Night fishing for bertha, full or new moon?

[Cooter]

So for a small, fairly clear, pressured lake when would you bassaholics recommend to night fish - during the full or new moon? I'll be throwing a couple secret weapon topwaters, possibly a spinnerbait or crankbait. Thanks, later.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

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So for a small, fairly clear, pressured lake when would you bassaholics recommend to night fish - during the full or new moon? I'll be throwing a couple secret weapon topwaters, possibly a spinnerbait or crankbait. Thanks, later.

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Someone's been reading In-Fisherman

[Cooter]

Well of course, lots of good stuff from the In boys! I fished a similar lake at night a couple years back with spinnerbaits and plastic worms and caught plenty of bass but nothing big. I suppose if I dug around in the old issues I could find some info on new vs full moon but I'd like some other opinions plus I'm lazy!

[Ralph Wiggum]

Night fishing for bass is something I've never tried but need to! I know the boys down south do it a lot. Sorry I can't be of help.

[Flaco651]

My biggest Largemouth went 22" and a couple ounces shy of 7 lbs. It was in mid September, with a nearly full moon. Spinnerbaits and topwaters are my go to lures for night bass. I'm not really sure if a full moon is better than a new one or vice versa. I've caught bass after dark through out the moon phases.

[enduro67]

Sat the 30th is a full moon with the moon overhead peak time of 12:30 to 1:20 am. So I plan to fish all night to take advantage of both sunrise and sunset plus the peak in between. I've never relied on lunar tables and pretty much just fish whenever possible...but that particular night does look appealing.

I'm not sure which has the better bite...new moon or full. But I will say that it is much easier to fish when can you see points and other shoreline features/obstacles...which is pretty difficult without any moonlight. Plus I tend to get overruns on my baitcaster more when I can't tell at all when my lure is going to hit the water.

There is nothing more exciting than hearing a bass explode on a topwater bait after dark and having to wait to feel if it was on your bait or your parners. Now I have to wait for 2 weeks and hope that it doesn't rain that night.

One tip I do have is to use the green led lights that clip on the bill of your hat...that way when you have to rety or land a fish it doesn't ruin your night vision.