Night Fishing During the Colder Months?

[Fishidiot]

Many of you are avid night fishermen, especially for trout, and I'm interested in your thoughts on night fishing during this time of year - mainly late Nov and Dec. Do you do this and, if so, is it productive or worthwhile? How does it compare to other months?

In my personal experience, night fishing in summer is very productive, both for trout and bass. This is - of course - common knowledge. Back in my night fishing heyday (I don't do a lot of night fishing anymore) I also found the autumn months up until the end of October to be excellent night fishing for river smallmouths. However, I never fished beyond Oct (that I can remember). It seems to me that night fishing on limestone trout streams ought to be pretty good this time of year where water temps remain warmer(?). With the shorter days this time of year, I'm tempted to try night fishing for trout sometime soon. Am I nuts?

I'm curious to hear your views/opinions on this idea. The conventional wisdom is that night fishing is a warm season game.....but I'm not so sure. Wild trout in limestoners can be pretty aggressive this time of year.
Hhmmm.....

 

[BrookieChaser]

It was not productive on Spring last night.

 

[DavidFin]

Last fish I hooked was last Friday, and it moved further for my fly than I thought it would this time of year, so who knows. Try it.

 

[geebee]

meat eaters have to eat even in late fall and early winter.

i'd concentrate on 'junction' pools where a trib enters the creek and there's some depth.

the edge of an alluvial shelf is a good spot to drift or slowly retrieve a large weighted streamer - clouser, double bunny etc.

you want somewhere where a fish can lie and intercept a flow of protein - whether its minnows, parr, crayfish, etc. with minimal exertion.

a gummy minnow or chockletts minnow tyed neutrally buoyant gives you a chance to dead drift something along the top. you could use a shenk minnow if the water is moving some.

a type 2 or 3 sinking line is the most versatile line for winter trouting imho.

this is just the way i've fished - i'm sure others are happy to inch and dart a fat sculpin pattern along the bottom with a fast sinking line, especially with the fishskulls that are now available.

best o luck.

 

[salmonoid]

I think it can be effective throughout the winter months, especially on limestoners, as the water temperature won't completely crash. But that's just a hunch and isn't backed by any facts (yet). A few weeks ago, when I was fishing at night, I got the crazy idea that I wanted to land a trout at night in each month of the year, and so that is now in the back of my mind as a goal. I kept telling myself I was going to knock November off that night, but November is still on the list after that night. A couple of things were probably working against me - it really wasn't that far into the night yet (only about 5:45 or 6:00PM) and I had to leave to get home. Naturally, I sat in accident traffic for an hour on the way home and could have fished for another hour and arrived home at the same time. And, it was raining on and off as well. I've done well after rain moved through and, but I've never landed a fish at night in the rain. I also hated one aspect of the location I was fishing - glaring spotlights in the background that I'm sure cast my silhouette into the stream. The fish were mostly hunkered down and I only had one half-hearted strike right as I was feeling guilty about sticking around longer when I should, and my conscience was telling me I probably should leave to go home. Oh, the ethical dilemmas one faces

Last year, I fished a freestoner on a night in late October which ended up with a terminal frost settling in. The air temperature went down to 24 degrees and the stream looked like it was steaming as the air temperature dropped. I did spot some fish out, holding in a run, but didn't get so much as a discernible sniff at what I was tossing. I'm probably guilty of fishing big surface flies too long, and should switch over to a big streamer, or run a mouse/dropper combo instead. I guess I love the auditory thrill of a brownie drowning a mouse too much.

My feeling is that a big brown is not going to turn down a big tasty morsel anytime of the year. Whatever primeval cost/benefit ratio calculator they built into their brains will kick in eventually if you present something to them any time of the year, although probability will be highest in the warmer months. I also feel that post-spawn, they're going to be taking what they can get to build up their spent reserves, so you're not nuts to at least try it.

 

[BrookieChaser]

Salmonoid, it sounds like we're on the same lines of thinking. That was my initial line of thought. Last night had me reconsidering a bit, but I may not have hit the right fish.

 

[sarce]

I got one at night in March this year when the air temp was 35. Took a woolly bugger. That is the only non-green drake brown I've caught at night so far, I'm new to the game and didn't get to try it much this summer.

I'm not sure it would work great on the limestoners right now with some fish still being in full spawning mode (either paired up or keyed on eggs). Personally I would wait a week or two until more fish are on that post-spawn feeding binge. I did catch a 15-16" brown on a midge this afternoon after watching it gorging on the naturals for a few minutes. There were many more risers than two weeks ago which tells me the spawn has wound down enough that at least some fish are done keying on eggs and back to normal eating habits. This was on a Spring Creek trib.

 

[Chaz]

I might do it at night all year except during the spawn, because there is a lot of spawning activity late in the day and after dark, especially on brown trout streams.

 

[JackM]

Chaz wrote:
I might do it at night all year except during the spawn, because there is a lot of spawning activity late in the day and after dark, especially on brown trout streams.

Wait, wouldn't this be a good time to interrupt the invasives?

 

[IdratherbePhishing]

My thoughts exactly jack. Why fish for dirty browns?

 

[geebee]

is it lgeal to fish the Little Lehigh and Valley Creek after dark, with both being so heavily pressured, you have to believe that there's some chunky trout waiting to come out to feed...

 

[marcq]

the park is closed at dark but I have always wanted to hit some of the holes at night time. their has to be a few monsters in valley. so many little fish for food.

 

[geebee]

yeah thats my thought too - there has to be holes in the dam or the walls with trout in it that don't come out til dark.

people might be surprised but big trout will actually back themselves into pipes - i saw a 20" trout backed into a water hatch once with just its nose poking out. the hole was not more than 6" across, no way did that trout go nose in first and turn round...

 

[sandfly]

why not give them a rest for awhile, they have been pressured all season. I think season should end in Oct. till april. give the trout a break.

 

[marcq]

I have been giving them a break. haven't fished for trout since summer. been hitting the surf all fall. not trying to start a big fit about spawning fish and what not but I don't see a problem with fishing now. the spawn is probably over or will be soon in valley. Ill probably try once my semester is over and I have a bunch of free time.

 

[salmonoid]

sandfly wrote:
why not give them a rest for awhile, they have been pressured all season. I think season should end in Oct. till april. give the trout a break.

Sandy,

Can you elaborate on this position? I rarely encounter people who are even hiking while fishing in the winter and I don't ever recall encountering anyone who was fishing. So I don't think there is a lot of pressure from anglers over the winter time. I also have never encountered anyone while I was night fishing, any time of the year. You posted a little bit ago that you felt the season should be closed above I-80 in the winter. Why is that? If the fish are pressured from April to October, wouldn't that be the time to give them a break?

 

[geebee]

sandfly wrote:
why not give them a rest for awhile, they have been pressured all season. I think season should end in Oct. till april. give the trout a break.

it's a fair point i guess, but i'm of the mind that the fish i'd target would likely not been pressured at all.

 

[LetortAngler]

It's tough enough braving the elements in winter during the day and night even worse. But if one of those warm winter days come through I couldn't see why not a trip wouldn't be productive on a limestone water at night. Letort would be a great place to start and I personally would start at the headwaters where the temp is a bit warmer than downstream and give it a go.

 

[Fishidiot]

LetortAngler wrote:
Letort would be a great place to start and I personally would start at the headwaters where the temp is a bit warmer than downstream and give it a go.

I've long been tempted to fish that section at night, however most of the upper Letort where there is public access is special regulation and night fishing (at least past legal time) is not permitted there.

 

[Fishidiot]

geebee wrote:

sandfly wrote:
why not give them a rest for awhile, they have been pressured all season. I think season should end in Oct. till april. give the trout a break.

it's a fair point i guess, but i'm of the mind that the fish i'd target would likely not been pressured at all.

Yep - fair enough, esp on very heavily pressured streams like VC and LL.
However, on many if not most trout streams, this time of year follows a period when they haven't really been pressured much by anglers. July to Sep might be a better time to give 'em a break.

All relative of course - follow your own best ethical course.