Night fishing tips

[John19]

This is my first year of owning a boat and I've really kindof shyed away from night fishing. By reading recent reports, it seems like nighttime is the right time, this time of the year. Soooooo, any tips or pointers, to help ease me into this aspect of the sport would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

John

[Jim W]

If you are referring to lakes,

I would encourage you to located some solid trolling lanes on your favorite walleye lake. LAnes that provide long lined raps at a consistent depth, generally shallow and near spots forage like perch choose to hide during the darkness of night!

Jim W

[Tonka Boy]

John,

I would start by getting out during the day and finding any hazards. If you have a GPS, mark them. If not, try to make mental notes. This time of year a mistake can be very costly, or even worse.

You'll want to find some shallow flats or channels. If there are any rocks or weeds, it's always a plus. One thing I always look for is a spot where the lake narrows. These narrow spots seem to funnel baitfish, as well as the bigger fish.

Depending on which lake your fishing, there may be a decent population of PIGS. If so, upsize your baits to the max. If not, keep it in the "medium" range. Don't bother going small unless it's a last option.

Work the said areas over until fish are located. This time of year it's not always a numbers game, but more so big fish time (not to say it doesn't happen). Keep it slow and incorporate irratic action once in a while. Pauses with suspending lures can be deadly also.

This will give you a starting point. You'll have to ask questions based on the lakes you want to fish. Each lake is different so tactics change. On the flip side, you can certainly use similar tactics on similar type lakes.

One more thing. Make sure you have good lighting and all your equipment handy. When you do catch that trophy you want to be ready!! Good luck.

[Mike Walerak]

This may seem obvious but it is the most important. #1 get a headlamp. You can pick one up at Walmart for about 15 bucks. Next, make sure you dress warm.

Have all you gear in order. Nightime is no time to be untangling lines.

In the Fall, I like to go big! The fish are trying to get an easy snack with minimal effort. As JimW said troll along breaks that can be mastered easily to ensure you are in the zone. If you do not troll plugs often, a simple lindy rig with a sucker or shiner can be just the ticket.

I'm sure others will have more to add.

mw

[Schnauzer]

That is a great question and I totally know where you are coming from. I hadn't done much night fishing prior to buying my boat a few years ago. At first it seemed strange being out there at night - almost spooky, worrying about the weather and all.

But, as time has gone on, I have found myself fishing at night more and more. I probably put as much time in after dark now as I do during the daylight hours. Yes, this time of year especially. The fall is just the best time of the year to catch big walleyes.

I recommend the following for night fishing:

First, if you do not already have them, get rod holders. Some guys haven't done much crank bait trolling and they are really effective after dark. Rod holders are a must for trolling cranks.

Next, GPS is great at any time but it is essential at night. Not just for safety but for marking your trolling runs, spots, etc.

Next, a headlight is a must. You can find them anywhere these days. I have several but have been going more with the led style than the brighter old fashioned types just because I hate wasting time changing batteries all the time.

Next, a spot light is helpful, but not a must. They can be nice for navigating channels or lighting up the fish as it nears your net. I basically don't use mine anymore but used it a lot when I started.

Next, place a premium on maintaining a clutter free boat after dark. That is an obvious one but it is amazing how much more one stumbles over half open tackle bags, dip nets, etc, when they are laying around after dark.

Finally, just get the time in on the water after dark. Like I said... I know where you are coming from and it just got easier and more fun with each passing night trip.

[76k20]

After the sun sets do walleye's run shallower? or stay in the same depths. do they prefer more or less agressive presentation? i generally fish live bait rigs or verticle jig are these tactics less effective after dark? I have heard positive things about dragging cranks but I dont have much experience or equipment ie baitcasters w/ leadline, linecounters, and I have less than 20 cranks total. would pitching cranks such as wallydivers at shallow structure or points be more effective than a shiner or fathead on a lindy or a jig in 20'?

[Schnauzer]

I have found that walleyes do indeed move shallower, and into places you wouldn't be crazy enough to fish for them during the day. You don't have to be all decked out with leadcore, line counters, planer boards, etc. to troll cranks. After a while, you might want to invest in line counters but it is not essential, especially for trolling in shallower waters at night. Start with a few #7 shad raps both in deep diving and shallow types, with maybe a couple super deep reef runners for deep water. While long fiberglass rods with line counters are great, you can start with any old set up. Some guys prefer 10 pound mono but I think most use fireline (or some other superline). I use 10 pound fireline. I like it because it doesn't stretch so you can feel when the lure has weeds fouling it easier and its smaller diameter allows the lures to get down lower. If you don't have line counters, no problem, just let out enough line until you maybe start banging the bottom. Then reel up a couple times. A GPS is real helpful because you can be sure of your speed. 2.0 is a good speed to start out at. This time of year you can sometimes find the most fish by dropping your speed down to 1.3-1.7. Sometimes speeds all the way up to 3.0 are the most effective.

Crank baits seem daunting at first but after a short time you will find they are easy to use. Big fish really seem to be fooled by them and you can cover a lot of water and find active fish quicker than you can with traditional live bait tactics. Most of my biggest walleyes (including largest two) have been taken by crank baits.

If you can locate some extremely shallow rock piles, casting cranks can be effective but more often than not, simply trolling them in a long line arrangement will work best. The more you use them, the more likely you are to start looking into more dedicated trolling equipment (ranging from rod holders and planer boards, to kicker motors). However, none of the fancy stuff is needed to get started. I started out trolling walleyes with only a handful of lures, and using a 6'8" graphite spinning rod/reel (and did great). As time has gone by, I have upgraded to more dedicated trolling equipment and it is better but I have never felt it was essential.

As a general rule, walleyes are more active at night. Some of their strikes on crankbaits can be downright violent.

[Tonka Boy]

Well spoken Schnauzer. I would like to add that walleyes can even be more shallow then you'd think. I catch the majority of my fall walleyes in less then 4 FOW. It's not a rule, but it's always worth checking each outing.

[John19]

Wow, 4ft. of water, that's pretty shallow! We have rod holders, but of my trolling experience is bottom bouncing crawler harnesses. I'd much rather jig myself, but somtimes ya just gotta troll to locate the fish. Many of the warm water lakes out here also have wipers. If you want to see a hard strike, have a big old wiper hit your lure! Even the small ones about rip the rod right out. My main concern is boat speed, I think the motor goes to fast on it's lowest setting. That, and lighting. The colorado lakes really don't have many hazards, but wind is often the big factor! Thanks alot for all the info, I love this site!!!!!

John

[Schnauzer]

There are ways to deal with that "too fast" situation too. Start by seeing how slow your motor will allow you to troll. You can then get it lower by doing things like dropping your bow mount electric (good for dropping your speed by a couple tenths of a mile per hour), or even tie on a five gallon pale and use it like a break over the side. If you want to go even slower, you can even use drift socks to really slow you down.

I have a kicker motor but sometimes find fish like speeds that are just a tad off of where I can get with my throttle. I have a remote throttle and the steering is tied into the big motor. By just putting the big motor (turned off) in gear, the big prop locked in that setting always drops me .1 mph.

[John19]

I never thought about dropping the bow mount, that's a good idea!

[tucciproshop]

I would look for a nice drop off or a sunken island. Walleye's will target these area's. Then try fishing it with a floating jig and sinker set 1 to 2 ft. up your line, or try slip bobber's. The most important thing is find out where the fish are, after that you shouldn't have a problem catching them no matter what method you go with, how ever bait can be crutial. Be prepared to try differnt things.

[fishdog]

I like using Iron silk line that is "Solar mint" in color. This line realy glows with a black light making tangles alot easer to fix, It also helps you see your line move when you get a strike. Of course you'll need a Battery oreraterd black light. I bought mine at Gander Moutain ,it also has a 2 spot light's that swivels it also has 2 blacklight's it cost me $9. I also use a florcarbon leader like P-line or Vanish. If usung a lighted bobber make sure the leader is lighter line than your main line, So you dont break off and loose your bobber.

Fishdog

[abens1078]

If this is repeted knowledge please forgive me I read through the above and may have missed some things.

There are a few other ways to be consistent without line counters. You can use a permenent marker and make marks on your line at every 5 or 10 feet. Most crankbaits seem to reach their max depth at 150' of line out with the exception of a very few. Another way is to make a mark at 2' on your rod and then count the line out by hand, 2,4,6,8 etc. Some guys count rod sweeps or even passes of the leveler on a baitcaster. It does not always matter that you know the exact number of feet of line out but that you can be consistent and do it again after you catch a fish. If you do decided to get more serious about trolling there is a book called Precision Trolling and there are about 8 editions now containg almost every lure known to man. The book contains the dive curves of the lure, line out in correspondece to lure depth. This allows you to mark schools of fish on a depth finder and then set your lures to run above the fish or above pieces of structure.

Earlier this Fall I took a trip durring the full moon phase. THe lake had murky water and was quite shallow for a walleye lake, less than 10 feet. We fished at night under the moon with the boat in 2-3 FOW and casted jigs and cranks to the shoreline sometimes bouncing the plugs off of the rocks. We weren't skunked, that's for sure. Every lake is different but it's worth trying shallow at night.

I try to have two or three rigged rods along. If I'm using cranks, I have at least 2 more rods set up with connecting snaps so if I back lash or tangle real bad I can be fishing in a matter of minutes. If it's Lindy rigs or spinners I tie up a few extra of varying lengths and put them on a Tackle Tamer. Quick change style clevises are very nice too so you can change blade colors if you need too. Night fishing is a blast, just move a little slower and take your time. It's also a good time to have the lake to yourself and most pleasure boaters have gone home for the evening. Practice a little before you decide to tackle a mid-night walleye opener.

P.S. I have one of the Precision Trolling books and I would be glad to give you a few of the dive curves if my book has your lures in it. I will be home to look at it this weekend so post the info about a plug you want me to look up and I will try to find it, i.e. #7 Shad Rap. I think Cabela's also has the book for sale.

Good luck

Abens1078

[tyler97]

Hey John19, can you fish in Water Valley in Windsor? I used to live in Windsor and built alot of the homes there. I remember wanting to get out on Boyd as well, but never had a boat until I moved back to MN.

What do you do in Greeley?