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10 Tips - Night Fishing with Lures
By Justin Willmer
As the days begin to get a little shorter, in terms of daylight hours, I am more frequently asked if lures work at night. Night fishing allows anglers to make the most of short windows of time, fish around work and beat the crowds, often having the water to themselves. My first point to anyone fishing at night would be safety first. Make sure you are visible to others, carry a decent headlamp or light source, a fully charged phone in a waterproof container and let someone know where you are going and when you expect to return. Now, back to the question of do lures work at night, definitely yes! Let's look at some tips for lure fishing at night and some key points to consider.
Artificial Light
Freshwater species often hunt actively at night, eating all manner of aquatic creatures and terrestrial creatures that have found themselves in the water. Although some freshwater anglers focus their attention around the full moon, which can be a peak bite period in the fresh, you will still find freshwater species feeding on a pitch black night. Now I'm not saying that saltwater fish won't feed on a dark night, however one of the most effective areas to target saltwater fish at night is around artificial light.
Artificial light can be in the form of jetty, pontoon and boat ramp lighting, street lighting, bridge lights and even boat lights, especially those mounted below the water. These lights create shadows and shadow lines from which predators can ambush their prey, increase the visibility for fish to feed effectively and they also attract bait, such as baitfish, prawns and squid. Kick off your night fishing adventures around some artificial lighting and you increase your chances of success on many target species.
Find the Bait
Regardless of the type of fishing you are doing, there is an old saying 'find the bait, find the fish' and this links to the above point. Areas lit by artificial light will attract bait and in turn attract predators. If an area with artificial light isn't holding bait, it may be less likely to attract predators, so remember to try a few different areas until you find the bait. Likewise you will find bait holding in areas without artificial light and where you find this bait, you will often find the predators. Common areas that hold bait include structure, along with eddies and current breaks created by this structure.
The areas that hold bait in the daytime will often be the same areas that hold bait at night, so make note of these areas and return to them after dark. You will also find other areas holding bait at night where there is too much boat and human traffic during the day and these areas can also attract a variety of species after dark. We have had good night sessions under the boardwalks of waterside shopping centres, along with fishing around bridges, pontoons, jetties and walkways where fish spook during the day due to traffic. A simple pipe that feeds water in and out of a lake or canal can also be a focus point for bait and in turn predators.
Structure & Food
Tying the first two points together, we are looking for structure and preferably structure that is attracting and holding bait. Structure can be manmade, such as rock walls, boat ramps, jetties, pontoons, boats, bridges and pipes, or natural, such as mangroves, timber, weed beds, rubble patches, rock and changes in bottom depth and material. Once you find different structures in the area you fish that are holding bait, the easier it becomes to predict other areas nearby that will also be holding bait. Remember that at different times of year, dependant on region, different structures and systems will hold different bait. Learning what structure attracts what bait and when, such as prawns, yellowtail pike and squid, can dramatically increase the productivity of your sessions.
I also added the 'structure and food' point to make note of another food source that can work in your favour when targeting fish at night. Think about areas that you fish where people may discard old bait and fish frames at the end of their fishing day. This is another reason why boat ramps, jetties and public pontoons attract fish at night. These fish are cruising in to see what the people have left for them today, or what bait is being attracted by the dumped fish frames and leftover bait. Likewise I have caught plenty of fish around waterfront restaurants and dining precincts, sneaking around below and casting to disturbances as the fish are fed from above.
Target Species
Considering what target species will be available at night will also see you catch more fish than just randomly selecting a lure and casting. Freshwater favourites at night include bass and barramundi, while in the salt the list would include bream, mulloway, flathead, barramundi and mangrove jack to name a few. Considering your target species will assist you when it comes to selecting locations, tides, moon phases and lure profiles. It also allows you to consider other species that may be on offer, giving you the opportunity to throw a few bream or flathead lures in with your night fishing kit for mulloway.
Once you have decided on a target species, you can now research the species further, consider what it likes to eat, suitable lure profiles, night fishing locations, tides and so forth.
What Lure?
When it comes to lure selection 'match the hatch' comes into play and if the fish are eating small baitfish - throw a paddle tail plastic, crabs - select a craw or creature bait, or prawns - select a prawn imitation. The theory here is to match the profile and action of the bait that the fish are feeding on. When the cicadas and Christmas beetles are around, the bass are often feeding off the surface and a ZMan 2.75" Finesse FrogZ or ZMan 3" MinnowZ rigged on an unweighted TT Lures ChinlockZ jighead and buzzed across the surface can attract some brutal surface explosions.
The other theory for night fishing is that it's all about lure action and that plenty of action equals plenty of attraction, which in turn means more bites and fish. By having more action the lure creates more vibration and 'noise' underwater, which makes it easier for the fish to zone in on and eat. As you move away from the light and the conditions become darker, this action often becomes more important. This sees lures with plenty of action, such as paddle and curl tails, becoming night fishing favourites. When it comes to species that feed off the surface, such as bass and barramundi, the range of ZMan FrogZ have also proven deadly, creating a surface disturbance as they are retrieved, which leads to some brutal surface strikes.
Here's a handful of species and a few ZMan plastics that are popular for each (you can find a jighead selection guide for these plastics on the 'Rigging Guides' section of the tackletactics.com.au website) -
Bream - 2" CrusteaZ, 2" and 2.5" GrubZ, 2.5" Slim SwimZ, 2.5" TRD CrawZ.
Flathead - 2.5" GrubZ, 2.5" and 3" Slim SwimZ, 3" MinnowZ, 4" DieZel MinnowZ, 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ, 3.5" EZ ShrimpZ.
Mulloway - 3" MinnowZ, 3.5" EZ ShrimpZ, 4" DieZel MinnowZ, 4" StreakZ Curly TailZ.
Mangrove Jack - 3" MinnowZ, 3.5" EZ ShrimpZ, 4" DieZel MinnowZ, 2.75" Finesse FrogZ.
Bass - 2.5" GrubZ, 2.5" and 3" Slim SwimZ, 3" MinnowZ, 2.75" Finesse FrogZ.
Barramundi - 3" MinnowZ, 4", 5" and 7" DieZel MinnowZ, 4" and 6" SwimmerZ, 3.5" EZ ShrimpZ, 4" Pop FrogZ, 4" Hard Leg FrogZ.
Murray Cod - 4", 5" and 7" DieZel MinnowZ, 8" Mag SwimZ, 4" and 6" SwimmerZ, 4" Pop FrogZ, 4" Hard Leg FrogZ
Lure Colour
Does lure colour matter at night... that one will cause some discussion and disagreement, however from my experience I have found that the brighter the artificial light, the less colour is a concern, so just fish your favourites. As it gets darker more solid, darker silhouette colours seem to get the bites more often and the theory is that they are easier for the fish to locate in the water column, thanks to the more prominent silhouette. Again, some of the importance of colour can likely be negated by the amount of action created by the lure.
The other question that I get asked is 'what about glow soft plastics' and the answer is again, yes they get eaten... but I don't know if it is because they glow. ZMan have a selection of plastic colours that 'glow', can be charged with a torch, including Glow, Pink Glow, Nuked Chicken Glow, Coconut Ice Glow and Nuked Pilchard Glow, and I know some anglers that utilise this characteristic at night, charging the plastic with a headlamp or torch and then making a dozen casts before charging it again.
Personally, I have caught fish at night on soft plastics that glow, however I have caught loads more on soft plastics that don't, so I would place more emphasis on other factors, such as silhouette, action, location and retrieve techniques. In saying that, I always encourage people to try things and that's how we discover new fisheries, viable target species, techniques and more.
Technique
When it comes to the best retrieve at night... the best retrieve is the one that gets the bites on the night, so make sure you mix up your retrieve until you find what works. Work your lure close to structure and bait, fish it from the shadows into the light and if you're still not getting bites, slow things down.
Weedless Rigging
If casting accuracy or snagging is an issue, especially when fishing on very dark nights, weedless rigging is an option that can allow you to fish with less fear, get the lure right in close to the structure and get more bites. The advantage of the 10X Tough ZMan ElaZtech plastics is that they are super-soft and flexible, allowing them to be rigged over and over again, minimising tearing when the fish strike and importantly, they also clear the hook very easily on the strike for a positive hook set, which can be a problem with traditional soft plastics.
Surface rigging can be achieved with the TT Lures ChinlockZ and ChinlockZ SWS range of jigheads, while weedless sub-surface fishing is made simple with the range of ChinlockZ SWS, SnakelockZ and NedlockZ EWG jigheads. Even if you can't see anything, you can still cast a weedless rigged plastic in there and fish it back out.
Scent
I always add Pro-Cure Super Gel scent to my soft plastics every 30 or so casts and believe this is even more important when fishing slowly and in tougher conditions. At night fish will be relying on all of their senses to locate and attack prey, and I believe that scent is an important part of the recipe, especially if fishing slowly. A common recipe that many use is a baitfish scent such as Mullet or Sardine / Pilchard on paddle tails, a crustacean scent such as Saltwater Yabby / Nipper or Shrimp on crustaceans and creature baits, and on the curl tails any of the aforementioned or Bloodworm. I would be happy to have any of the range of Pro-Cure Super Gel scent flavours on my plastic though rather than no scent.
In terms of applying scent, I like to add a small squirt to each side of the plastic, near the jighead and then smear it right down to the tip of the tail or claws with my fingers. Scent is ideal for masking foreign scents on your hands, such as fuel, sunscreen and bug spray, while also attracting fish and triggering strikes. If you can get the fish to hang on a split second longer, it gives you more time to set the hook. Fish on!
Other Senses
Night fishing can heighten your other senses, such as hearing and touch, which can make for some adrenalin pumping moments when a fish hits the lure hard or explodes on your surface FrogZ. Remember to utilise these other senses to their fullest. Listen for what is going on around you, including bait movement, water movement, actively feeding fish and other clues that may assist you in terms of what to cast, where to cast it and even where not to cast it. Touch or feel also becomes more important in the dark as you focus on where you're casting, how you're retrieving, how the lure is reacting, any structure the lure is bumping, and any attention that the lure receives from fish. The more you fish at night, the more automatic things will become, much like navigating your own house in the dark.
A couple of additional things to remember when fishing at night include, keeping the noise to a minimum, especially banging around in the boat as the noise will transfer long distances through the water, and also shining additional light on the surface of the water. I remember fishing with a couple of anglers who almost punched on in the boat because one kept shining the headlamp onto the water and also into the eyes of the other angler when speaking to them. Waterways can be pretty quiet at night, so utilise the stealth factor.
Whether you're fishing in remote areas or in the middle of the city there will be opportunities to catch fish on lures at night. Do a bit of research in your local area and you will soon discover suitable locations and when they fish best, available night time target species and the presentations that they want to eat. Hopefully this collection of things to consider when fishing at night gives you a bit of a head start and you are bending some rods in the dark soon. Fish on!
See you on the water...
Justin Willmer