Night Fishing resources, techniques, flies, and reports.

[Fish Sticks]

Greetings everyone,

Someone on another forum asked for resources on night fishing for trout. I have been doing 30ish-50ish trips a year 4 seasons a year for maybe about 7 years. Mostly for brown, brook, and rainbow trout. I guess I have been night fishing for a lot longer than that but originally not with a fly rod.

I wanted to post the requested resources and discuss, techniques, flies, and reports on a running basis for anyone interested.

These are my favorite resources.
1.

2.

Night Fishing Archives

Trout after dark, on a fly rod. Night fishing for trout is accompanied by legend. Tall tales are easily masked in shadow, and the truth is dimmed once the sun sets over the horizon. In this category are many tips and tactics to break through the legends. There are also some tall tales.

www.google.com

(Check the trout bitten podcasts too there is a really good intro to night fishing and a mouse emerger one)

3.

(Dvd very helpful)

5. Trout tactics, strip set, and techniques of fly fishing and fly tying by humphreys, daniels, and harvey all have small night fishing sections

6. This article is super quick but pretty spot on in my experience for beginners

Night Fishing Tactics for Brown Trout

Article Written by Mike Komara. Learn More About the Author Below / Article Read Time 6 Minutes Although the night fishing learning curve can be steep due to low numbers of fish and unusual tactics, it can be extremely rewarding when you finally find a trout that goes bump in the night. The...

www.cortlandline.com

Techniques are too extensive to list here because small tweaks often make a difference but alot of it is in the above resources.

I could night fish any stream with 4 flies with confidence but I use more than that.

1. LOW floating mouse (master splinter, bad mother or foam fettuccine marabou muddler) sizes 6-2/0

2. Harvey Pusher sizes 8-2/0

3. Size 4-10 governor soft hackle

4. Black wooly bugger size 2-8

My usual set up is 6wt with glow in the dark cortland WF charged with my UV res light to home made leader 3 ft 40lb-3 ft 30 lb-3 ft 25lb-tippet ring- a 4” strand of 17lb mono to a govenor + a 20” strand of 17lb mono off same ring to size 4-6 foam fettuccine midnight muddler. I start out searching with that no weight and change accordingly based on season’s conditions.


Tell me about your night fishing experiences, techniques that have worked, flies, and about trout and warm water species too. I am trying to get into night time river/creek small mouth too.

 

[jifigz]

Any fly that looks like a bait fish, a shallow, semi featureless channel in the Juniata, a head lamp, a brisk, chilly autumn wind, and walleye. Good times. Smallmouth night fishing is easy-peazy. I haven't night fished in a long time. Heck, I've barely fished at all in 2022, period.


I used to spend a lot of time night fishing for catfish, too. That's always fun.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Oh wow I gotta get out and try some smallmouth around here then. I have night fished for catfish with bait before but never caught one on a fly. People have told me they like wooly buggers?

 

[mtelesha]

Smallmouth Night Fishing: Black is you only color needed. I usually fish a streamer that pushes a lot of water. I also usually use a intermediate line and not a sinking tip. I feel like a full sink line gives me a whole lot less slack. I also will fish top water with a floating line but I have found mid-depth is best for smallies. I target structure close to shore and shallow.

 

[Fish Sticks]

I’ve got some exagerated pushers I’ll probably start with then

 

[JeffK]

Great info - I really like the Cortland article. I don't fish after dark much anymore (not near my favorite spots anymore and too old), but maybe I should give it a try again.

My basic tactic way back when was to notice which shallows held the most baitfish when fishing during the day. These were usually less than calf deep tails of pools on the rivers I fished, less often flats below islands or near the heads of pools (in low summer flows). No predator would be near these shallows during the day, but could often see fish breaking at night. Worked for trout, bass, or walleye depending on river and season.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Great info - I really like the Cortland article. I don't fish after dark much anymore (not near my favorite spots anymore and too old), but maybe I should give it a try again.

My basic tactic way back when was to notice which shallows held the most baitfish when fishing during the day. These were usually less than calf deep tails of pools on the rivers I fished, less often flats below islands or near the heads of pools (in low summer flows). No predator would be near these shallows during the day, but could often see fish breaking at night. Worked for trout, bass, or walleye depending on river and season.

Thats alot of what I do but with crayfish as well added in there. I have go e out at night with just a bright flashlight too and not fished its fascinating what you see and where. Trout were soooooo shallow and didn’t know that particular spring creek had 20” white sucker everywhere in the 6” or less sections foraging at night. if ya get back out there let us know how ya do, tis the season!

 

[Bruno]

The Bashline book is a great read.

 

[chadm]

What do you use to see? Does it spook fish? Do you leave it in or just when moving?

 

[Mike]

What do you use to see? Does it spook fish? Do you leave it in or just when moving?

Most of the spots that I fish I have never seen in daylight and I don’t light most them up when I am done. Catch stocked browns, wild browns, stocked rainbows, and even an occasional 6” wild brook, despite the fact that I use size 4 and 6 wet flies. If fishing a warmwater stream and depending upon the stream I catch plenty of fallfish, sunfish, crappie, rock bass and an occasional SMB or LMB. I don’t use a wading staff; I just feel my way along with my feet, which is pretty standard when electrofishing too. I just walk slower when doing so while fishing as I don’t really want to fall in at night and I don’t want to spook the fish, which are often close to shore and quite shallow. When electrofishing if you have to you can temporarily catch your balance with one of the dip nets.

 

[Canoetripper]

On canoe trips, I would set up the minnow trap first and then see what was in there after the evening meal was cooked. Nothing like "Y" stick fishing after dark at the camp site. I mostly caught cat fish.

Way back in the 1980's, my roommate guided on the Delaware River between New Hope, PA and Trenton, NJ.

We fished at night for Striped Bass when they were spawning. This was a lot of fun. Striped Bass are very aggressive and not lure shy. A 12" Stiped Bass will will hit a 12" Black Bomber plug(similar to a Rapala) just like a 3" smallmouth bass will hit a 3' Rapala.

 

[Fish Sticks]

What do you use to see? Does it spook fish? Do you leave it in or just when moving?

You see a lot of sculpins, crayfish, and trout in the extreme shallows but also some big white suckers and other fish. I have done some warm water and sunfish species at night and rock bass are super aggressive and great night time wet fly catches. Small mouth I have caught at night but im still figuring them out.

 

[Fish Sticks]

What do you use to see? Does it spook fish? Do you leave it in or just when moving?

Use a high powered flashlight and it scares the crap outta everything except the sculpins sometimes. Never fish the spot illuminate same night I shine the light. Its more of a check what I couldnt get to take or what was surrounding my presented fly. I will make sure i got dowstream and shine upstream so next hole is not spooked.

 

[JoeE]

I would not call me a night fisher by any means. However, before daylight (0400 to 0600) logjams with straight 20lb test, a stiff bamboo rod and a 4 to 5” sculpin. I do like to fish if I get to a stream early. That is, if I know the stream, if not a nap is okay as well 😀.

 

[Fish Sticks]

With my usual night fishing trout streams being too warm I have been doing a lot of night fishing down on the susky from middle town to Bainbridge and the swatty. Had some luck with smallies but wayyyy more luck with rockbass on wet flies cast and hand twisted in in the slow water and swung then hand twisted in for current. Id love to learn some nice shallow wadeable stretches of lower penns and try night dishing that for smallies. My problem is i am limited to night fishing the same 5-6 streams because my day time to “research” new night water for effectiveness and saftey purposes is next to nil with alot of my work and family responsibilities.

 

[Peyton]

I've only night-fished ponds for bass. poppers work around weeds but I find dragon tails work great for bass, even crappie will hit them at night.

 

[Fish Sticks]

I started night fishing for bass on golf course and development ponds when I was a freshman in highschool and i’d do it with my friends multiple times a week all summer long. Id also night fish the beach on summer trips to cape may as a kid for sea trout. Have always loved fishing at night. You never see another human being.

 

[Peyton]

You never see another human being.

until you do, that's never fun. luckily it was a police officer so I felt safer fishing that spot.

 

[Fish Sticks]

until you do, that's never fun. luckily it was a police officer so I felt safer fishing that spot.

Lol ive had 4-5 run ins with police. Even though i was on public land they thought I was a cat burgler or something until they saw the rod.

 

[salmonoid]

Am curious - for anyone that fishes a pusher fly, how do you avoid massive line twist? Maybe it's the way I tie them but mine end up with a massive line coil after just a few casts.

I had one park ranger go past me one night when I was fishing at a bridge and about a tenth of a mile down the road, he whirled around and came back. Saw I was fishing, said hello and carried on. So if you want to be a cat burglar, just carry a rod..