04-22-2009, 06:11 PM
You can certainly try Carolina rig. I fished some open night tourneys last year and had success on Carolina. Carolina rigs attract more attention to the bait, especially in areas with a silt bottom. Dragging your sinker stirs up lots of silt and that adds visual attraction. The glass beads make a little noise, too, but not a whole lot. I fished a 4" black grub on a 18" leader behind a 3/4 oz tungsten barrel weight and two glass beads. You don't want more than a 12 or 18 inch leader because the bait will be too far behind the noise and silt disturbance.
At night, you have to take extra steps to make the fish notice the lure. Use dark solid colors because they are easiest for the fish to see. Even with extremely low light, a dark silhouette makes the best target. If you're fishing an area with some lights, like a lake with a road next to it and street lights or possibly a good bright moon in a clear sky, try something that they will hit on the way down. A black or dark Senko works well. The fish will see the dark outline very well against the bright sky.
Other than that, you can try a spinnerbait with a Colorado blade in black. I think Strike King actually makes a midnight special or something like that. Its a black spinnerbait with a big, thumping Colorado blade to make a lot of commotion. If you're going to fish a spinnerbait, use a steady retreive and a trailer hook. Its hard enough for the fish to home in on a lure, let alone if you're jerking it or pausing.
And, as with anything... match the hatch (simply put, throw lures that mimic the fish's natural food source).
- In ponds, fish will hammer small/baby snakes that swim the surface at night. Get some dark colored 9"+ worms and rig them weightless. Cast them out and swim them back steady on the surface. I caught bass at night this way.
- In some lakes, alewives become active at night. They'll be nipping the surface at night in schools. Throw a wake bait or some other minnow-type imitation. I bagged a 4.1 pound smallie in a night tourney last year doing this in the middle of an alewife school.
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At night, you have to take extra steps to make the fish notice the lure. Use dark solid colors because they are easiest for the fish to see. Even with extremely low light, a dark silhouette makes the best target. If you're fishing an area with some lights, like a lake with a road next to it and street lights or possibly a good bright moon in a clear sky, try something that they will hit on the way down. A black or dark Senko works well. The fish will see the dark outline very well against the bright sky.
Other than that, you can try a spinnerbait with a Colorado blade in black. I think Strike King actually makes a midnight special or something like that. Its a black spinnerbait with a big, thumping Colorado blade to make a lot of commotion. If you're going to fish a spinnerbait, use a steady retreive and a trailer hook. Its hard enough for the fish to home in on a lure, let alone if you're jerking it or pausing.
And, as with anything... match the hatch (simply put, throw lures that mimic the fish's natural food source).
- In ponds, fish will hammer small/baby snakes that swim the surface at night. Get some dark colored 9"+ worms and rig them weightless. Cast them out and swim them back steady on the surface. I caught bass at night this way.
- In some lakes, alewives become active at night. They'll be nipping the surface at night in schools. Throw a wake bait or some other minnow-type imitation. I bagged a 4.1 pound smallie in a night tourney last year doing this in the middle of an alewife school.
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