Night fishing .

[saltire]

Just wondered if anyone has fished @ night for pike , had a conversation last time out and the 2 anglers said waste of time the pike will not take @ night but another fellow says he has caught pike at night .

[john evans]

caught loads through the night(in the past,need a feckin sleep most times now ),,,most important thing is have everything you need at hand,good headtorch a must as well,no lying down with your boots off either

[Carlperkins]

Fished till midnight many times and that way never needed a bed etc
That way your still fishing into 7 hrs of darkness

[Andrew]

Some waters just dont fish at all at dark ime, a few I fished I gave up fishing through the night and just reel in and go for a sleep until just before sunrise and start again. ive heard it said before on some waters the pike wise up to heavy angling pressure in the day and only feed at night when the bawbags packup, cant say ive noticed it myself.

[BillCollins]

Some places fish after dark, others don't. I've also caught plenty of pike at night but I've noticed that it's the shallower waters that are better.

[john evans]

Some places fish after dark, others don't. I've also caught plenty of pike at night but I've noticed that it's the shallower waters that are better.

yeh fished a wee shallow loch years ago bill,,always feck all through the day and runs galore at night,,nowt big off it though ,,bout 15,,oh and one that felt bloody huge to a wee sneaky lob along the margins,,,ended up a 6lber reeled in over the branch of a tree

[BillCollins]

Some places fish after dark, others don't. I've also caught plenty of pike at night but I've noticed that it's the shallower waters that are better.

yeh fished a wee shallow loch years ago bill,,always feck all through the day and runs galore at night,,nowt big off it though ,,bout 15,,oh and one that felt bloody huge to a wee sneaky lob along the margins,,,ended up a 6lber reeled in over the branch of a tree

..

Baits in deep water don't seem to attract much after dark John, even if thats where the takes were coming from in daylight. Even in cold winter weather the food fish spread out of the deep areas and onto the shallows after dark, I've caught a few nice ones from practically under the rod top at night in winter.

[Kev Berry]

Some places fish after dark, others don't. I've also caught plenty of pike at night but I've noticed that it's the shallower waters that are better.

yeh fished a wee shallow loch years ago bill,,always feck all through the day and runs galore at night,,nowt big off it though ,,bout 15,,oh and one that felt bloody huge to a wee sneaky lob along the margins,,,ended up a 6lber reeled in over the branch of a tree

..

Baits in deep water don't seem to attract much after dark John, even if thats where the takes were coming from in daylight. Even in cold winter weather the food fish spread out of the deep areas and onto the shallows after dark, I've caught a few nice ones from practically under the rod top at night in winter.

theres not many know that Bill

[BillCollins]

Years ago I used to fish a little lough of about 40 acres back in Cork, Kev. I had it all to myself for a few years as the farmer who owned the land all round it was very possessive (due to a previous bad experience with anglers), but I'd managed to win him around. Anyway, the max depth was about 25ft and in winter the sounder on the dinghy showed the food fish usually parked up from the 15ft mark onwards and this was where the vast majority of takes also came from. At night it was a different story and after dusk in still weather the small fish could be heard topping very close in. I normally bank fished it and used to stagger the rod distances once the light had gone and the long rod never used to get a touch with the action coming in depths of 8-10ft or less. I used to also drop a bait right along the margin in about 2-3ft and one night around 1130pm I got a fiddly take, when I struck the place exploded as a 23 immediately stood up out of the water and nearly beached itself in the process. Frightened the s***e out of me..!!..

[Andrew]

good topic this, given me some ideas for next week

[DavyMc]

Liked that Bill

Aye on some places night fishing can be the best time, other waters it's pants just have to try and see what happens. Always do well on macky heads at night and as said already no need to wack it out into the distance, a wee plop works!

[Polyball]

Ive noticed the same, a water I fish for cats is filled with pike and they are more of a pest during the night than the day. Only real water ive come across like this although I am sure there will be others just the same

Saying that whenever you want to target them when its winter - they don't want to know ;)

[saltire]

I dug out a book i remember i purchased a few years ago its called "How to catch bigger pike from Rivers, Lochs, and Lakes by Paul Gustafson there are 4 pages in it about night fishing which make interesting reading and from now on i think i will not pack up but stay on for a few hours into darkness and will just throw my baits into the shallow water.There are some cracking pictures of Pike which he caught at night and most of them were big fish .

[Rob_Iasgair]

I don't buy the "Some waters wont produce at night" :) You just have to find where the fish "will" take in a given water....and I have found that it is invariably in shallow water....but don't tell anyone!

I very often fish under the rod tips where pike expect to find "discarded" baits.

I remember years ago that "Carp cannot be caught in winter"...some of the best anglers out there honestly believed that :0

[ashleyfishing1991]

Used to night fish a stretch of river when i was younger, that during the day you'd only catch jacks. It gets heavy boat traffic as theres a marina near by but after dark the size of fish was a damn sight better. Never blanked at night as where you would some days. Mate had a 23 one night, i had a 7lb pike grabbed by one that i wouldn't want to know how big it was. 9 times out of 10 the fish at night was a double +. Only problem we ever used to have was tiny zander and eels. Although you had to be quick on your strikes are they used to wolf down the baits. Now on this stretch of river you couldn't even buy a bite.

[dave-newman]

nighting this weekend... saturday to sunday......

past 3 weeks fishing this venue ive had 1 run and 1 fish.... so going to test if they feed more / more active during the night :)

might get washed away though

[Woodchucker]

If its a pressured water and everyone chucks their baits in at the end of the day before they go home fishing close in into darkness is a killer

[dave-newman]

If its a pressured water and everyone chucks their baits in at the end of the day before they go home fishing close in into darkness is a killer

less than a hand full pike fish this water....

but a margin rod or 2 is a must

[Woodchucker]

If its a pressured water and everyone chucks their baits in at the end of the day before they go home fishing close in into darkness is a killer

less than a hand full pike fish this water....

but a margin rod or 2 is a must

Its nice when a plan comes together

[dave-newman]

If its a pressured water and everyone chucks their baits in at the end of the day before they go home fishing close in into darkness is a killer

less than a hand full pike fish this water....

but a margin rod or 2 is a must

Its nice when a plan comes together

im not there yet, might go all pear shaped

[OLDESOX]

caught loads through the night(in the past,need a feckin sleep most times now ),,,most important thing is have everything you need at hand,good headtorch a must as well,no lying down with your boots off either

and and you stay awake if you must fish otherwise rods in and leave emm alone

[zodiac]

I had some great times in the 90's night fishing the large loch in the south west that now has problems with the crayfish. It reached the point where I would sleep during the day and stay up all night.. lots of runs with big smelly baits no more than 10 to 15 yards out, always a decent average size with lots of big doubles on a water that was famous for the volume of fish rather than size. Never really managed alot on other waters though, the odd one through a season but nothing of note. Although o tend to fish less pressured waters now, more out of the way, that may be the reason?

[MScustomflies]

If its a pressured water and everyone chucks their baits in at the end of the day before they go home fishing close in into darkness is a killer

The water you had the 22 from on a tench the margins are the most productive spot everyone lobs to the deep water, don't tell em I catch em on flies using a floating line down the margins face

[spar]

I have had many pike when night fishing. Also found just in to dark and just before light they really start to move so i would suggest to try it on my local pool the carp boys Always seem to catch plenty on halibut pellets during the night time so yer get out there mart and give it ago.