Bass Fishing At Night Pre-Planning Is Important
Bass fishing at night is peaceful and calming sometimes. If you have never lit into a lunker largemouth bass at night your are missing out! Excitement is everywhere! If you catch a 5lb or bigger large mouth bass at night you will be hooked for life! There is nothing like it! One of the reasons I love night fishing for bass is because there is very little fishing pressure. Most bass fisherman do not go bass fishing at night because it can be a hassle. Also there is a lot of night fishing preparation and planning that needs to be done before you can go out. What’s great about fishing at night is the fact that not only will you catch bass but there is a good chance you will catch a lot of other types of fish too! Today I want to give you some simple night fishing for bass tips that will help you to become a better night fisherman.
The very first thing I would like to talk about is what night fishing equipment is best to have when you plan your next night fishing trip. Then we will discuss some of the best baits I use for fishing at night. Our identification of night fishing equipment will be based on what we feel has the most importance to catching fish, and is based on our past experiences. | We have identified some important night fishing equipment that you need to have on every night fishing trip, to catch fish and be SAFE! Most of this equipment can really juice up your bass fishing at night fishing trip and make it very enjoyable and productive. We want you to be safe and have the chance to catch that lunker bass everyone talks about when they go bass fishing at night.
#1 Underwater fishing lights
A lot of bass fisherman may disagree with me here but from my experiences I have had the best results when using underwater fishing lights. And folks, don’t go cheap when you look at underwater light sources, you need a good florescent light that generates a minimum of 25-40watts of power, and that will emit 1000 to 3000 lumens per tube. I use underwater fishing lights no matter what species of fish I am night fishing for because to cut to the chase that flat ass attract zoo plankton and bait fish. If you can get bait fish swimming around near your boat and you are in known bass habitat waters you have a good chance of catching some nice fish when bass fishing at night.
It is very important and I mentioned above, you do not want to go out and buy just any cheap under water fishing light. If you want to attract enough plankton to get a bait ball around where you are fishing you need a light that will approximately 2000 to 3000 lumens per tube. I recommend you sign up for my night fishing tips newsletter to get some more detailed information about a quality underwater fishing light. You Will also get some great night fishing tips to help you catch any species of fish at night here’s the link: Bass Fishing At Night
It is no secret that submerged fishing lighting attracts plankton that is a scientific fact. Small bait fish feed mostly on plankton as a food source. And when you can get a concentration of plankton going bait fish will come by the hundreds. If you want to catch bass at night then you need to be able to lure a lot of bait fish into your immediate fish area. Just remember that submerged fishing lights absolutely are useful in attracting plankton which will attract plankton, which will bring in the game fish such as bass to your night fishing location. All you need to do is cast your rigs out close to the edge of your light source and you are ready for an exciting night. When there is bait fish in your area in numbers you better be ready for and exciting bass fishing at night evening because anything can happen when you get bait fish swarming near your fishing rigs.
#2 Surface night fishing lights.
It is very important for your safety that you have a good light source that projects light across the surface of the water. There are two very important reasons for this. As I stated above you need to be safe out on the water. Surface lighting will identify you to other night fisherman and recreational boaters. There are not many out at night but enough to cause watercraft accidents. Manny of these accidents occur because of improper surface lighting. At a very minimum you need to at least have your night running lights on when you are night fishing.
The second reason is to attract insects. Baitfish and game fish will feed off of them when your bass fishing at night. Just make sure you shield your surface light such as a Coleman lantern, so the side facing the boat is shielded to reflect back to the surface of the water. You want the bugs out on the water not all over you!
#3 Pre-Planning is important!
Try to get out on the water at least an hour before night fall and identify the areas you plan to fish for the night. Identify land marks in these areas that can be seen at night. You may end up moving to multiple night fishing locations but having these area mapped out prior to nightfall is very important. If you have a GPS system they are a excellent tool for any night fishing pre-planning just lock in the coordinates for each location and you are set for the night.Do not overlook finding out where the bass are feeding at on any body of water you plan to fish when you decide to go bass fishing at night, this is very important if you want to catch any fish. Just a note, do not pack up and leave your first night fishing location because you do not get any hits in the first hour. The bass’s eyes take about an hour to adjust to the dark and during that time the fish will sit tight until their eyes adjust to the dark.
Live Baits to use For Bass Fishing At Night
It always amazes me that not many bass fisherman use live bait to catch largemouth bass. |I have always wondered why the majority of bass anglers never use live bait to catch bass.You do not need a expensive boat and rod and reels either, many large bass have been caught from the bank using live baits on simple live bait rigs. Some of the largest largemouth bass trophies have been caught using live bait. What is great about fishing with live baits for bass is the limited fishing pressure. Like said before not a lot of bass fisherman use live baits. | I am going to give you a couple tips on two live baits that I have had great luck with catching bass.
If you plan on going fishing during the day our you are looking at a bass fishing at night trip you will want to take golden or striped shiners as a live bait selection. The golden shiner which is sometimes called the striped shiner should be no smaller then 3 inches. You can purchase both types of these shiners at your local bait shop, but if you can catch your own shiners that are local to the area they work much better.
Golden shiners are found throughout the eastern states but they also have migrated to some southern , Midwest and northern states. Though it has been known to reach lengths of 30 cm (12 in), in the wild the golden shiner is usually between 7.5 and 12.5 cm (3 to 5 inches) long. The body is laterally compressed (deep-bodied). The back is dark green or olive, and the belly is a silvery white. The sides are silver in smaller individuals, but golden in larger ones. There can be a faint dusky stripe along the sides. The anal fin is large and has 8-19 rays, while the dorsal fin comprises almost always 8 rays.
There many more great baits that work well for bass fishing at night that we will go into more detail on a separate page at a later date.
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