Fly Fishing at Night

by **adglife** » June 6th, 2012, 5:04 pm

Hey ladies and gentlemen, I need help.

What pointers do you have for fly fishing at night? As most of you know, I'm after sunfish, bass, and cats. Recommendations on coloration, etc? Topwater or wet?

Help!

by **Rasputinj** » June 6th, 2012, 6:24 pm

Make sure you are in a clear area so you do not need to worry about getting into trees or vegetation. I use larger patterns at night.

by **Wildman** » June 6th, 2012, 6:27 pm

I would wager you would do well with noisy top water flies.

by **clee** » June 6th, 2012, 6:58 pm

I did alot of night fishing back when I had access to Canyon Lake. I only had luck on topwater at dawn and dusk never had much luck in the dark. I used to use yellow wooley buggers and that was the ticket. Also got them on blue and white baitfish patterns. Silver was good too. Rattles helped somewhat but I thought they weren't necessary.

by **k9mark** » June 6th, 2012, 7:56 pm

Get black colored poppers in all sizes. Cast out and let it hit the water and let it sit until there are no more ripples. Strip a loud pop and stop. What for the ripples to stop. Then get ready cause the next strip will will prolly have a bass attack it.

by **briansII** » June 6th, 2012, 9:42 pm

Dark colors that make noise....or push water......or have big profiles, or all of the above. Having said that, a bass will find most flies, if it's in their zone. Last time I checked, small shad/minnows do not wear cow bells around their neck. Bass eat baitfish at all hours of the day and night. Increasing the odds with sound, or vibration can be a good thing though.

Try not to shine light on the water. If your tying on a fly, shine the light away from where your fishing, or use a lower intensity, red lens light(I use a headlamp with that option). Try not to watch Jaws the night before. It gets creepy out there in the darkness.

I have found a "dead period" when the sky goes from dusk, to black. That transition period can be less than an hour, up to a couple hours. Sticking with it can pay off.

Oh, and one more thing. If you have casting flaws(who doesn't), you might be surprised how not being able to see your flyline will effect your cast........negatively. :oops:

briansII

by **WadeK** » June 7th, 2012, 8:22 am

I used to conventional night fish for bass alot (129 logged night entries in 2007 out of 218 for the year after my Divorce).
1)Lights are used only when you don't want to fish that 50' Radius area anymore, even if you're using low intensity red lights.
2) Fish are often very shallow at night. My largest bass, 11.9#, came off the bank to hit my 11" Trout plug 4' out from shore. She was in less than 2' of water.
3)Go BIG at night. That 11" Trout plug had caught over 30 LM bass including 4 over 10#. Only 2 (6.75# & 5.5#) have been caught on it during the day. It had also caught 14 Stripers to 16#. Unfortunately a Striper at Oniel Forebay stole the back half of it. RIP :cry:

4)Walk softly to carry a BIG fish. They are super tuned into vibrations at night. That goes double for wading & tubing.
5)Retrieve all the way to the shore and try not to $* yourself when you get hit at the rodtip. :shock:

6) Usually (not always) a steady slow retrieve is the ticket.

by **Bernard** » June 7th, 2012, 9:07 am

adglife wrote:Hey ladies and gentlemen, I need help.

What pointers do you have for fly fishing at night? As most of you know, I'm after sunfish, bass, and cats. Recommendations on coloration, etc? Topwater or wet?

Help!

The "creepy" factor of fishing at night is always a riot. It energizes you. It can also be sort of funny too.
On a trip years ago with Mikey Wier, Dave Lass and my buddy Joe we would cast out onto a lake and get distracted chatting and joking around. In the headlamp light you'd see someone's line suddenly go taught (we were waiting for flies to sink into a deep lake). You'd see it before your buddy felt it. I guess my only pointer is: Prepare for fun. Hmmmm be careful too. I have a headlamp that has a dimming function (Black Diamond brand of course ha ha ha) so that I can have some visibility without being obnoxious.
B

by **hip** » June 26th, 2012, 11:32 pm

Some of my fondest memories fishing the fly have been at night.
Night fly fishing for Stripers in Montauk is always one of the highlights of the trip.

As for tips like the rest have suggested black is the new black for night fishing. 8-)

jon

by **meb** » June 27th, 2012, 3:49 pm

If possible, I would scout out the area you want to fish during the day. Make sure you know the path and any obstacles that might "attack" you in the dark. Avoid using lights except for finding your way back to the truck. I've never fished for bass at night, but I have had some interesting experiences fishing at night for brown trout.

by **EvGrin** » June 28th, 2012, 9:54 am

Poppers!!!

Fished donner lake a couple nights ago for the first time ever and went 2 for 3 on lakers. Chukin a size 8 chart and white clouser.. First time ever using sinking line too... Each fish was maybe 16inches, but for putting in an hours worth of casting in was very satisfied. Documenting fish at night is pretty difficult too by the way.. bring a buddy for sure and make sure u both have adequate lighting.