Don’t let the summer heat scare you off your favorite lake. When bass just don’t seem to be biting during the day, you might need to change things up. Strap on your night fishing headlamp and head out onto the water.
You’d be surprised at just how many photo worthy bass I’ve landed after the sun went down. With proper planning and a little practice you’ll most likely bring in some of your biggest bass of the year.
Night Fishing For Bass
Why Should You Start Night Fishing for Bass?
In a lot of regions throughout the country night fishing has become extremely popular during the summertime. You don’t have to battle the heat and heavy summer boat traffic, but that’s why I venture out after dusk.
The main reason I love night time bass fishing is because that’s when the real trophies come out. Monster bass aren’t going to be feeding as much during the day when the temperatures at its most extreme. After dark bigger bass are feeding like crazy and extremely predictable. Check Out a Few of My Favorite Night Fishing Lights.
Most of the time I’ll throw in a black single blade spinnerbait to cover a lot of ground fast. Something like Booyah’s Black/Red Moontalker Spinnerbait will work really well. Once I’ve narrowed down my search I’ll switch things up to a classic Black Arbogast Jitterbug.
When Should You Start Night Fishing?
Many fisherman consider night fishing to be a summertime activity, but you can actually start much earlier. Go out during the pre-spawn period when bass start moving into the shallows. As long as the water’s clear and the weather is warm enough to tolerate you can get in some good fishing.
Night fishing during the early season allows you to get out there when bass have their guard down. Some fisherman go out as early as January/February. During the day mature bass tend to shy away from your typical setup, but after the sun goes down they strike without hesitation.
How Do Bass Move at Night?
During the day bass typically stick to heavy cover protecting themselves against predators. That’s why fisherman have so much luck flipping their baits into grass and weed beds. Everything changes once the sun goes down.
Once night time rolls around bass move out of their hiding spots and into open areas. They’re looking to feed on baitfish, cornering them for an easy meal.
Bass Are Less Cautious at Night
During the day most bass will hold tight to their cover when a boat approaches. Nighttime bass are going to be out hunting. While they’re still going to try and avoid boats. They’ll typically continue to feed parallel to vegetation and structure.
Bass Love Lighted Docks and Manmade Structures
I’ve always heard that lit up docks are high percentage fishing areas, but I didn’t realize just how effective they were until I replaced the old broken light on my dock. Lights are going to attract the biggest fish at the top of the food chain. I brought in some of the biggest largemouths I’ve ever seen.
Bring Your Own Night Fishing Light
You don’t need a lighted dock to up your night fishing game. It doesn’t cost a lot to install a cheap underwater blue fishing light on the back of your boat.
I do a lot of fishing on my small jon boat and instead of a permanent light mounted to the back of my boat I use a cheap submersible fishing light. For the past couple years I’ve been using this Lightingsky Underwater Fishing Lamp. Just drop it in the water and attract a ton of baitfish luring in those trophy bass.
Consider Fishing in The Dark
Some fisherman don’t like using any type of light when fishing at night. They think it scares away the biggest bass. Personally I’ve never had any issues using my light, but to each their own.
Without a light you’re going to want to slowly work a jig or soft plastic worm off the bottom. It’s going to be harder to make accurate casts so stick close to the boat working the bottom.
Only Fish Clear Water
When the water is clear and it’s warm enough to fish you should be out on the water. Some of my most successful fishing days I’ve shown up at midnight and left at dawn. I’ll normally call it a day when other anglers start to show up.
Don’t even bother night fishing during the rainy season. Spring rain knocks up all the mud dirtying up the water. With only the moon and a few flashlights to light up the water you won’t have a lot of luck in dirty water.
During The Spring Move into The Shallows
The best time to fish at night is during the spring spawn when bigger bass start moving into the shallows. During the spawn bass are extremely predictable moving into their spawning beds.
They’ll be chowing down on crawfish and bluegill trying to fatten up for the spawn. Bass will gobble up just about anything during the spawn, but I’ve had a ton of luck fishing Berkley Chigger Craw’s and basic 7-10″ Powerbait soft Plastic Worms(love the dark reds and blacks).
Night Fishing For Spring Bass
Night Fishing during the spring is going to be a little different than during the summer(thankfully it’s a lot easier). Just pick a spot adjacent to shallow water that’s likely to attract grass. Normally I’ll stick to mid depth grass lines and underwater structure.
Hold in one spot for a while even if you aren’t having a ton of luck. During the spring water temperature is just about perfect. Larger bass tend to move around a lot searching for their meal. Fish a bigger lure and when you finally get a bite he’ll probably be big.
Summer Night Fishing For Bass
During the summer you’re going to have to change up your tactics. Instead of sticking to one spot you should try and cover a lot of water. Big spinnerbaits like Booyah’s 3/4 oz Moontalker work really well. It covers a lot of water fast and it’s big enough to deter smaller bites.
Most nights I’ll start off fishing along the shore right next to underwater vegetation. You’ll find a lot of big bass feeding around grass and structure after dark. Wherever you find schooling bait fish you’re bound to find a big fat bass.
Different Phases of Summer
As the weather changes throughout the summer bass habits are bound to change. Most fisherman like to divide the summer into three phases, early summer, midsummer and late summer.
Early Summer: The early summer is going to be right after the spawn when bass start to leave the shallows. After a long hard spawn they’re going to be feeding like crazy. To weak to move into deeper water they’ll feed heavily along the edges of the shallows.
Midsummer: During the middle of the summer the thermocline starts to develop pushing bass into deeper water. You’ll normally be able to fish suspended schooling bass right up until dark. After dark you’ll want to fish anywhere that has a little bit of cover without being overly deep. Focus on shallow water structure, grass lines, points, rocks and uneven surfaces.
LateSummer: During the late summer going into fall things start to get a little bit tricky. August and September are notoriously finicky months with a combination of extreme heat and chilly nights. Bass tend to move towards thick cover and heavy grass.
How Does the Moon Affect Night Time Fishing?
For ages fisherman have noticed the moon plays a significant role out on the water. Everybody knows that the moon affects the tides, but it also lights up the water and casts shadows for cover.
Full Moons Offer Better Fishing
Everybody loves fishing a full moon. Bass start to get really active biting everything you cast their way. Bright moons allow the bass to see more clearly allowing them to get a little more aggressive.
They’ll venture into deeper water to feed making it easier for you to find them. The only downside is bass tend to be smaller during the summer and you’ll start to see more fisherman out on the lake. They haven’t started putting on their summer fat.
What’s The Best Night Fishing Lure For Bass?
After the sun goes down bass can see about half as well as they can see during the twilight hours. You’re going to want to stick to lures that offer a little bit of shine or noise.
On brighter nights with full moons you can use anything that works well during dawn or dusk. On darker nights you’ll want to stick to lures that have a little bit of noise behind it. Stick to lures that have a little bit of rattle and movement. In extremely clear and calm water subtle noises will work best.
My 4 Favorite Night Fishing Lures
Topwater Lures
Topwater lures are by far my favorite night time fishing lure. There’s nothing like the sound of a big bass jumping out of the water.
You can use poppers, frogs, prop baits, and just about anything else that will make a little bit of commotion out of the water. Very few lures will bring in night time bass like a good buzzbait.
I’ll start off most nights throwing out a Black 1/2 oz Strike King Premier Plus Buzzbait. Bass don’t see as well during the night and a noisy buzzbait really draws in confident bass. Check out a few of my other favorite topwater lures below.
Oversized Soft Plastic Worms
Leave your itty bitty 4-7 inch worms at home and opt for the larger sizes. Bigger worms are going to bring in the biggest bass. A 10″ Powerboat Power Worm is big enough to deter small bites, yet it will still attract larger bass.
Fishing a soft plastic worm is a simple as tossing it around docks and other structure. Just setup a Texas Rig and drag it along the bottom, feel free to throw in a few hops every once and a while.
Single Blade Spinnerbait
After the sun goes down toss out a spinnerbait to cover a lot of water fast. Opt for a single Colorado blade like you’d find on this Moontalker Spinnerbait. With limited vision at night the large blade will really help bass key on your spinnerbait.
Spinnerbaits will really bring in a ton of medium-large sized bass. The only downside is there seems to be an upper limit to the size you can actually catch. If you’re going after monsters stick to working the bottom with a Jig or soft plastic worm.
Make large arcing casts slowly retrieving your spinnerbait keeping it in your strike zone as long as possible. Use smaller 1/4 oz spinnerbaits when working higher in the water column and larger 1/2 oz-3/4oz lures deeper.
Jigs
Jigs work just as well during the night as they do during the day. When you aren’t having any luck working the surface throw in a Dark Colored Terminator Jig and work the bottom.
When fishing the bottom with a jig you’re going to want something heavy. Stick with a darker colored 3/4 ounce jig, big enough to disrupt the bottom. Pop the jig a few times on the bottom for quick reaction strikes.
Darker Nights Need a Little Bit of Noise
Any lure that works during the dusk and dawn hours is going to work well during the night time. You don’t even need to change up your color pattern. The only time you should change things up is on extremely dark nights.
On dark nights you’re going to want to choose a lure with a little bit of noise. Most anglers prefer some type of rattle presentation on cloudy and moonless nights. Irregular actions are also going to draw a lot of bites.
When visibility is low bass rely primarily on sound and vibration before they strike. Most of the time subtle presentations are going to work much better on clear calm water.
Anchor Around Productive Structure at Night
Most fisherman prefer anchoring around structure that they know produces big bass. Keep an eye out for fallen trees, stumps, lily pads, underwater vegetation and seedbeds and well lit docks. When you find a key fishing spot throw anchor and wait for the fish to come to you. Don’t chase them and scare off your catch.
During the summer twilight hours offer fat bass excellent feeding opportunities. So go anywhere that attracts small baitfish. Keep an eye out for the bluegill spawn and shad spawning areas.
Throw Two Anchors
Personally I prefer throwing two anchors when holding around structure. Throw one anchor off the front of your boat and another off the back. This will keep the keep in a precise position offering the perfect casting angles. I like to cast parallel to the structure drawing out the larger aggressive bass.
How To Double Anchor
Double anchoring really isn’t all that difficult. Simply drop one anchor 15-25 feet behind where you want to set. Troll 20 feet forward and drop the other anchor from the bow. Pull yourself back using the rear anchor and slowly release rope from the front. When your boat is finally in position just tie yourself off and start fishing.
Turn Off Your Lights and Sonar
Most nights bass prowl around the edges of structure and grass lines looking for easy pray. Unless the lake is highly pressured they aren’t expecting a lot of movement. Displacing all kinds of water in your boat and shining your lights into the water is bound to scare off even the most confident bass.
Once your anchored try to create as natural of an environment as possible. Turn off your lights and sonar and toss in a worm or jig to work the bottom. If you don’t get a bite continue fishing for 20-30 minutes before you change things up. You could move all around the lake chasing bass, but you’ll have the best action waiting for the bass to come to you.
Lure Color For Night Fishing
After the sun goes down bass lose most of their visibility. Some researchers even claim that they completely lose their color vision. This would lead most fisherman to believe that color doesn’t really matter at night.
Most experts disagree and think that color actually does play a difference at night. They choose browns, greens, yellows and reds based off slight changes in the sky.
Unless fishing is your main job you’ll never learn all the intricacies that go into nighttime color selection.Personally I’m a fan of sticking to the basics. If you don’t know what to use stick to your basic black or white spinnerbait.