Lure fishing at night.

[Sleeper]

Ok lads, I realise this has probably been discussed before, but I couldn`t find anything recent with a quick search.
I`m considering doing more lure fishing at night and was wondering about a few things.

If you`re lure fishing after dark, what are you`re preferences for the following;
Lure sound, have you had more success with silent lures or those with rattles?
Colour choice for low/no light ie brightly coloured lures or black to produce a better silhouette?
Retrieve speed, faster for more vibration or slower to give the pike more chance to home in?

[Andrew]

firetiger & rattles. doesn't that dark lure for silhouette effect only apply in daylight so a bright underbelly for night fishing would stand out better

[Daniel]

Everything you'd use in the day will work at night but the hookup rate is better on less erratic lures. Colour is not important although black has always done very well for me.
Rattles are not required, pike have no issue finding and hitting a lure even in total darkness

[DizzyDave]

My advice would be to make no allowances for fishing in the dark as far as lure selection is concerned, you dont need rattles or bright colours, sure you could try them; but really not needed as old Esox is good at finding her dinner when hungry.

However do take extra safety precautions when fishing at night.

[Phil Blakey]

Any lure works at night; i've said in the past that it would be interesting to see if pike would take a fly at night. A lad kindly contacted me to say that he'd fly fished at night and caught pike, he sent the fotos to prove it too. Just try various and see how it goes, i recently fished my last peg after dark with a curly tail lure that i'd used all night, i'd had nothing. I switched to a spinnerbait and caught two from where i'd already cast the curly tail...another night you'll get the opposite.
Colour's not too important, but in clear water a bright colour is handy, as it helps you see the lure so you know where it is towards the end of the retrieve. Black's a good colour at night, even in deep water; i once had the curly tail taken off a black Daiwa Dictator just off bottom in 27' of water; threw it straight back minus the tail and the pike took it again and was caught, i've had it happen since and so has "Jammy" Bob my pal. So pike can detect the water displacement off the front of a soft lure with no tail in pitch black.



Phil.

[JonahJones]

Everything you'd use in the day will work at night but the hookup rate is better on less erratic lures. Colour is not important although black has always done very well for me.
Rattles are not required, pike have no issue finding and hitting a lure even in total darkness

Agreed.

I remember fishing with the late Dave Atherton very late one evening when he took a 19b + fish on a small black lure.

[John Milford]

However do take extra safety precautions when fishing at night.

Sound advice (your safety precautions should include packing a spare pair of underpants )

[Mark Phillips]

The biggest question to ask yourself is frankly, why bother to lure fish at night in the first place? Everything is more difficult, well not that difficult (you know what I mean) at night with lures. If I found a water that fished better in the dark than in the light, I'd be doing it. But in all my years of lure fishing, I haven't found such a water. Same with baits, well, sort of - as I have found the odd water to produce better after dark (usually first few hours after dark), but they're few and far between. Pike aren't naturally a night time feeder IMO, although, like any predator, they don't follow all the rules. IMO a lot of people lure fish in the dark, not because they catch more pike, but more because they simply enjoy doing it. Fair play I think. Personally, I just don't bother with it as I can catch what I want in daylight... zander however, different story

[Pointngo]

I know one water that fishes best after dark and it's all down to angling pressure.

It's a park pool that gets fished constantly and you're lucky to see a double in the daytime, but at night it's rare to see anything but a double (it's not a big fish water).... or anyone else pike fishing.


As said, spare undercrackers are essential.

[Steve Dennington]

IMO a lot of people lure fish in the dark, not because they catch more pike, but more because they simply enjoy doing it.

Or perhaps simply have little spare time, so enjoy an hour or two after work, which at this time of year means fishing in the dark.

[gilby]

I've done a bit of night luring in the past, mainly on a weir pool I was very familiar with. I found that the first hour of dark particularly productive but it switched off after that but they may be a venue thing. Most lure produced but I did stick to crank baits, self confidence thing I supposed.
One top tip I'll offer you though. Get a red lens head torch, doesn't screw your night vision when you need extra light.

[JamesD]

Ive done a little night time lure fishing and really found the the same lures that work in the day work at night, caught on soft plastics with no "sound" I suppose something moving through the water will send vibrations shockwaves for want of a better word regardless of what it is.