Post by djkimmel on Jul 24, 2005 17:03:11 GMT -5
I did something I haven’t done in a looonnnnggg time. I went night fishing for bass. Used to do it quite a bit, but the tournament schedules and the lack of ramps to launch from at night have kept me off the lakes after dark for years.
I will start by saying I’d do things different next time. I came home from work Friday about 6:45 PM and finished getting things ready. I raced to Lobdell – first time I’ve launched at Whites Landing, but I was told it was illegal to park in the DNR ramp after 11 PM.
Whites said I could launch and park there over night. So no sleep and I hadn’t really gotten enough sleep all week. The drive home in the morning was treacherous to say the least. Next time, a nap before the all night fishing will be necessary, but it had to be Friday night this time.
The reason – Friday night was calling for a bright, near full moon with no clouds – perfect for night bass fishing – while Saturday night was calling for mostly cloudy skies and possible thunderstorms – not perfect for night bass fishing.
So I launch on a new ramp (with a BIG hole at the end by the way) just before dark and finish putting on a variety of choice night topwater plugs, finishing just as it was too dark to see my knots. I noticed a lot of floating weeds. More disturbingly, I also noticed that it seemed I was on Lake St. Clair if you turned all those wonderful tuna boats into pontoons and small fishing boats.
I had 15 boats pass me after dark in the first half hour including 2 pontoons who’s moronic drivers must have tuna boat blood in them since they ran across points I was fishing – on plane – between me and shore while I was only a cast off shore. Both looked at me like they didn’t know while I may have a problem. Some people are just special, I guess.
I don’t want to dwell on it too long, but there were boats running on plane until 2:30 AM in the morning with no real slow down in traffic until almost 1 AM! That was a lot different from the years ago when I fished on Lobdell at night quite often. I counted 50 boats from 9 PM until 1 AM! Two or three were full of apparent drunks as they did donuts and raced full speed in the dark, around points and bays screaming and yelling like obnoxious idiots. One even kept turning their lights off while running. Impressive to say the least.
So the heavy traffic was a shock, but it may have led me to my first and best spot. I was a little anxious about having a good night of catching since I’m rusty at the night fishing and a little faint of heart when it comes to topwaters, especially in the dark. So I started with a safe standby that could be used to search ‘em out. I started slow-rolling a black spinnerbait with a single Colorado thumper and a black Zoom super chunk trailer. No trailer hook because you need to keep things simple in the dark.
With the bright moon and stars I could see pretty good, but it makes sense to keep things safe and simple at night. So no other rods on the front deck. No lures lying around or hanging with sharp hooks (been there, done that – good thing I had my heavy wire cutters that night in the ER…) and a few spare rods back under the rider’s console sitting low. Pliers and clippers handy along with a headlamp and 2 flashlights including a safe mini-maglight on the belt for reties and unhooking bass.
I really wanted the excitement of topwater despite knowing I’d probably jump out of my skin and have high blood pressure from the anticipation. But the spinnerbait was a safe start to get re-acquainted. On the 2nd point (just before the 2nd pontoon ran over my cast), I felt a decent thump and brought in a 13-inch feisty largemouth. It felt warm. I checked the surface temp and was almost 85 degrees.
I decided to shoot across a narrows that was seeing an ton of on-plane traffic that couldn’t hope to see other boats coming from the sides. There were several small boats out too with little or no lights. I started fishing along a very steep drop thinking that bass might move up from the deep vertical weed edge and get active earlier than shallower weed bass.
I was worrying about my strategy after fishing down a couple hundred feet with no bites, but I noticed a darker stretch kind of in a dead area – meaning no boats racing back and forth near or across it. There was a small opening at the end, but mostly real small boats were going slower through that one less often.
I also remembered a small point that I’ve found small schools on during the day a few times. I was sitting in about 28 feet of water and tossing up about 30 or 40 feet from shore, then slow-rolling the spinnerbait through the tops of weeds when I felt a solid thump. The 15 to 16 inch bass fought hard and jumped a couple times. A few casts later close by, the blades stopped turning and in came a 13-incher. A few casts after that between the 2 bass caught, and a small thump led to a line-stripping high speed battle that ended in a 17 inch largemouth that was an overachiever – something that would seem common tonight – maybe the darkness was amplifying things?
I ended up landing 7 bass there with 3 being definite keepers and possibly 1 more squeeker. I moved down a ways and caught 1 more, but missed 2 hards thumps and 1 tick. That would be a common issue. I actually got 2 of the 7 when I moved back through the same area after moving down. I missed a couple more too. Then things really slowed down.
I went back down the same stretch where no bites earlier. I missed another bass and then caught a keeper. I tried the topwater through the hot spot in the middle period and off-and-on along the rest of the edge with no bites. I kept switching back to the spinnerbait.
As the lake was slowly quieting down, I moved to the next arm from Whites. I used to do real well there years ago, but not lately. I missed 2 bumps or thumps and got another 13-incher on the spinnerbait. Sometimes the bass would come back and hit again, and sometimes I only got one crack at them. These were one-crackers.
I moved back into the end of the lake thinking I’d clean up. I used the topwater a lot. At one point, I threw several for over half an hour. I was in a normally good weedbed. I switched back to the spinnerbait in the same spot and caught another 13-incher on the first cast. I think the bass were trying to tell me something…
I didn’t spend too much time close to shore. I thought I’d get a lot of weeds and if I couldn’t get topwater, the spinnerbait was easier to throw outside the weeds. I stayed mostly in 8 or more feet deep tossing in. I even tried going out into deeper water tossing in the deep scattered weeds. I actually caught several keepers or almost keepers in 11 to 12 feet. Some of those bass hit as my spinnerbait was coming up or almost at the boat! That was always exciting. I lost a lot of those bass because they would jump like crazy and throw the spinnerbait. I bet over the night, I lost 10 bass on jumps with about half looking like keepers.
It was exciting though! I found a small ridge I’d forgotten about and that was the next spot I found a school on. It was surrounded by 11 to 14 feet and came up to 7-8 feet. I think I caught 5 there with 2 being keepers. I moved from there up into shallower weeds and wood. No bites for over half an hour until I moved outside the weeds again, and then caught a keeper and lost one right away.
The one I lost busted my worn out spinnerbait, taking the hook and skirt with it. I hadn’t actually expected the spinnerbait to be so hot (the topwater fever, I guess). I had to rig up another one from parts. I had that nagging ‘it’s not the same exact hot lure’ doubt in the back of my mind, but I didn’t have to wait long before another bass thumped the new lure.
I moved out to an old mid-bay hotspot – a weed ridge coming out of 11 to 14 feet with 8-9 feet on it. I was pleasantly surprised to find it fairly quick. I was noticing a lot more surface activity – lots of smallish fish, but still couldn’t get anything on a topwater. I went back to the spinnerbait and felt one bump it and miss. I moved along the ridge towards a small island and got whacked by another overachiever – a bigheaded long body largemouth about 17 inches.
I figured by now I had caught over 2 dozen bass, lost about 10 on jumps and missed a good dozen more bites – a lot of activity for a night’s fishing and it still was a couple hours before dawn. I didn’t really want to try to put my boat on the trailer on that crooked ramp in the dark.
I circled another island working in and out with only a couple bites. I got to that small grass island in the middle bay of the lake and caught a couple on the spinnerbait staying out from the emergent weeds. I used to see some big ole bass in the small bay near there many years ago, but couldn’t get a bite this time.
It was getting close to dawn and lighter now. I went back around into the first bay along that steep drop again and caught a couple scattered bass. Down near the end on the outside of the hole, I started seeing consistent surface activity by larger fish, but I could not get them to bite whatever they were. It was dawn now and I knew I needed sleep, so in I went and on to home where I slept most of the day away.
As I said, it was a rough ride home so next time I have to have a nap beforehand. And after the constant action and the thrill of the dark, I need to make it soon. I didn’t catch any nighttime hogs like I dreamed about, but what the heck, you can’t have everything all the time, or maybe it would get old… Nawww!!!
I will start by saying I’d do things different next time. I came home from work Friday about 6:45 PM and finished getting things ready. I raced to Lobdell – first time I’ve launched at Whites Landing, but I was told it was illegal to park in the DNR ramp after 11 PM.
Whites said I could launch and park there over night. So no sleep and I hadn’t really gotten enough sleep all week. The drive home in the morning was treacherous to say the least. Next time, a nap before the all night fishing will be necessary, but it had to be Friday night this time.
The reason – Friday night was calling for a bright, near full moon with no clouds – perfect for night bass fishing – while Saturday night was calling for mostly cloudy skies and possible thunderstorms – not perfect for night bass fishing.
So I launch on a new ramp (with a BIG hole at the end by the way) just before dark and finish putting on a variety of choice night topwater plugs, finishing just as it was too dark to see my knots. I noticed a lot of floating weeds. More disturbingly, I also noticed that it seemed I was on Lake St. Clair if you turned all those wonderful tuna boats into pontoons and small fishing boats.
I had 15 boats pass me after dark in the first half hour including 2 pontoons who’s moronic drivers must have tuna boat blood in them since they ran across points I was fishing – on plane – between me and shore while I was only a cast off shore. Both looked at me like they didn’t know while I may have a problem. Some people are just special, I guess.
I don’t want to dwell on it too long, but there were boats running on plane until 2:30 AM in the morning with no real slow down in traffic until almost 1 AM! That was a lot different from the years ago when I fished on Lobdell at night quite often. I counted 50 boats from 9 PM until 1 AM! Two or three were full of apparent drunks as they did donuts and raced full speed in the dark, around points and bays screaming and yelling like obnoxious idiots. One even kept turning their lights off while running. Impressive to say the least.
So the heavy traffic was a shock, but it may have led me to my first and best spot. I was a little anxious about having a good night of catching since I’m rusty at the night fishing and a little faint of heart when it comes to topwaters, especially in the dark. So I started with a safe standby that could be used to search ‘em out. I started slow-rolling a black spinnerbait with a single Colorado thumper and a black Zoom super chunk trailer. No trailer hook because you need to keep things simple in the dark.
With the bright moon and stars I could see pretty good, but it makes sense to keep things safe and simple at night. So no other rods on the front deck. No lures lying around or hanging with sharp hooks (been there, done that – good thing I had my heavy wire cutters that night in the ER…) and a few spare rods back under the rider’s console sitting low. Pliers and clippers handy along with a headlamp and 2 flashlights including a safe mini-maglight on the belt for reties and unhooking bass.
I really wanted the excitement of topwater despite knowing I’d probably jump out of my skin and have high blood pressure from the anticipation. But the spinnerbait was a safe start to get re-acquainted. On the 2nd point (just before the 2nd pontoon ran over my cast), I felt a decent thump and brought in a 13-inch feisty largemouth. It felt warm. I checked the surface temp and was almost 85 degrees.
I decided to shoot across a narrows that was seeing an ton of on-plane traffic that couldn’t hope to see other boats coming from the sides. There were several small boats out too with little or no lights. I started fishing along a very steep drop thinking that bass might move up from the deep vertical weed edge and get active earlier than shallower weed bass.
I was worrying about my strategy after fishing down a couple hundred feet with no bites, but I noticed a darker stretch kind of in a dead area – meaning no boats racing back and forth near or across it. There was a small opening at the end, but mostly real small boats were going slower through that one less often.
I also remembered a small point that I’ve found small schools on during the day a few times. I was sitting in about 28 feet of water and tossing up about 30 or 40 feet from shore, then slow-rolling the spinnerbait through the tops of weeds when I felt a solid thump. The 15 to 16 inch bass fought hard and jumped a couple times. A few casts later close by, the blades stopped turning and in came a 13-incher. A few casts after that between the 2 bass caught, and a small thump led to a line-stripping high speed battle that ended in a 17 inch largemouth that was an overachiever – something that would seem common tonight – maybe the darkness was amplifying things?
I ended up landing 7 bass there with 3 being definite keepers and possibly 1 more squeeker. I moved down a ways and caught 1 more, but missed 2 hards thumps and 1 tick. That would be a common issue. I actually got 2 of the 7 when I moved back through the same area after moving down. I missed a couple more too. Then things really slowed down.
I went back down the same stretch where no bites earlier. I missed another bass and then caught a keeper. I tried the topwater through the hot spot in the middle period and off-and-on along the rest of the edge with no bites. I kept switching back to the spinnerbait.
As the lake was slowly quieting down, I moved to the next arm from Whites. I used to do real well there years ago, but not lately. I missed 2 bumps or thumps and got another 13-incher on the spinnerbait. Sometimes the bass would come back and hit again, and sometimes I only got one crack at them. These were one-crackers.
I moved back into the end of the lake thinking I’d clean up. I used the topwater a lot. At one point, I threw several for over half an hour. I was in a normally good weedbed. I switched back to the spinnerbait in the same spot and caught another 13-incher on the first cast. I think the bass were trying to tell me something…
I didn’t spend too much time close to shore. I thought I’d get a lot of weeds and if I couldn’t get topwater, the spinnerbait was easier to throw outside the weeds. I stayed mostly in 8 or more feet deep tossing in. I even tried going out into deeper water tossing in the deep scattered weeds. I actually caught several keepers or almost keepers in 11 to 12 feet. Some of those bass hit as my spinnerbait was coming up or almost at the boat! That was always exciting. I lost a lot of those bass because they would jump like crazy and throw the spinnerbait. I bet over the night, I lost 10 bass on jumps with about half looking like keepers.
It was exciting though! I found a small ridge I’d forgotten about and that was the next spot I found a school on. It was surrounded by 11 to 14 feet and came up to 7-8 feet. I think I caught 5 there with 2 being keepers. I moved from there up into shallower weeds and wood. No bites for over half an hour until I moved outside the weeds again, and then caught a keeper and lost one right away.
The one I lost busted my worn out spinnerbait, taking the hook and skirt with it. I hadn’t actually expected the spinnerbait to be so hot (the topwater fever, I guess). I had to rig up another one from parts. I had that nagging ‘it’s not the same exact hot lure’ doubt in the back of my mind, but I didn’t have to wait long before another bass thumped the new lure.
I moved out to an old mid-bay hotspot – a weed ridge coming out of 11 to 14 feet with 8-9 feet on it. I was pleasantly surprised to find it fairly quick. I was noticing a lot more surface activity – lots of smallish fish, but still couldn’t get anything on a topwater. I went back to the spinnerbait and felt one bump it and miss. I moved along the ridge towards a small island and got whacked by another overachiever – a bigheaded long body largemouth about 17 inches.
I figured by now I had caught over 2 dozen bass, lost about 10 on jumps and missed a good dozen more bites – a lot of activity for a night’s fishing and it still was a couple hours before dawn. I didn’t really want to try to put my boat on the trailer on that crooked ramp in the dark.
I circled another island working in and out with only a couple bites. I got to that small grass island in the middle bay of the lake and caught a couple on the spinnerbait staying out from the emergent weeds. I used to see some big ole bass in the small bay near there many years ago, but couldn’t get a bite this time.
It was getting close to dawn and lighter now. I went back around into the first bay along that steep drop again and caught a couple scattered bass. Down near the end on the outside of the hole, I started seeing consistent surface activity by larger fish, but I could not get them to bite whatever they were. It was dawn now and I knew I needed sleep, so in I went and on to home where I slept most of the day away.
As I said, it was a rough ride home so next time I have to have a nap beforehand. And after the constant action and the thrill of the dark, I need to make it soon. I didn’t catch any nighttime hogs like I dreamed about, but what the heck, you can’t have everything all the time, or maybe it would get old… Nawww!!!
