NIGHT TIME BASSING
by Rex Chambers

It's late at night, the stars are bright, just a hint of a breeze in the air and the sound of an old owl in the distance. You've dodged the crowds and it seems you're the only one on the water. Most people are asleep and dreaming of what tomorrows fishing trip might bring. But you're there, with the silence of the night and it's just you and the fish at the other end of the line. It's prime time fishing season when an angler is able to find the solitude of fishing at night.

Night fishing is an acquired taste, and for most is out of the question. But if you fish here in the South as I do, it may be best for you to start getting used to night time fishing for this time of year. Some folks think that it's just down right spooky to fish at night, and others view it as dangerous. Heck, they're mostly right. Sometimes it is just a little spooky out on the wide open water all by yourself, and sometimes it gets a little dangerous. But with proper care and common sense it can be down right enjoyable. Not to mention how productive it can be. The possibility of catching the bass of a lifetime on a warm, summer night is very real. Big bass will often move better at night than during the daylight hours. When they are moving, the chance of you catching them increases.

Most seasoned anglers have their "go to" lures for their nocturnal ventures out on the water. Jigs, spinnerbaits and big worms seem to be crowd favorites. Black or dark colors being preferred since it throws off a better shadow under a clear sky. Slow moving "drop blades" or spinnerbaits as daytime anglers call them, fished on points or around brush can get the rod taken away from you by big spotted bass and largemouth alike. The force of a huge Spot on a spinnerbait at night is incomparable to just about any other strike that a fisherman will ever experience.

Some favorite nighttime bass hot spots are around points that have deep drop offs. These points that have shallow and deep water access seem to be favorite hangouts of both spots and largemouth. Lots of these fish will stay deep during the day to avoid the light and heat, and move shallow at night to feed. The fish that are caught twenty feet deep during the day can be taken from four to eight feet during the night. These fish use their sense of vibration and sound in order to feed when it is dark. Putting rattles on lures such as jigs help tremendously at night to give them some sort of sound that the bass can detect.

I've heard the question of how do bass see a lure at night. Well, bass have excellent night vision. They have much denser sets of light-gathering rods in their eyes than we do. Mother Nature has made it so that they can see just as well at night as they do during the day. So don't think that just because you can't see at night, that the bass can't either. Their low-light vision is superior, plus sensory organs such as their lateral line, allows them to locate and feed on bait at night.

For bass, water acts as a superb conductor of sound. Water is much denser than air, so sound travels farther and faster in water. At a distance, bass use their inner ears to hone in on prey. Up close, the lateral line tells them what's potentially edible and moving their way. Ok, enough of the technical jargon that I can't prove. I'll leave all that to the biologists. Back to the meat and potatoes.

For night fishing, keep your baits simple. I prefer a 3/4oz spinnerbait with a #5 Colorado blade. A brown or black Davis jig with a NetBait Paca Craw, or when the water really gets hot, a ten inch plastic worm rigged Texas style. The big drop blade, a big jig and just about any bulky bait will produce that big strike you're looking for. The key is to have confidence in the bait you're throwing and stick with it.

For night fishing, concentrate primarily on shallow water. I concentrate on water 15 feet deep or less. That depth is never set in stone, but works as a good rule of thumb. Brush, rock lines and structure breaks in areas close to the main lake or on main-lake points will offer you the best opportunities for catching night cruising bass. Of course anglers who do not like fishing shallow during the day cannot be expected to like fishing it at night. That is, until they feel that thud, tap, or bone jarring strike from an oversized bass heading for deep water. I have seen many opinions changed and lots of line broken after a night of pitching jigs and dropping blades onto long shallow rocky points.

Bass seem to like the heavy cover when they're not roaming at night and heavy cover means that heavy duty equipment is a must. A quality rod such as a Dobyns Champion Series 703C med-heavy spinnerbait rod combined with an Ardent XS reel, lined with 15 pound SunLine is a must for heavy cover fishing. This set up all but guarantees you that the big bite you get on the other end of the line will end up in the boat.

Big bass choose their living quarters for few reasons. Good cover for the sense of security, and good water with plenty of food sources. They move from one location to another with those conditions in mind. When a bigger bass is hooked, they immediately start to try and find cover. From a submerged tree, a boat dock foundation, or even the cover that you just drug them out of, they'll try and wrap the line against anything close. This is their survival instinct kicking in, and they get more and more instinctive with age. Remember that a big bass didn't get that way by being stupid and biting every lure that passed their way. That's why at night, it's best to work every bait you throw slowly. Making a good slow presentation at night sometimes is the difference between that fish of a lifetime taking the bait or just passing on through.

Water clarity does come into play when fishing at night. Dirty water limits night fishing to a certain point. Muddy-lake bass need bright sunlight to feed efficiently, so they day- feed in very shallow water. Night time dirty-water angling usually is poor for bass. Look for clear to slightly stained water for your nighttime trips for best results.

After dark, shad disperse and are found evenly throughout large areas of the lake (they can't see to school). They may be at all depths above the thermocline, or be concentrated at one depth. A good depth finder will show these scattered shad as clutter. However, a very bright full moon can allow shad schooling, and create fantastic open-water surface bites by the biggest bass in the lake.

Vegetation goes stale at night, emitting CO2 and using up O2. After about midnight, bass often leave weed beds and move into open water adjacent to the beds to have ample oxygen. Try topwaters over deep water, many bass suspend at night. The scattered shad make good silhouettes against the lighter sky and clouds.

Much has been said about rattles at night. Do they work? Yes, when the water is has that dreaded stain to it. But, we all know a bass can sense (hear and feel) very subtle movements. A natural presentation often works better than noise, so stick with the good vibrations of a blade and the jig without all the sound of those annoying rattles.

The most important aspect of nighttime fishing is safety. It's hard to see a floating log or dock debris in the dark. Make sure and keep your boat speed down, keep your boat lights on, and always wear a life jacket. You can forget about the sunscreen, but keep a healthy supply of bug spray on hand. Making sure someone knows where you are and when you plan on returning home is a must. Between the solitude of the night and knowing that you just might get that fish of a lifetime after dark, just might make night fishing become a favorite habit if you'll give it a try.

Rex Chambers site Smithlakebass.com. is dedicated to bass fishing at it's finest. Read articles and fishing tips from some of the best outdoors writers in the nation. Tournament journals, techniques, tournament results, how-to's, bass photos, inside stories on tournament trails and much, much more.