Any of ya'll fish in the dark> My fishing buddy and I are a couple of anglers who get to the fishing spots while its still black dark out and fish that last hour of dark with real good success. Our largest crappies come during this dark period.
Fishing in the dark demands some concentration because you can't see anything. Feel becomes your good friend. During this dark period the fish don't seem to have any inhibitions about smacking the baits so keeping slack line out of the equation is a must and the really large crappies seem to like specific depths in the dark, so a float becomes a necessity. Generally, we cast and slowly retrieve, trying to move the float as slow as wind and current allows while keeping a fairly slack-free line. The hits are solid enough that they are easily felt.
I've tried fishing from light into the dark and honestly have way better luck fishing from dark to light. I think that the nighttime allows for the water to settle down: hours without anglers and boaters, the wind generally settles at night and heat from the day before that got into the depths is rising in the water column then and the fish move up with it. So does their food sources. Getting to where we're going to fish in the dark helps eliminate other anglers. All of these plusses and the larger fish make this my favorite time frame to fish.
I don't change a thing as far as baits are concerned. The 4 or 5 usual colors I use are used in the dark. I've tried black with some success but the Junebug and Purple baits do just as good. Black has shown to be a great color if the water is dirty or stained heavily when we fish in the dark.... the reverse contrast really comes into play. My purple head color does not change though.
So how about you? Do you fish in the dark? If you do, what are your thoughts as top why you have success?
