Night sunfish bite???

[Swill]

Can anyone figure out why the sunfish on Chisago started biting around 5-6 pm and they were not interested in anything all day? I did not think sunfish could see very good at night unlike crappies? Weird..Swill

[Deitz Dittrich]

Could have been a weather thing? hard to say... I fished a lake in the Bemidji area that the sunfish would bite around midnight... just when they went threw that area I think?

[Guest]

Wow!

Interesting stuff guys. This is something new to me. Are you catching any bulls when this happens?

thanks for the info,

Scott

[Guest]

I experienced Sunnies biting after dark once. They were mixed in with the Crappies in about 18 feet of water. We did get some nicer sunnies that night, but most of the ones we caught were only about 6".

thanks, Westlin

[Guest]

I have caught sunnies on a lake out by alex a few times after dark using larvae fishing crappies. They would come in under the schools of crappies, very agressive too.

[Guest]

I experienced a similiar experience when I fished Chisago Lake a few weeks ago. During the day I'd catch some smaller gills and an occational decent one but once the sun hit the trees the bigger ones came through. I would guess that in this certain area a lot of pike are roaming and the gills hide during the day and then come into feed once the pike vacate the area during the twilight periods. A lot of plankton also emerge from the bottom during the low light periods, or at night, and the gills could be coming in and feeding on them. I read an article in a past In-Fishermen that talked about bull gills at sundown and they explained this in full. A gill can consume numerous plankton at once and its an easy prey so they take advantage.

Good Fishin, Matt.

[Deitz Dittrich]

The fish I was talking about again were comming threw around midnight.. And were deffinatly bulls.. 3/4 pound.. but again this was like 10 years ago... But it was consistant.. we would pick up about a dozen of these hogs from midnight till about 3 am?

[Guest]

For me 5-6 seems to be the best time to catch bulls this time of year. You may find a day bite if there are smaller fish in the mix. But, if you are after the true bulls that last 15 minutes of daylight is usually best.

This weekend we caught nice gills all day, but it was only that last 15 minutes of the day that I iced one over a pound, as well as lost one of the biggest I have ever seen in the hole. These fish were in the area all day, as you could see them occasionally. But, that last 15 minutes is the time to get them (not lose them in the hole)

This varies on lakes but for the majority, you can bet that if you are in a "feeding" spot, you will do much better on big fish early AM and late PM. Scott Steil

[Guest]

I remember a few years back fishing last ice, and as Scott said, that last 15 minutes where she is starting to get harder to see was when we hit the 9-10" Gills. We got a bunch earlier, but the sizeable ones came through at dusk.

Great tips guys,

"sought da' fish?"

[Loogie]

Some of the biggest sunnies I got in the past week on Chisago were caught after 7pm on small crappie minnows.

[Guest]

Great thread guys!

Alot of anglers over look dusk times for good panfish action and a chance at some real monsters. I know I have overlooked it many times when hunkering down for Walleyes or Crappies.

thanks,

Vince

[Pig_sticka]

this year i have caught over a hundred sunfish after dark, on different lakes too. one lake they dont start biting until dark. other lakes they still hit.
one big thing usually is your lantern light, if there are plankton and everything else grouping up the sunfish will be there also. with this clear ice your lantern lights up the water around you. i have heard people settin their lantern halfway down a hole and letting the light bring in panfish.
i have also caught a few big northerns after dark and my friend just got a #5er at 3 in the morning last friday. pretty wierd.
and sunnies can see just not as well as walleyes and crappies. dont go thinkin most the fish cant see at all once night hits. think of moon light, street lights, house lights, stars. anything illuminated helps fish underwater to see.