Night fishing

Anyone got any general night fishing advice? I've never been and wouldn't know where to start to help myself get bit. Thx!

LOL, I was asking almost the same thing. Looks like tonight is supposed to be good, according to others who are more knowledgeable than I am. Just been many, many years since I've been on the water at night and eyesight hasn't gotten any better over the years.
Sure would be cooler...that's for sure!
God Bless

Frank and I have talked some about using the slow rolling spinner baits on deep ledges at night. I just want to add that when the guys that catch and fish for the big bass, they do it at night on Lake Amistad.

I have witnessed these same guys coming in when I am going out and seen the pictures of the huge bass caught on the deep ledges. Again they just long line the thing and drift using the trolling motor to stay on the lip.

There will also be a couple of points with more cover than the others, so the big bass are coming and going all night. You want to use that last bit of brush, grass or stumps as a outer edge cover line and follow it along doing the same technique as you would on a deep contour. With the lakes being low you may be able to make cast on it at 10 to 15 ft. deep and slow roll it back fishing parallel with the cover.

Normally I have had better luck at night fishing very slow, with dark colors. Shaky head, jig, trig, and a light c rig if the wind will allow it. I fish these all very slow with the exception of the shaky head. I normally have better luck on bigger baits too. I have caught some decent fish on cranks but not as consistent as the other methods. Slow rolling a dark colored spinnerbait will work too, I personally have more confidence in the presentations I listed so that's what I fish the most.


What lake are you planning to fish?

Start out fishing in marina's, to give yourself confidence and experience with casting before you venture out to other structure, most marina's have lights. I personally like jigs, worms, and creature baits t-rigged and have had much success with these. Sometimes the carolina rig will have good use like during full moon nights, but for most of what I do the t-rig and jig get the job done. Crank baits and spinner baits are very effective on the dams but usually need very active fish to have a good night. If you throw a dinky rig on the dam with a finesse worm you can catch a lot of fish. good luck

The best advice I can give you is to wear your PFDs at all times, fish slowly, and boat slowly. Don't forget to fish a black Jitterbug parallel to riprap banks.

I fish Lake Austin at night almost every week and I have found that week to week the fish change what they will hit. The best nights it does not matter what you through they will hit it just like on a good day. Worms on a TX rig have produced the most and biggest bass, and for the color I like Black with red fleck, red bug or electric blue. I switch between all of them every time I go and if they hit one they hit em all. Red crank baits do well also but at night it is easier to hang up because of how hard it is to see where you at throughing. My advise is to practice with worms for casting so you lose your good lures. In the dark it is hard to judge your distance because all your refrence pionts are shadows. Fish the docks for the lights but know that there are big fish in the darkest areas as well. Night bass fishing is great, no ski boats, no sun burns, and you can fish your spots without other people around or in the way. Also take a head lamp, its hard to hold a flashlight and tie a lure on.

I have good luck with tx rig 7in black power worm around riftrap, with lights close by is a plus

Don't do it! Tried last night at Possum Kingdom for the first time. Lost about 4 lures. Can't see [censored]. Caught one fish. Don't think I'll be attempting again. Got hung up about every third cast. Not fun. Made it till midnight and said screw it and left! Lol. There's my 2 cents.

Oops I said carp not shirt and it censored the carp word. Wasn't cussing. Lol

I will add a safety tip after all the accidents we have been hearing about. Have your self a q-beam or LED flashlight on the front deck by your feet or somewhere you can get to it quickly. Even with the boat fully lit it may blend with the background or otherwise be hard for another boater to see you. A light that can be hand held and flashed on and off may save your life.

Also get a head band or hat clip style led light. They are inexpensive and make retrying and other rigging issues much easier.

Fished my first ever night tourney the other day and let me just start by saying it's is stressful. You can't see nothing and I wouldn't dare throwing anything with an exposed hook of any sort because you will spend more time getting un hung and lose more money on tackle then a weeks full of daytime fishing.
On the other hand though I did manage to catch a bass on a trigged black lizard on the dam. I've heard a lot of things about the big girls feeding at night so it might produce your next pb
Good luck!

I have been fishing for bass at night for 23 years. Fish docks with Texas rigged plastics dark in color. If it is calm use weightless dense worms. Use short casts and keep your finger against the line. It is my favorite way to bass fish.

I have night fished for bass off and on all my life.. but that was primarily on a clear, deep lake. I'm not sure I would feel comfortable at all fishing say Joe Pool or Benbrook at night. One of the things that I have used in the past is a battery powered flourescent black light.. pointed at the shore line that I was fishing. The black light would illuminate the underside of the leaves on the tree's on the shore.. which would give you a depth reference of judging the length of your casts. It really helped going down a bank. Again, best baits were dark jigs and T-Rigged worms.
The key is to rig your boat for night fishing.. lights that point down into the bottom of the boat and not up to blind you. A stern light that doesn't blind the guy fishing in the back, etc. All good ideas. It is very relaxing to not have jet ski's and wake board boats going by you constantly.

my advice is to be prepared to do it safely... It can be rewarding to pull an all nighter, but you gotta be ready to be out there and be safe.

Bring caffeine, bring lots of extra light sources, bring lots of bug spray, extra clothes, extra snacks, and have a plan if you get too tired.

I just fished Bastrop last night, and it was beautiful. Frogs singin, and perfect weather

What I have found, is that if your fishing moving baits and not seeing action at night, it can pay off to head out deeper and drag/hop a weighted t-rigged senko... Also, I add a bead to my t-rigs so it clicks when I hop it. Not sure if that really does anything, but I like to tell myself that it helps get those girls excited.

whats it like at lewisville? always wanted to try it...just never have. any good spots to try out?

Night fishing in the summer is a great time to fish as you don't have to worry so much about heat during the day and can easily produce better fish than day time fishing. Docks would be the best for someone new to night fishing as they are fairly easy to fish and can still produce great fish. My favorite bait to throw at night would have to be a 7" black worm. Docks 6' or less at the end I'll throw the 7" black worm with a small weight for a slow fall and fish will usually hit it on the fall or the first hop or quiver on the bottom. Some nights if the bite is slower I will throw up to the dock and slowly drag the worm on the bottom all the way back to the boat and will usually get Bit that way. Another great lure to throw at night would be a black and blue craw worm fished the same way as the worm. If you can find underwater lights they can also produce many giant bass. You can see the shad and other bait fish around the lights and the big bass will usually sit on the bottom around the light and snatch bait fish as they go by. A worm or spinnerbait will produce around these lights and even a 5" swim bait will too. Once you get comfortable night fishing docks and lights, roadbeds and humps can also produce great fish. A c-rig with a black worm on roadbeds and humps have been best for me. Also a black and blue jig worked slowly around timber can produce nice bass as well. Night fishing is one of my favorite ways to fish and is rewarding once you get the hang of it.