Summer fishing after dark

RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — During summer, you can catch fish during daylight hours, especially during cloudy periods or when water is muddy.

But for many species, such as catfish, white bass, largemouths, stripers and crappie, the odds of success often improve if you fish the hours between dusk and dawn.

During hot weather, many fish work the late shift, and anglers should, too. These tips can help.

Plan for action

Always prepare for the unique conditions encountered when night fishing. Make sure your boat’s running lights are working properly. Carry a flashlight or spotlight to signal your presence to other boats. Wear a life jacket and kill switch.

Organize your gear before leaving home. Clean out unnecessary equipment. Have rods and reels ready to go. Organize your tackle box. Carry anchors, insect repellent and marker buoys to pinpoint fishing hotspots.

Plot the right spot

Know exactly where you’ll fish when darkness falls. Scout during daylight hours, be sure you can find each fishing spot after nightfall, and watch for obstacles to avoid. Any lake or river you normally fish during the day should make an excellent nighttime prospect. In fact, the more familiar you are with a body of water, the better chance you have of scoring at night.

Light the night

Most night fishermen use lanterns and sealed-beam lights. The lights attract insects and plankton, the invertebrates attract baitfish, and the baitfish attract fish eaters like bass, catfish and crappie.

Use two hanging lanterns positioned on the same side of the boat so insects don’t fog around your head. Hang them close to the water from a bracket or tied to overhead objects. This provides light for tying knots and unhooking fish.

Sealed-beam lights come in floating or submersible models. The light concentrates baitfish and game fish. Position each so you can fish in or around the beam.

Place lights near fish-attracting structure or cover, and be patient long enough for the light to attract insects, then baitfish, then game fish, a sequence that may take an hour or more. Prime night-fishing spots include inundated humps, fish attractors near piers and docks, bridges over deep water, and creek- and river-channel drop-offs.

Bank on it

Bank fishing can be as productive as boat fishing after dark. Find a clean shoreline with access to water with enough cover to attract night-feeding game fish. Carry a lantern to light your fishing area and a fishing combo you can cast as far as possible. Ponds are especially good for night fishing and often give up lunkers. Fishing piers also are excellent night-fishing spots.

Dark-side bassin’

The Arbogast Jitterbug and Heddon Crazy Crawler have long been favored enticements for nighttime bass. Cast to edges of aquatic vegetation or timber. Retrieve at a speed that produces a pronounced wobble and loud gurgle.

When fishing with a buddy, try this. One angler casts a crawler and starts retrieving. The other angler casts just behind the first, and works his crawler just behind the front runner. Bass often swirl at one lure and miss but will strike harder at the second lure and get hooked. Rotate positions occasionally so both anglers enjoy the action.

Lineside tactics

Stripers, white bass and hybrid stripers often prowl shallows at night, feeding on spawning shad. Catch them by “walking the dog” with a top water plug like the Zara Spook or Cotton Cordell Pencil Popper. Cast the lure near the bank and then retrieve it using a walk-the dog action created by quick snaps of the slack line. Linesides sometimes follow the lure all the way to the boat before striking. When they hit, it sounds like someone dropped a boulder in the water. This is an exciting, effective way to fish.

Cats

When night-fishing for catfish, many helpful products let you know when a cat takes your bait. These include night bobbers (special floats with a light on top powered by a cyalume light stick or lithium battery); rods with glow-in-the-dark or fluorescent tips; rod bells, which clip on and ring when a catfish shakes your pole; and electronic bite indicators, which attach to your line and emit an audible signal when a catfish runs with your bait. Try these while soaking a bait such as chicken liver, night crawlers, cut shad or a live sunfish on the bottom near structure or cover.

Crappie buffet

Jigs and minnows are the best crappie baits, day and night. But it pays to vary the menu for discriminating nighttime diners. For example, if crappie are feeding on shad attracted to your lights, shad caught wit h a dip net or cast net may out produce minnows . If swarms of mayflies fog around your lights, catch some and try them for bait. Among artificials, small jigging spoons and spinners compete with jigs. When allowed to fall on a slack line through schooling baitfish beneath your lights, they’ll quickly garner a bite from opportunistic crappie.

In summer, fish bite at night everywhere they’re found. The key to catching them is knowledge of their summer habits and versatility. If one location or tactic doesn’t work, try another. If that doesn’t work, try again. Sooner or later, you’ll discover the true joys night-fishing offers.