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Rediscovering night fishing

1K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  pmflyfisher 
#1 ·
I got out for an hour last night in Duxbury. I heard there were full size pogies and 40" fish in the harbor on Thursday. Nasty weather forecasts for the weekend motivated me to get out and do a little nightime shore fishing. My usual morning yak fishing was sure to be a blow out as a NE wind makes for some nasty water in Plymouth. First cast I hook bottom and my leader breaks just above the nail knot, not a good start but I'm armed with one of those big needles Juro turned me onto.. 5 minutes later I'm back in biz. A black snake fly does the job with a keeper (released ) and a 2' schoolie. Not content with the size I move on and check out the rest of the area, no dice. By 11:30 it's blowing pretty good and I call it a night.

I used to do most of my fishing at night (pre flyfishing) and I think I'll do more of it in the late season this year. Since I've used up most of my fishing passes with the wife, fishing at night might extend my season. I prefer the action that dawn and dusk bring but the window of opportunity is getting much smaller, I can hardly make it into the water before dark now.

How many of you fish at night? Let's hear some stories.
 
#2 ·
...Fishin' at night...

...wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so dark!

Jim...Get some arc welding goggles...You'll be able to go night fishing anytime you want!

I've got a few friends who fish the Watch Hill/RI beach areas and they wouldn't dream of fly fishin' during daylight hours...as the summer progresses, they begin to take on the pastey look of coal miners.

Next season I plan on many more after dark sorties...there are some areas around the Barnstable Harbour and Brewster flatzz that seem well suited to nocturnal endeavours.
Weshallsee!
 
#3 ·
Was out on a treacherous lake michigan break wall two weeks ago in the dark just before dawn looking for king salmon cruisers. Luckily the waves were low and the very LARGE break wall rocks were dry. Even at that it was dangerous traversing them in the dark. Can't imagine being out there in pitch dark without having a high probablity of injuring myself while waving my spey fly rod around. If the waves are breaking through and wetting them down "fuggedaboutit". Those east coast AO rock jetties are just as bad as I recall.

Think all I will try going forward is the beach surf and the river mouth channel which are light gravel and sand and much less risky.

Guess I am getting more prudent and risk adverse as I age, even if it means I am going to catch less fish. :(

Be careful and carry a cell phone at night, when no one is around to hear or see you in distress.
 
#4 ·
...lets see...

'Got the rod, flys, light...and 9mm with lazer sight! Check your six!

I can't get over all the "luminescent" critters...and the ability of hungry consumers to lock on to a fly in the surf at night!
 
#5 ·
If it weren't for albies, I'd rarely fish saltwater in the day time. If the day time weather isn't gonna be heavy cloud cover, preferably with rain, I don't believe it's worth the effort to fish for stripers much past sunrise. Of course there are exceptions, heavy bait concentration, deep water, plentiful white water, and I know bass cruise the flats at times, but for me, night time is the right time.
I don't keep a journal any more, but by combining my old records and my memories, I can say with confidence that 95% of all the bass over 20 lbs I've ever landed were hooked in the dark. The other 5% were mostly all hooked right at sunrise or on very cloudy days.
No doubt flyfishing in the dark, especially in the surf, is challenging. And obviously the darkness presents safety issues which can not be ignored. But for the persistent flycaster, these difficulties can be overcome, even turned to advantage. For example, for guys like me who cherish solitude and elbow room, the night shift offers relief from the weekend warriors and white bucket brigades. Another advantage which starts out as a real deterent is casting difficulties. You don't appreciate how visual casting is 'till you try it in the dark. I used to practice by casting in the day time with my eyes closed. Eventually you develop a feel for it that can actually improve your casting even in the daytime. Learning to sense when the rod loads up and when to stop the back cast is important.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'm a great caster! In fact, far from it. But that brings me to my next point - nightime stripers feed right in the wash! You don't need to cast far. On numerous occasions I've hooked bass at night with the nail knot to my leader almost in my top eye. One of my very favorite things in life is the heart stopping explosion of a cow bass slamming a fly right at your feet in the dark!
 
#6 ·
night fishing rules... there are few things sweeter than wading in the dark of night and hearing BIG bass slurping away on the surface...but being in the yak is pretty cool too....just need to get some more waypoints in so I can do it from the boat more often.

-j
 
#8 ·
Yeah, those infra red glasses like in "Patriot Games" which the IRA had, would be cool, to go out to the beach fly fishing the surf with..

Not these days though, the police and swat teams and US army etc would be on me quick out here.

We have a number of power plants on south lake michigan that are targets and have increased security on them now. Some are now totally off limits to the public. Their warm water discharges are trout and salmon magnets in the winter time, brings them and the bait fish into feed. Cuts down on our prime water until this terrorist risk is over with, and that may be a long long time I am sorry to say.

:(
 
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