Fishing after the sun goes down

[2UNREEL]

Most salmon fisherman are early risers and I know there are some of you that have done some great night fishing. I may be going on an all night adventure real soon and wanted some input on fishing after the sun goes down to around 3am. Is there any suggestions from those night owls out there......

[j1musser]

Bring enough beer!!!!! And a headlamp. Seriously though I want in on this. I have not caught much after that magic moment shortly after sun set. I have tried the whole deal of running the moonshines and other glows but have been SOL.

[Priority1]

I like to be there when the sun touches the water. You hear a sound like sticking a hot poker in a pail of water, and hang on to your A$$. A half hour before and after sunset is MAGICAL.

[GLF]

I have stayed out a couple of times after dark. After about 45 minutes are darkness I stopped getting bites with a full glow in the dark spread. The fish finder was lit up with marks, but nothing would go.

I am curious as to how the all nighters do it also.

[Reel World Fishing Team]

I recall reading that the true night owls don't like the first several hours or darkness because they say the fish need a few hours to adjust to the darkness and don't bite as well until later.

They report they leave between midnight and 2 or 3 in the morning to do their night trolling.

I have noticed this too, that the fish do seem to shut down when it is truly dark, and it seems no mater how early we start they are on the go if there going to go that morning. We used to start fishing between 4:00 and 4:30 am everyday. Now I set my alarm around 5:15 and leave when the coffee is flowing thru the system.

I'm now not a big fan of the evening troll unless the weather has kept me off the water in the morning or the forecast is crappy for the next day, then we will go out. It also depends on the crew I have.

[1mainiac]

Usually I fish after work during the week so I'm always in shortly after dark. And most nights the box is well loaded so no need to stay much longer had 5 on at one time one evening and ended 7 for 10 in 45 min of non stop action. Generally about a hour after sundown it dies till around 1:30 then will pick away at them till around 3 when it starts picking back up for the morning bite. I have never had much luck between a hour after sundown and close to 2 am unless it is a clear full moon evening then all bets are off find the bait ball and stay close to it they will feed all night.

[Just Hook'n]

I used to fish at night (1am) for walleye and had great sucess. I've only heard about it during the full moon for Salmon, though I am sure there is at least someone out there at all times on the big water. Those that I have heard having the most sucess are the full mooners. And then obviously some good glo spoons and the normal pre-sun setup.

[jay d]

we do a few night trips a year.the bite will die down for a couple hours,but 12:00 am to 3:00 am is when we do our best.temp does not seem to matter as much ,the fish tend to move up in the water watch your graph.if you are marking a lot of fish with no takers,try charging lures with flashlight instead of flasher.full or close to full moons are the best for us.good lighting you can turn on and off will make netting big kings a lot simpler,head lamps and flashlights will work but make the task a lot harder.most of all be extreamley carfull,help is a lot farther off at night.i would also recomend a good spotlight .our setup at night is 4 riggers 2 dipsys and 2 cores on boards with marker lights.good luck

[Fishwhisperer]

I've good success fishing at night. I run all Moon Shines. The key is to bring every thing up 20-25' and don't over charge the spoons. The hard part is keeping a fish on the Dipsey out of the cores. It takes a good communication, between the driver and the fisherman on the rod, to run boards at night.

[2UNREEL]

I have read some articles about the night time brown trout fury. I might try to give that a try if I decided to stay out late vs try for some kings that are primarily day time feeders. I have talked to guys years ago that primarily fished at night for kings and have done real well but I have since lost touch with them.

[1mainiac]

Actually Kings are low light feeders they do not feed much in daylight or in darkness they feed in low light conditions such as dawn and dusk. As such a dark cloudy day is usually much better than a bright day. During bright light they tend to go neutral which is why we switch to long line stealth approaches to try and tease them into biting. They need low light conditions to sneak up on the bait fish so short range visability is in their favor. They need to remain unseen as long as possible to eat if the bait can see them it will run which could cause a big fish to use more fuel in the chase then it gains in the meal. Ideally it wants to remain just out of sight of the bait ball and run thru and grab a few on each pass thru. As the water gets clearer and the sun comes up this is harder to do so they tend to suspend and go neutral. Now stick bait right in his face and he may wake up and grab it because they will eat nearly 24 7 but only actively hunt in low light.

[spoonfed]

We fished out of St. joe Frankfort and Manistee after dark, and we hammered them. Ive been out all night in St Joe and boxed out, using moonshines and lighted j plugs. We caught big fish after midnight in frankfort and manistee! Let me know when your going and ill bring the beer!

[Rob]

If I was going to plan a night time fishing trip I would go on a night with a full moon.

[DIRTY DOG]

i agree with randy , all moon shines and nitro's with a few glow plug's .

i also raise every thing up in the water column 10 to 20 ft, and only run 6 to 8 rods in a tite spread.

[GLF]

I forgot to mention that I remove the sliders when fishing in the dark. They become a real hassle. When the fishing is on fire, its one less thing to deal with when you are trying to reset lines as fast as possible.

[ALLEYES]

I have had my best luck at night during the near full to full moon. Running Moonshines and glow spin doctors/glow fly. This year I have some of Church Tackle's Revelators. They have a built in LED,haven't had a chance to use them after dark much yet. But they should do the trick.

[jay d]

i just got one of the chain lights to try,maybe this weekend?

[ALLEYES]

I have one too Jay. I think they will be killer on the eye's after dark.

[dbellor]

Go to the Great Lakes Angler website and click on ask the pro or salmon fishing and find post by cnelson. Or simply ask this same question on that site - he will certainly chime in. He has spent extensive time night fishing for kings and is very willing to share info.

dbellor

Boatname "MOTORBOAT'n"

[GLF Mobile]

Go to the Great Lakes Angler website and click on ask the pro or salmon fishing and find post by cnelson. Or simply ask this same question on that site - he will certainly chime in. He has spent extensive time night fishing for kings and is very willing to share info.

dbellor

Boatname "MOTORBOAT'n"

Thanks for the heads up Don. The purpose of this website is to have discussion here, instead of sending members to other sites.

How about dropping cnelson a message there and ask him to reply here.

Mike

[salmontime]

I agree with running your lures up high. The only fish I've caught when it's completely dark are on green dolphins with glow backs, faintly charged. I run the 100 to 125 feet out, snap them onto a walleye board. The best way is to let them out by using a light drag and then slowly tighten the drag until it stops clicking, this way you here the fish and don't have to rely on seeing the board in the dark. I like to troll slower then too (2mph) and just let than spoon flutter just under the surface. Some hard strikes on that set up.

[dbellor]

No problem - I will advise him of this site. It was unintentional to direct someone elsewhere.

dbellor

[GLF]

Thanks Dion!