In my previous post about night fishing tips for beginners and retirees (because I'm one), I wrote about some of the pre-trip precautions that one should take in order to maximize the returns from a night out trying to wake up the fish and get them to bite. Those are quite important as they deal with some safety issues which everyone should pay attention to, because if you aren't alive and bobbin', you ain't gonna fish no more. I might include a few more here but there should be more than enough to ensure your trip out under the cover of night is a thoroughly enjoyable one. The rest of it will focus on what you can do to improve the size of your catch, since having more fish reeled in will make the trip not only a fun one, but worthwhile.
What fishing methods can you rely on that work and help net lots of fish? Whether it be bass fish or otherwise, most species will rely on a sense of smell when seeking out food at night. We should therefore try to take advantage of this habit or feature to get what we want. One quick thought that comes to mind would be to use a chum line. Another would be to depend on fishing a live bait. This can be done beyond the chum slick, and many others also do it on the bottom to get similar results. These all work well be it bass or other types of fish. The key is that you can do it without any daylight.
Your harvests from night fishing can also be improved by the fact and another tip from me that there are many fish species that do hunt for food at night. And if you are able to attract some, my bet is that you will be able to get the rest of them coming to your bait easily. If you can create or find a fish frenzy, be prepared for a whale of a time getting all the fish you want. With a good chum slick, some of my results have been even better. I get a lot of fish coming to feed together, and they just catch onto the lure with little effort from my part, since they come in huge schools or droves and just do not appear to be as crafty as they are usually in the daytime.
Another couple of minor tips that might make some difference is to look out for full moon nights. I'm not exactly sure how it works but supposedly they make the fish rely solely on the senses for bait or food but they are also quite sensitive, which means that I normally ensure the line and lure are both lowered gently to ensure little disturbance in the water. This is a skill that must be perfected if one intends to do crappie fishing at night. If done with little care, the fish will all be irritated and start moving away from the source of that. I certainly do not want that to happen since my main purpose is to get all of them in before dawn breaks and I return home to bed!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Night Fishing Tips For Beginners And Retirees
Night fishing is done at night as the term suggests and I am writing this just to share my experiences and tips that I know as a retiree who is just spending his sundown years obsessing about his angling hobby since I hardly had time for it in my younger years busy making ends meet. If there are those who know much about the subject and are aware of other useful tips, feel free to share as well but for beginners the main thing to know is that night fishing is not really done only when no sunlight exists. In fact, you can technically be called to be fishing at night when the sun is setting, since the rays of light are just about to disappear and the conditions are being put in place for the situation to occur. Many would be surprised that such an activity exists because they will not be able to imagine how one can do this when it is almost impossible to see, and if one has to use lights to do so, then would it not sound to be defeating the purpose if this hobby is in place simply because to surprise the fish and get them without alerting them to a possible danger of a human catching up? However, I love fishing at night because not only is it an easy piece of cake but the fun factor is high.
But there are circumstances which promote and encourage the hobby of fishing at night and actually provide a more conducive environment for one to be able to enjoy a larger haul and more catches. It is definitely harder in a sense that if your eyesight is poor, trying to navigate through the waters, marshes, rivers or what have you might be quite difficult and risky, therefore it would be important for a night fisher enthusiast to make sure safety precautions are in place. But the rewards are great because fish would usually come up to the water surface since there is less heat after sunset, which allows them to come up to the surface to get oxygen or better air, instead of the opposite in the daytime when the heat drives them to go deeper underwater to get what they want. Now those are a few tips which I learned early in the game but perhaps there are a few beginners who are not aware of yet.
I think an obvious factor to look out for and determine is the weather on the night you will be going out fishing. This should be a no brainer in my opinion because you would not want to get trapped in really bad weather such as a torrential downpour and high tides when trying to catch fish in a deserted place. The lack of light during the occasion would also make any situation much more dangerous, so wait out for clear skies (if you can say that when you cannot see what's in the sky especially for a person like me with aging eyesight!) and if the reports confirm that there will be no rain or fast winds, all the better.
The ideal type of fish to net during night fishing is the kind that hibernate on sunset, or are slow moving in general. Bass fish comes to mind in that respect as they basically stay around in the same areas for long periods of time. It is why bass fishing can be done day or night and is extremely popular. It makes an angler's job so much easier and relaxing, as well as providing the prospect of easy and bountiful catches. A tip if you intend to hunt for them once the canvas of darkness befalls the water - stake out bass where you might find lots and lots of crawfish. They are attracted by that and if a location of that sort is available for you, then be prepared to lug home lots of bass. Tips for crappie fishing at night can also be shared across the methods used for other types of fish and vice versa.
Oh and if you are in such a situation and have lots of luck in snaring a huge catch, then make sure you have a boat and engine that is in proper working condition. Obviously you need to check this in advance before you set off on the night fishing trip. Trust me, you do not want to suffer a breakdown of equipment in the middle of nowhere and in darkness. Waiting till day breaks with a huge but rotting harvest is a sore experience as I found out to my cost once early on!
The type of tackle to be used for fishing at night would be those which are heavier. This will allow you to get a good feel if the fish bite since you will need to rely on that with limited visibility. Heavier tackles and lures include pork rinds, rubber and hair jigs and they are cheap and easily available which makes the whole process a real breeze. To deal with the lack of light, which would be very important since it can be quite a challenge trying to hook your lures when you can't even see your hands, make sure your boat is carrying around a few light sources such as torch lights (or flash lights as some of you refer them as), I carry a couple of spares with me whenever I set off on my fishing trip, just to be sure. Extra batteries should also be available since it isn't very helpful when you have a torch without power. Keep them dry otherwise they'll become pretty useless.
I'll talk more about other tips that might come in handy for everyone who's into night fishing in my next post. Not sure when that will be because it'll hopefully come if I return safely from my next jaunt out to the seas when nobody's around and I can't see a thing! But if you're into bass fishing, just remember the few tips that I shared above that should help you catch a few more the next time you do it at night or otherwise.
But there are circumstances which promote and encourage the hobby of fishing at night and actually provide a more conducive environment for one to be able to enjoy a larger haul and more catches. It is definitely harder in a sense that if your eyesight is poor, trying to navigate through the waters, marshes, rivers or what have you might be quite difficult and risky, therefore it would be important for a night fisher enthusiast to make sure safety precautions are in place. But the rewards are great because fish would usually come up to the water surface since there is less heat after sunset, which allows them to come up to the surface to get oxygen or better air, instead of the opposite in the daytime when the heat drives them to go deeper underwater to get what they want. Now those are a few tips which I learned early in the game but perhaps there are a few beginners who are not aware of yet.
I think an obvious factor to look out for and determine is the weather on the night you will be going out fishing. This should be a no brainer in my opinion because you would not want to get trapped in really bad weather such as a torrential downpour and high tides when trying to catch fish in a deserted place. The lack of light during the occasion would also make any situation much more dangerous, so wait out for clear skies (if you can say that when you cannot see what's in the sky especially for a person like me with aging eyesight!) and if the reports confirm that there will be no rain or fast winds, all the better.
The ideal type of fish to net during night fishing is the kind that hibernate on sunset, or are slow moving in general. Bass fish comes to mind in that respect as they basically stay around in the same areas for long periods of time. It is why bass fishing can be done day or night and is extremely popular. It makes an angler's job so much easier and relaxing, as well as providing the prospect of easy and bountiful catches. A tip if you intend to hunt for them once the canvas of darkness befalls the water - stake out bass where you might find lots and lots of crawfish. They are attracted by that and if a location of that sort is available for you, then be prepared to lug home lots of bass. Tips for crappie fishing at night can also be shared across the methods used for other types of fish and vice versa.
Oh and if you are in such a situation and have lots of luck in snaring a huge catch, then make sure you have a boat and engine that is in proper working condition. Obviously you need to check this in advance before you set off on the night fishing trip. Trust me, you do not want to suffer a breakdown of equipment in the middle of nowhere and in darkness. Waiting till day breaks with a huge but rotting harvest is a sore experience as I found out to my cost once early on!
The type of tackle to be used for fishing at night would be those which are heavier. This will allow you to get a good feel if the fish bite since you will need to rely on that with limited visibility. Heavier tackles and lures include pork rinds, rubber and hair jigs and they are cheap and easily available which makes the whole process a real breeze. To deal with the lack of light, which would be very important since it can be quite a challenge trying to hook your lures when you can't even see your hands, make sure your boat is carrying around a few light sources such as torch lights (or flash lights as some of you refer them as), I carry a couple of spares with me whenever I set off on my fishing trip, just to be sure. Extra batteries should also be available since it isn't very helpful when you have a torch without power. Keep them dry otherwise they'll become pretty useless.
I'll talk more about other tips that might come in handy for everyone who's into night fishing in my next post. Not sure when that will be because it'll hopefully come if I return safely from my next jaunt out to the seas when nobody's around and I can't see a thing! But if you're into bass fishing, just remember the few tips that I shared above that should help you catch a few more the next time you do it at night or otherwise.
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