Night Fishing For Crappies

Night time fishing has long been a favorite way to fish for crappie by many anglers for a long time. This is most definitely one of my favorite ways to fish especially during the summer months. The most obvious reason I prefer to fish at night than in the day is that it is cooler. And there is much less boat traffic, swimmers and jet skiers.

Additionally, in some lakes the fish are not that active during the hot part of the day. When the shallow water reaches high temp levels the oxygen levels get low and the fish in this type of water will get stressed and become inactive. This is why some crappie fish in deeper water and deeper cover during the night.

The ideal night-fishing lakes are generally deep, fairly clear and exceed several hundred acres. They are fertile, support abundant bait fish and have a good mix of structure and cover with areas of open water adjacent structural elements.

Study a bottom contour map of the lake. Most summer crappie fish congregate in deep, open water near break lines (areas where there's a sudden change in depth on the lake bottom), so look for elevation markings indicating deep-water ledges, creek and river channels, points, ridges and humps.

While crappie in most prime summer lakes will be near deep underwater structure. Some structures, however, are better than others. Overflowing stream channels are among the best. Start at the mouth of a major tributary, and then troll back and forth across the area, using sonar to follow the edge of the channel drop while looking for humps, points, bends, lines of timber and other structure that concentrates fish. Outside bends and junctions of two channels are great hotspots.

Summer crappie fish also position near pilings and submerged rip rap beneath bridges crossing deep water. Bluffs and steep points also rate high for night-fishing. When moving from deep water to shallower reaches at night, summer crappie fish prefer sticking close to structures leading from one area to the other. Bluffs and points are crappie's after-dark guide lines and almost always prime night-fishing spots.

Make sure to preplan your night fishing trip. Know exactly where you'll fish when darkness falls. Prospect during daylight hours, and be sure you can find each fishing spot after nightfall. You need to take extra precautions to stay safe at night. If fishing from a boat, make sure the proper safety equipment is on board and visible.

If you are fishing at night, you'll need lights. Many different types of crappie lights are available for the night fisherman. All can be helpful when fishing between dusk and dawn, but knowing how to use each correctly is necessary for success. Night fishing lights attract insects which attract bait fish which attract crappie. This isn't an instantaneous process, of course, so give it time to work.

It may be difficult to tell where the crappie are in relation to your lights. So having several rigs in the water can help pinpoint them. Make adjustments to the boat or lights to get positioned over the fish. Set baits at different depths, the key is to get your bait down to where fish are feeding but not beneath or above the strike zone.

Follow the fish. Know where they're likely to be when you start your search. Be safe and have fun.

Give night fishing a try it might become your favorite way to fish. Check out our fishing website: http://www.out-crappie-fishing.com.