Catch Bass At Night.

For some anglers on some bodies of water night fishing is a necessity. Lakes and ponds which see heavy boat pressure from fisherman and water recreation often contain more skiddish bass that are less likely to feed during the daylight hours. This is especially true in crystal clear water conditions. These types of water are your best bets when night fishing for bass. In these situations bass tend to hang in deeper water during the day and come into the shallows to feed after the sun goes down when there aren't people all over the lake water skiing and such. Learning to catch bass at night will give you, the angler a better shot at dominating even the toughest fisheries you may visit. 

Before I continue I would like to make a side note. Night time creates an environment where the bass feel safer and more apt to come into the shallows and feed. This, however does not happen exclusively at night. This lack of boat pressure and water clarity can also be achieved during windy, rainy days where people won't be out on the water and the water is stained. I have experienced going to a lake in perfect fishing conditions and only landed a couple small rock bass over the course of 6-8 hours. When revisiting this lake in a torrential downpour and extreme winds for just 2 hours, my buddies and I boated fifteen to twenty solid largemouth bass. So, when we are talking about advantages of night fishing, the advantage lies in our ability to approach skiddish bass when we know they will have their guard down. And may I mention that night fishing after a day of heavy winds and rain is not as effective as night fishing after a clear sunny day.

Considering location when night fishing for bass expect to locate bass further away from structure than you may be used to fishing in the daylight. The main reasons for bass holding to structure during the daytime is to be shaded from the sun and have a sense of security. These two factors do not effect bass after the sun goes down, thus they are more likely to stray from the security of structure. So, if you know that there is a nice tree down in a deep pocket that you see a few bass around during the day time, do not expect them to be there at night as well. Look for bass to move into slightly shallower flats at night.

The most important thing to consider when night fishing for bass is equipment. First off, a staple in any night fishermans gear is a black light. A black light will produce enough light for you to see what you are doing without blinding yourself and scaring the fish away. If you begin fishing at dusk, right before the sun goes down work the topwater bite. A topwater is every bit, if not more effective at dusk than it is in the morning. I have landed upwards of fifteen largemouths in the course of a fifteen minutes at dusk on a Rapala Skitter Pop. After the sun is completely out of view and all is still a topwater approach can still be effective as long as your bait makes a good amount of noise on the surface. Beyond topwater lures, you can land night time bass on basically any approach you may use during the day, with some minor adjustments that is. When cranking, slow down a bit and use a lure that again creates a lot of noise and has a dark color to it so it creates a strong profile. Swimming jigs can be an effective technique as long as there is a rattle involved, however if you ask me; leave the regular jigs in the tackle box and just use a Chatterbait/ Boogee Bait. You may think that soft plastics would not be effective in a night time approach, however where plastics lack in sound and vibration, they make up in scent. Many anglers have great luck tossing heavily scented plastics at night and fishing them slowly letting the scent disperse through the water so the fish can locate it based on its keen sense of smell.

So, always remember, a non productive lake or pond at night does not mean a non productive fishery. Night fishing allows anglers to capitalize on tough waters that many anglers would simply give up on. We know that a bass has stronger senses of smell and hearing than they do sight, and night fishing allows us to capitalize upon this. If you take anything from this article, remember "noise/ vibration," and "scent," and you will have what it takes to be a successful night time angler. That is of course if you don't hook yourself in the face...

-Happy Bassin' (Discuss This Article and Much More On The BASStard Forum!)

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