Hey ladies and gentlemen, I need help.
What pointers do you have for fly fishing at night? As most of you know, I'm after sunfish, bass, and cats. Recommendations on coloration, etc? Topwater or wet?
Help!
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Hey ladies and gentlemen, I need help.
What pointers do you have for fly fishing at night? As most of you know, I'm after sunfish, bass, and cats. Recommendations on coloration, etc? Topwater or wet?
Help!
For bass fishing at night, I always use black flies, either large streamers (my preference) or top water. I tie the streamer with icelandic sheep hair and usually include a stinger hook since the flies are often 7-8 inches long. Long slow strips and hang on, you'll get some bone jaring strikes.
Jim Smith
I think it might be a little early for top water night fishing but in the dead of summer when the big bass are hiding out during the day and come out at night to feed, I find a mouse pattern, snake pattern or large popper like a frog in dark colors to show up against the night sky to be the best.
I like a little furled mohair leech.... slow stripped.... fish by feel and hold on!
This may not be what you are asking for:
1. Know the water and the depth
2. Remember that snakes will also be out
3. Try to get to the water before it gets dark and memorize the territory so you do not step in over your head
4. If you go when there is a clear sky and a full moon, you will be able to see better and will be surprised just how good your night vision is.
5. Avoid turning on any lights because the light will destroy your night vision & spook the fish. If you must use a light, try to use something with a red colored lens cover
6. As stated above, dark colors for the flies and large enough to move water when stripped
7. Keep your ears tuned for fish feeding on the surface and cast towards the sound
Not knowing if you will be fishing lakes, ponds or streams, some of the above may or may not apply.
ABOVE ALL ELSE, BE VERY CAREFUL!
If you are going to be wading, a wading staff is a great help in staying dry. It will let you probe in front of you as well as aid your balance when you walk into that invisible submerged rock. Shorten your leader and check it often for tangles. BRING DRY CLOTHES!!
Good suggestions for bass already. For bluegills and crappies, unweighted patterns like woolly buggers, woolly worms, boa yarn leeches, and larger nymphs work great in the public ponds I fish at night. There seems to be pond-specific color preferences. On some ponds black or brown work best at night...on others yellow and chartreuse work best. The unweighted patterns stay up above the shoreline weeds better, and fish seem to be shallow and often "feeding up" at night.
I generally do medium-slow paced SHORT strips on the retrieve. Watch where your fly line enters the water if you can see it.
Usually cats are caught accidentally while fishing for the bluegills and crappies. They will also sometimes go for a bass popper. You never know with catfish...I have caught them inches from shore at night, and also near the surface out in the middle of the pond. You might do well fishing deeper with a weighted pattern on cats...be prepared to clean a lot of gunk off your hook every cast.
Dave, we have caught a few cats on poppers right at dark and after, too!
Take at least one good, reliable flashlight. LED penlights are often good enough. You may not need it, but if you need it you might want it in a hurry.
Ed
If you are down south, you may discover cottonmouths are drawn to light, don't leave it on too long and don't leave your fish on a stringer in the water, unless you like snakes.
Hey guys, just wanted to report that night bass fishing was an absolute success! In fact, while fishing a Dirty Rat with a rabbit tail (Thanks, Jim!), I had a bass come up from directly below the fly, become airborn, and fall directly down in the water. One of the best takes ever. I hooked him right in the tongue, so boy did he move! He became airborn several times. Great fight. Thanks for the pointers, everybody! Caught two good sized bass and a nice greenie. Shredded the foam face on my mouse. Badge of honor.
And once again, thanks Jim for the materials. That rabbit really makes a difference on the tail.
Here in Louisiana and the rest of the deep South, you'll also have to add:
#8 The alligators are are out and active, and they are protected by law...
#9 The alligator snapping turtles are out and active.
#2 (Modified) Water moccasins are traveling around at night... And please understand Uncle Jesse is correct, in that moccasins like to eat the fish on your stringer. In addition, they are always looking for a something sticking out of the water to rest upon. Moccasins also like to rest upon low-hanging branchs and have been known to drop into your boat. When that happens be sure to use a wooden paddle to dispatch them, as a gunfire may kill the snake, but it is hell on your watercraft!
"Moccasins also like to rest upon low-hanging branchs and have been known to drop into your boat"
and for some unknown reason, they do not like where they have landed in your boat and will immediately go looking for another spot in your boat and they are fast movers!! : )
If you are fishing in an area where there a lot of bugs flying around at night you may want to consider a wide-brimmed hat...it was the only way I could keep bats from coming so close to that I could feel/hear their wing beats near my ears. Also if you catch a bat with your smaller flies (trout fishing) reel them in to the tip of rod, drown them, pull of extra line, cut off the tippet and start over.
Turvy, There is no need to drown the bat. According to a bat researcher I discussed this with if you just cut the tippet as short as you are comfortable with the bat will work the hook out; especially with barbless hooks.
I wouldn't want to kill a bat either, they are good for the bug population. What I would do is make sure I have a pair of heavy gloves somewhere and use the hemostats to dislodge the hook. Always debard your hooks unless you are taking the fish home, and that will also make it easier to get out of the bat as rainbowchaser has stated
Easier said than done. I worry about being bitten and have to go through rabies shots. In the seven or eight years I night fished (about twice a week during the summer and fall) I only "caught" three bats. I know by the number of bats that flew around me through all those years that I didn't put a dent in their population. I am a catch and release fisherman...bats are another thing. I now longer night fish as the area that I now smallmouth fish is too dense and steep to get out of without a little more light than a flashlight can provide. Didn't mean to get something started here...I just thought the wide-brim hat idea could put a fisherman more at east while fishing.
The other problem with killing bats is that bats are protected by federal and many (most?) state's regulations. It is a federal violation to use chemicals—including insecticides, rodenticides, disinfectants, and mothballs—to kill bats (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publicat.../hunt/nongame/)
I'd agree with rainbowchaser and just cut the leader...
Tony,
Glad that you had a good time and had some luck. There's something special about night fishing, an added element of surprize I guess. I'm also glad that the rabbit worked out. It's the most useful and versatile tying material that I've ever used.
Jim
I like fishing at night myself in lakes... Im usually fishing for crappie, bluegill or bass when i flyfish at night... I find for bass the darker colour flies work better and the fly of choice is a frogg or popper... For bluegill and crappie at night, its glow in the dark flies... A small streamer fly for crappie and dries for the bluegill... Glow in the dark threads i find at wallyworld or a sewing shop and the materials what is glow in the dark comes from ebay or grey wolf fly shop...
wear safety glasses
The best part of fishing at night is no scortching sun, sweat, and sunblock. I like to use a U.V. light to show up that bright floating line. On a full moon there times when you dont need any light at all. I have even fished the "shady" side of pilings and trees, docks and found bass hiding in the dark waiting to pounce on something coming by. The bigger the fly the better for me. Tight lines.
I never do fishing in night as It involves risk in our area. But it seems you have lot of fun in night timeQuote:
Originally Posted by adglife
I have a friend who is a native of the Detroit, MI area, who agreed to go frog catching with some clients in the MS Delta area. This involved hanging over the front edge of a flat bottom jon boat grabbing the bullfrog with your hand and throwing it to the cooler with your buddy in the back of the boat. Scott had not really bought the earlier discussion about snakes thinking it was the southern boys messing with the Yankee. He was just about to catch his first frog of the night when the guy in the back of the boat shot a cottonmouth off a limb overhead. He was done for the evening. He married a beautiful girl from TN and is still down here.Quote:
Originally Posted by WarrenP
Great advice re night fishing.
striper33
I like to wear a pair of polarized amber tinted sunglasses when fishing at night. I know it sounds counter intuitive but it helps me see where surface flies are by cutting the glare and sharpening the contrast. I might also add that I mostly fish urban lakes that have street lights around them.
I also like wearing a headlight. They aren't too expensive and free both of your hands for unhooking fish or doing whatever else you need to do.
I never tried them at night, but I had a pair of yellow sunglass that were great at dusk and in fog. They seemed to gather available light. Have you ever tried those?
As I understand it, yellow sunglasses increase the contrast and sharpen what you see. At any rate I've tried fishing at night with and without the yellow polarized sunglasses and the sunglasses do help.Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Jesse
I never fish unfamiliar waters at night. I make sure I've fished the fishery during the day a number of times so I don't get too spooked about all the wierd things that can happen. As for patterns, anything that works during the day will usually work during the night, as long as it's a dark color, preferably black.
I have done well on certain waters with dark flies at night. On others, yellow or chartreuse can still work good. Why? I don't know.
What seems most important that the pattern should push some water or create a good hydrosonic disturbance so the fish know its there and can find it.
Subsurface patterns that work really well for me at night include Boa Yarn Leech, Gartside Sparrow, and Woolly Buggers. I recently tied this up for night-fishing bluegills/crappies. The head serves to push lots of water, and also to help keep the fly suspended so it can be worked slowly in shallow water without it dragging on the bottom.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps4138b12a.jpg
I agree with Jim 100% and we actually tie a very simular fly and one time I actually had the rod get pulled out of my hand....granted I was about to fall asleep.Quote:
Originally Posted by James Smith
Almost forgot, I do not think I ever had a sunfish hit at night unless I was fishing dock lights.
I saw a quote on the local bulletin board that would be good to remember for us Southern boys and girls who might fish at night "There are two kinds of snakes; chicken snakes and cobras. If it doesn't have a chicken in its mouth, it's a cobra."
Dave, that fly is SICK!!!!! I love it! Grizzly marabou, yarn, and deer hair?Quote:
Originally Posted by FishnDave
:D Yes. I tried that fly out yesterday evening. It caught a few crappies and a couple bluegills.
I may have to copy that one and give it a go.... I know a place or two where something like that would do very well!