night fishing

[carl]

Had a night fish-off last night, and was completly stumped. water temp, 88, air temp 70-75. High humidity with thunderstorms all around us on the horizon. I was thinking with these conditions the fish would jump into the boat. Nope. I started out using various top waters, then 1/2 oz single willowleaf/trailer, then simple ribbontail worms, and swimming jigs. Zero. You folks have any idea what I could have done differently. Thanks, Carl :rolleyes:

[johnnie crain outdoors]

Carl, I would have tried to locate some lighted boat houses or lighted boat ramps. The constant light attracts insects, minnows and bass while it also keeps the lightning effect to a minimum. The bass can tuck away under the docks and the lightning doesn't have much effect. I would have tried a jig and pig pitched way back under the docks, or crankbaits-de-tuned- to swim under the docks.
If those conditions didn't exist I would have went to 30 plus feet of water and fished a purple plastic worm slowly along the bottom. With the conditions you describe I have caught good bass in water in excess of forty feet even at night. Good luck next time, those are tough conditions, I learned looooong ago to never assume fishing will be good. Johnnie

[carl]

Thanks for the reply Johnnie. I was watching Bill Dance's show today and found something. He said just in passing that the slant verticle stripes on his depth finder were suspended fish, since he wasn't moving, no arches. I saw the same thing on mine, but thought they were bubbles, something I got on a DVD on depth finders. Several of my targets were on the bottom in 30' of water, which matches your take. I guess the spinnerbait was too much for them, even though I slow rolled it.Thanks for the feedback. Carl PS. no docks or lights on this water.

[johnnie crain outdoors]

Carl, I think the 30 foot of water with worms might have produced, I don't like doing it in tournaments, but I also don't like getting skunked. Johnnie