber to tie up to, , near a deep river or creek channel that has an adjoining cove with a defined creek channel going into it, you can catch crappie as they are staging in front of the cove or as they are going into the cove.
sometimes this happens in waves, different schools of fish will come thru, sometimes hours in between schools, sometimes not that long.
This scenario happens EVERY night, it may happen in different areas of the lake though, at different times. but gamefish primarily feed at night. there may only be 5 or 6 commonly used night herding areas on a lake, or even less and once you find where these are, you got em!!
you may have to put some time in, studying a map for locations that are as I described, but once you find these areas, you can go back night after night and observe the process happen. Then its a matter of figuring out what time they come thru the area. usually if it is a good spot within a few hours after dark, they will come thru.
sometimes they may not come thru until 10 , 11 or 12 at night. you have to be willing to put the time in, and put lights out to attract the baitfish,., what you are doing is trying to keep the baitfish where your at as long as possible, instead of going into the coves or on the shallow flats to feed.

a good indicator of if you are in a high probability area is if you get some action as soon as it gets dark. this will tell you that there are some fish in the area, though it may not be a large school. Baitfishs eyesight does not adjust as fast as a gamefish does, and the gamefish instinctively take advantage of this short but "easy meal"opportunity.
Pay attention to where the gulls and turns go to roost at night, they may be sitting in front of a big flat, or on a rocky point near a cove. These birds are not sitting in the area for the view. They are staying there because there was a signifigant amount of baitfish in the area that day, and they want to get right on them in the morning. The gulls and terns must eat every day.
The wind has been a crapshoot lately, but has been favoring a a south blow lately, unless a front comes thru. So looking for a cove that is oriented on a north bank could be favorable.
Also pay attention to water color, that emerald green, nutrient rich color is what your looking for. avoid clear water and muddy looking areas.

Leanin Post sharing years of experience here, thanks a bunch!

L P thanks for the insight.I set my lights on the front of my pontoon yesterday, I put them on a timer were they come on at 12: and stay on till 4:00 AM. I went down to the slip last night at 12:45 and there was already a few plaques an a few minnows swimming around. I'll give it a few nights and see.

I would set them to come on as soon as it gets dark. when you start getting good schools of shad coming in you should see some action. minnows dont typically show up for lights in huge numbers like shad will.
If u can set the light hanging a couple feet over the water, it will attract bugs, and baitfish.
when you start fishing putting a light in the water can make a differerence because most of the light is not reflecting off of the water surface.

This couldnt be farther from the truth. Matter of fact, I ONLY fish at night anymore. Avoids the pot lickers. Find a bend in a creek or river channel. Set up on the drop off, SHALLOW SIDE, and hammer em. I also only use jigs. The style SK shows how to tie in his youtube videos. I learned to tie said jigs from his videos and through p.m.s

On some lakes it might be the case, but where I fish, you’re wasting your time at night.

Heck you don't even need lights just as long as you have JIGLYF jigs!

Been years since I fished at night but dropping green lights under bridges was always productive for crappie and sand bass. We always fished the edge of the lights to get bit. Never done it during the winter though.

This is the best time to fish for crappie at night. On edge of river and creek channels on the edge of timber. Whites will be mixed in with them.