Night Muskie Fishing

[Bauer and Standke]

I muskie fish as much as I can but nomally it is during the daylight hours I know muskie will bite at night are the areas and the baits the same or should I try something different at night. thanks for any info.

[Random guy]

The night time is the right time! Fish the same spots only work them shallower along with the normal runs, the fish will move in to feed on the bait fish that become active in the shallows. When I fish darkness I try to use baits that offer a bigger profile and more noise or thump. Big topwaters work great like the Weagle, Low-Rider, talk Willie, on the surface and run spinner baits and bucktails down low and slow with BIG THUMPING blades like the Triple X bucktail, or any spinner bait with a #10 Colorado blade.

[Bauer and Standke]

thankyou very much great info. I work second shift so I have been think of going after work instead of trying to wake up early in the morning.

[Random guy]

Plus fishing at night you will have some peace and quite. The pressured fish relax and feel safe to come out and play. AND the "personal watercraft" (water rats) can't buzz around you at night.

[38poundbeauty]

Everything I've been reading about night fishing muskies suggests that you have MUCH more action than you do at any other time of day, including more muskies caught. For those of you that do night fish muskies, do you find this to be correct??

[mtreno]

depends on the lake and the baitfish. some lakes are better night lakes then others. in my group (or cult as i like to call it) of musky fisherman we have more at night so far this year. but on the other hand we have spent more hours on the water after dark than during daylight.

i would not say "much more" or even more for that matter.

[38poundbeauty]

I have a feeling I'll be seeing you on the water....

[mtreno]

why is that? did the gps tracker get installed on my boat agian.....

[38poundbeauty]

Haha. Just because I know you fish where I do as well. It was discussed in a previous post.

[mtreno]

16 foot alumacraft single counsel with merc 75 - white superduty with deer plates that by the looks of the pickupbed a guy must live in it. nothing notta zip last night. going out tonight?

sorry for the thread hi-jack.....

[38poundbeauty]

Thought about it. Supposed to storm however. Could be good or bad. Most likely I'll wait a couple days. Seems like it's a better July lake. Wouldn't you say?

[38poundbeauty]

What makes a lake a good night fishing muskie lake?

[RK]

Hiya -

Muskies certainly do bite at night as several posters have mentioned. Can be outstanding sometimes in fact.

That having been said - I think in some articles that are written about night fishing it gets over-hyped a little. It can sounds like all you have to do is fish after dark and it's a no-brainer. It's still muskie fishing, and there's no sure thing after dark any moreso than during the day. I think that's why a lot of guys try night fishing, and give up, because it doesn't live up to the hype...

Ok, now that I'm done with my rant...

Some fish do move shallower as Jon described, but the opposite happens too - fish move off the weedline out to semi-open water. A lot of the time when I'm fishing a weedline or something at dusk, when it gets dead dark, I'll keep going down the same weedline, but just turn around and cast out.

I'm also NOT a big fan of topwaters after dark to be honest. They have enough trouble grabbing the (Contact Us Please) things during the day. I much prefer subsurface baits - spinnerbaits, bucktails, and believe it or not, jerkbaits. Have caught a lot of muskies after dark on Burts over the years. They can find them just fine, even with no moon. I also don't think you need to slow down at night. I fish bucktails as fast as I do during the day (which is pretty fast) and they still run them down. They can see a lot better in the dark than we can...

One final though on night fishing - if you fish alone, or een if you don't, SERIOUSLY consider going barbless on the baits you use at night. Makes it a lot easier to unhook fish, doesn't cost you any fish as near as I can tell (I'm barbless much of the time night fishing or otherwise) and if you're alone with nobody on the lake, and get hooked with a barbed treble still attached to a fish, it's a bad, bad scence. Trust me on this one.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Fish-n-Freak]

Any lake with Muskies in it is worth trying at night.

A few things that make me fish them at night;

Clear Water

Fishing Pressure during the day

My schedule

Solunar Tables

I have seen better success (more fish per hour spent fishing) during the night.

A few extra tips;

Keep your boat clean -- don't have a ton of stuff laying around. Falling down in the dark and landing on hooks is no fun.

Fish areas you are very familiar with. You don't want to be finding rocks in the dark.

Put a glow bead on your line above your leader so you know when you should stop reeling.

Get a good head-lamp and strap a flashlight to the handle of your landing net.

Have all your tools ready, before you start fishing.

Have fun and bring a camera!

Good luck and see you on the water.

Steve

[38poundbeauty]

Thanks for the good advice! I just may try it sometime soon!