Best Night Fishing Lures: Bass Fishing Lures


Fishing those dog days of summer isn’t for the faint of heart. Getting out into the heat and working deep water isn’t for everybody. Who said you had to fish the normal working hours? Some of the best summer fishing is after most of us have already went to bed.

Hitting the lake after Friday night football games are some of my best memories as a child. There’s nothing like reeling in a bass with the moon over your shoulder. Fishing at night doesn’t have to be difficult if you know a few of the best night fishing lures.

What Are The Best Night Fishing Lures?

When the sun goes down flip on your lights and head out to the water. You won’t have to deal with all those pleasure cruisers, jet skis, and early-risers. All those bass that were quiet during the day start heading out to feed. What kind of lures work at night?

Topwater Lures

Just about any type of topwater lure is going to work great after the sun goes down. Most topwater lures are designed to push a lot of water and make a little noise.

Bass can’t really see very well in the dark so they start to rely on their other senses to feed. They start to feel for vibrations, listen for sounds and feel the water move against their body. When they can’t feed by sight they’ll strike just about anything that moves.

With such low visibility topwater lures are going to be your best bet. Plus who doesn’t love hearing a huge bass breach the surface?

A Few of My Favorite Topwaters
  • Buzzbait: There’s just something about a buzzbait that really draws in bites after the sun goes down. Rig up a loud noisy buzzbait and work the water fast. Big noisy buzzbaits seem to work best. (Strike King Premier Plus Buzzbait and Booyah Buzz.)
  • Hollow-Body Frogs: Hollow-body frogs are excellent both from a boat and shore. Hit the shallows right as the sun goes down and work around cover. Pitch your frog around docks, weeds and laydowns. With its completely weedless design you won’t have to worry about getting snagged on cover. (Booyah Padcrasher and KVD Sexy Frog) Check out my post on bass fishing with hollow body frogs.
  • Poppers and Jitterbugs: Both Poppers and Jitterbugs are easy to fish, they push a lot of water and they make a lot of noise. They really are a triple threat after the sun goes down. Plus they’re cheap so most of us already have a in our tackle box. If you don’t do yourself a favor and get the Rebel Pop R Triple Threat and Arbogast Hula Popper Set.

Jigs

Throughout the night bass will start to move throughout the water column. Right as the sun goes down they head for the shallows to feed like crazy, then they try to stay as cool as possible throughout the rest of the night.

Trying to conserve energy and stay cool normally means sticking to the bottom and that’s where jigs thrive. Long arching casts dragging your jig through the strike zone is sure to bring in big bites.

There really is no better bottom bait for night fishing. Stick to large and heavy jigs with oversized trailers. Those big heavy weed guards seem to work the best when working around cover.

A Few of My Favorites

  1. Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover Jig
  2. Terminator Pro Jig
  3. Booyah Boo Jig and Baby Boo

Big Artificial Worms

Doesn’t matter if you’re fishing day or night, rig up a big artificial worm and you’re sure to get a few bites. There’s nothing more versatile than a big artificial worm.

Go with a big 9+ Inch worm in tried and true color schemes. Stick to your basic Green Pumpkins, Watermelon and darker color schemes. Honestly I’ve never found a rubber worm that didn’t work.

Personally I go with the Pumpkin Chartreuse Zoom Magnum Ribbon Tails. They’re affordable, work great day/night and you can get them anywhere. Normally go with either a Texas Rig or Carolina Rig just make sure it’s relatively weedless so you can cover a lot of water fast.

Creature Baits

There’s no questioning my love of creature baits. Work them around cover and draw out those big aggressive strikes. There’s just something about their profile that drives big bass crazy.

When there’s a big full moon I typically trade my worm for a creature bait. There’s just so much light you need to fish like you would on an overcast day.

Texas rig a creature bait and work it around heavy cover. Strike King’s Rage Tail Bug, Rage Tail Craw and Zoom’s Brush Hog are a few of my favorites. They push a lot of water and they’ve got a natural profile that works really well on those bright nights.

Spinnerbaits

When nothing seems to be working and you can’t seem to find any bass, try your hand with a spinnerbait. Work parallel to the bank using a Big Single-Colorado Blade Spinnerbait.

You can really cover a lot of water fast drawing in those big reaction strikes. Most of the time I’ll pair my spinnerbait with a Rage Tail Craw Trailer.

Check Out the video below on adding trailers to your spinnerbait.

A Few Night Fishing Tips

Night fishing really isn’t all that hard when you know where to start. Bass are actively feeding, but they aren’t following their normal summer patterns. What worked for you during the day just isn’t going to work at night.

  • Stick to Cover: When daytime temperatures heat up bass suspend in deep water, but after dark they invade the shallows to feed. So if you can find baitfish you’ll find a ton of bass. Start by looking around cover, docks, tall grass, and laydowns are the perfect place to start.
  • Light Up Your Boat: Some guys like total darkness, but personally I have a few running lights in my boat. While it might scare off some fish the added light will allow you to get off more casts. More casts almost always means more fish. Check out my post on night fishing lights for more info.
  • Watch For Full Moons: Full moons result in increased visibility. So you’re going to have to change up your approach. I like to fish full moons the same way I fish overcast days. Stick to lures that don’t look overly flashy.

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