Michigan Muskie Alliance

I went out night fishing on Campau last night. My buddy hooked one at about 930 but he didnt get it to the boat. I caught a 13 inch bass on a big in-line spinner at about the same time. We worked in about 7-10 ft deep water around big weed clumps. We spoted about a 33inch fish at 130, and a little one up close to shore. Does anybody have any pointers on night fishing or what I was doing wrong?

Biiigfish,
Just because you didnt score doesnt necessarily mean you did
anything wrong. Keep trying you'll stick one.
One important thing to do is check your lures alot for weeds.
When its dark its a little harder to tell if caught a small weed. I
also troll a little more steady vs moving the boat/lures all over.
I really dont know but I think it would help them catch the lure
in the dark. Good luck man!

Night fishing is much harder because you dont know if you are having follows or not so the confidence can go down quickly. It sounds like you were doing pretty good since you did have a fish on. Like kid said, just because you didn't catch one doesn't mean you were doing anything wrong. Muskies are tough and it is very hard to catch them. What baits were you throwing? I like throwing topwaters and bucktails at night and have heard to slow them down a good amount. I havent down a lot of night fishing so cant be too much help, but keep at it and it will come.

First off start with the right tools, headlamps and large spot lights help a lot. I just had our first trip at night on Lake St Clair and it was awesome. I knew the places that held fish in the daytime so we worked those areas and a little closer. We used towater and inlines but I really like the topwater. There is something about hearing the strike!! I also found myself working the lures too fast. At night you can see the lures and have a lot better sense of how the lures are running. At night it is different.

Figure 8 after every cast!!

Rich

biiigfish32 wrote:I went out night fishing on Campau last night. My buddy hooked one at about 930 but he didnt get it to the boat. I caught a 13 inch bass on a big in-line spinner at about the same time. We worked in about 7-10 ft deep water around big weed clumps. We spoted about a 33inch fish at 130, and a little one up close to shore. Does anybody have any pointers on night fishing or what I was doing wrong?

One thing that sticks out is that you mentioned that you spotted a couple fish. I've always lived by the rule that the more you use lights in the boat the more likely you are to spook fish. Obviously you need to be legal on the water but I'm talking headlamps, spotlights, etc. It really doesn't sound like you were doing anything wrong, some lakes have certain lures that work at night and often it's a matter of finding those lures.

Topraider worked s-l-o-w-l-y

Bulldawg worked quickly!!! LOL!!

Hawg Wobbler The only way you can work them is Real S L O W!!!!!

Steve S wrote:Hawg Wobbler The only way you can work them is Real S L O W!!!!!

Heard great things about them, and have one myself. Never any luck on one tho. I don't use it that much because of that reason - it's painful to work it so slow. The only time it really sees any water time is when I'm heading back to the launch, set the trolling motor on speed 1, and let it wobble behind the boat.

HAHAHAHA... you guys are funny. There isn't a lure that won't work at night surface, cranks, jerks, rubber, bucktails, jigs, etc. it all works. That said, a surface strike at night is about as cool as it gets! As far as speed goes, sometimes more is better and sometimes less is more.

Tallywacker Black. I had my first topwater strike last friday and it was awesome!

Scott, that's my favorite. Mine is so beat up he has a nickname, Mr. Smileyface!! He still get's the job done. Another fun lure to listen to at night is a creeper.

Will Schultz wrote:HAHAHAHA... you guys are funny. There isn't a lure that won't work at night surface, cranks, jerks, rubber, bucktails, jigs, etc. it all works. That said, a surface strike at night is about as cool as it gets! As far as speed goes, sometimes more is better and sometimes less is more.

Topwater sucks!!! LOL!

Jim, there is nothing more fun tan getting one on a topwater!!

Will Schultz wrote:HAHAHAHA... you guys are funny. There isn't a lure that won't work at night surface, cranks, jerks, rubber, bucktails, jigs, etc. it all works. That said, a surface strike at night is about as cool as it gets! As far as speed goes, sometimes more is better and sometimes less is more.

Tell that to the fish on Chicagon That lake is hard to figure out!