Chapter 9 - Catch Them At Night

The great majority of salt-water anglers go out during the daytime and rarely venture forth at night. But today more and more anglers are discovering that plenty of fish and good sport can also be had at night. In fact, if you are interested in big fish which are found near shore, your chances are much better fishing at night than during the daytime.

But night fishing in salt water offers many other advantages besides that of catching big fish. There are fewer anglers and less competition, so you have more elbow room. You don't have to worry about sunburn, and often during the summer the wind dies at sundown, so the water is usually calmer at night than during the middle of the day—an important point to consider if you are subject to seasickness. Also, during the summer months it is cooler at the seashore or on the water at night. Finally, you can fool the fish easier at night than during the day. They can't see the hook, leader or line, and they can't examine a lure too closely.

Fish of many kinds—both game species and bottom species —can be caught at night from boats, bridges, piers, and the shore and in the surf. Bay fishermen go after striped bass, bluefish and weakfish in northern waters from small boats. Striped bass, especially, can be caught around bridge pilings, in deep holes, along edges of sand or rock bars at night with lures such as small plugs and buck tails. Other anglers go after striped bass using a float and putting a sandworm or bloodworm on a hook and floating this out in the current.

After dark, weakfish are most co-operative when you are fishing in bays where they are found. The usual bait used for them is a sandworm, piece of squid, shrimp or shedder crab fished on the bottom with a sinker just heavy enough to hold bottom.

Another fish which often bites at night is the bluefish. In fact, bigger catches of these fish are usually taken chumming at night than during the daytime, for bigger bluefish seem to bite after dark. Sometimes common bonito show up in the chum at night and are also caught.

Bottom fishermen fishing from boats, piers or bridges at night often catch porgies and croakers in the North and snappers and groupers in the South. Those who like to catch conger eels or the common eels will also find the nighttime best for them. In fact, during the daytime these fish often vanish, but after dark they reappear in large numbers.

If you want to fool a snook or a tarpon in Florida or in other tropical waters, you can't pick a better time to fish than at night. Using surface and underwater plugs and jigs or live bait fish, you'll often fool trophy snook and tarpon, which frequent passes and bridges in many southern areas.

Sharks—if you want to catch them—are also bolder and more numerous at night, when they come closer to shore and to the surface in search of food. Then they can be caught from boats, bridges, piers and the shore.

But the guy who really collects big dividends from night fishing is the surf angler. If you want to fool fish like the striped bass, you'll discover that the time put in fishing at night is worth the effort.

Many fish bite at night on both natural baits and jigs. This one was taken in the Bahamas by Ray Ovington, outdoor writer.
 
I recall one August evening some years ago when I was fishing the Cape Cod Canal with my brother and another angler. About an hour before dark we had walked out to the big breakwater on the north end of the canal and were trying for the stripers which were fairly plentiful in the big ditch at that time. Using an underwater plug I cast out and reeled in. As the plug came into view near shore I saw a striper of about 15 lbs. following behind it. Then the fish veered off without hitting the lure. On several casts after that stripers would follow our lures up to the rocks but wouldn't hit. We tried working the lures in various ways, and we tried everything in our bags, including various surface and underwater plugs, eel skin s, feather and buck tail lures—even metal squids. Still no luck. However, as soon as it got dark we started to get action with eel skin s and after a couple of hours had nine nice stripers lying on the rocks.

This was just one instance where night fishing for stripers paid off. I've had many other similar experiences. In fact, during some twenty-five years of fishing for stripers from Cape Cod to New Jersey, I've caught at least three stripers at night for every one I've caught during the daytime. I know that most of the veteran beach and jetty jockeys along the Atlantic Coast will back me up. These men have learned the hard way—after many thousands of casts and weary hours and days of plugging—that the striper is a night owl. If you want to get your share of fish you have to miss plenty of sleep.

Night fishing in the surf is almost a must in highly populated areas, especially from Memorial Day to Labor Day. In many areas, most surf anglers are forced to fish at night in the summer. During the daytime there are too many bathers and they chase the surf anglers away from the best spots. Luckily, in the case of the striped bass, this isn't such a hardship. Since they bite best at night during the summer months most anglers I know don't bother going out until well after dark. Then they usually fish hard until the early morning hours or even until daybreak.

Novice surf anglers or those who have never done much night fishing often wonder how it is possible to locate, hook and land fish in the surf on a dark night. Many have asked me such questions as the following: How do you know where to fish? How can you cast at night? How do you land the fish?

It's true that problems and conditions which are easily coped with during the daytime are often more difficult on a dark night. Yet it's surprising how soon you become used to casting, hooking and landing fish at night and enjoying it as much or even more than during the daytime.

The big question that arises with respect to surf fishing at night is how to locate the fish. If you are lucky enough to have a friend who can tip you off, that's a big help. Tackle dealers and outdoors columns in newspapers often tell you the general area to fish. Actually, no one can predict in advance which specific spots will produce a temperamental fish such as the striped bass, because they move around too much and bite best under conditions which change from day to day.

At night there are no birds to guide you, but if you see birds or fish feeding off the beach during the daytime there is a good chance that they will work inshore at dusk or after dark. Schools of bait fish will often lie off the beach during the day, but at night they tend to work inshore to escape the game fish, and, of course, the game fish will often follow them in. If you arrive after dark you can pick up the bait fish in your light when they are hugging the shoreline.

Sometimes you can see fish breaking water, especially on moonlit nights, and sometimes you can even hear them. But most of the time they do not show and this is where a knowledge of the shoreline pays off. In order to pick up this knowledge, you must study or fish the same spots during the day, noting the depth of the water, the formation and location of sand bars or rocks and the action of the waves and currents. The same spots which produced fish during the daytime will usually produce at night. Such knowledge will also prevent you from casting into shallow areas or rocks when you fish at night. Another hazard, during the summer months, is the lifelines that are strung out from the shore to protect swimmers in bathing areas. Quite a few jetty anglers have hooked into such lines and for a few exciting moments thought they had nailed a record striper.

If you fish the Long Island and New Jersey beaches near New York City, most of your night fishing will be done from the rock jetties and breakwaters commonly found there. Although some anglers fish from the beach between the jetties, best results are usually obtained by going out on the structures.

Night fishing produces many a big striper like these, caught on Dick Lema's boat. Standing in the white shirt is Jerry Sylvester, well-known surf angler, who has spent thousands of hours fishing at night along the Narragansett shores of Rhode Island.

Some jetties are considered better than others since they produce more fish throughout the season. The better ones are usually located near deep holes or bar formations and rips which provide good feeding spots for stripers and other fish. Most jetties have a fairly strong current at the end and along the sides. At high tide and with a heavy sea it may not be possible to fish at the extreme end of the jetty. So under these circumstances you will have to fish from the sides. It pays to make an occasional cast toward the front of the jetty and then to work the lure as close to the rocks as possible without fouling. When the tide drops to more than half-out you can usually go out to the end. Here, the usual procedure is to cast in a semicircle around the tip of the jetty.

If I plan to fish more than one jetty, I usually start making my casts along one side as soon as I get out past the first line of breakers; then I walk up a few feet and make another cast into deeper water; and so on until I get to the end, where I "fan" my casts in a semicircle. Then I work back along the opposite side toward shore. In this way I cover most of the water around the jetty. However, if it is low tide and there isn't much water along the sides of the jetty I usually head right out to the end and cast into the deeper water. However, it's tough work trying to fish more than one or two jetties so most anglers pick one and stay there for two or three hours.

Casting at night can be more troublesome than during the daytime. The spool on a conventional-type surf reel should be filled with a line that is neither too heavy nor too light. A 30- or 36-lb. test, braided nylon line is about right. A white, tan or other light-colored line is easier to see in the dark. When using a spinning reel, you have to make sure that the line is not fouled around some part of the reel. This is especially true on windy nights.

When actually casting, don't try for distance. At night you can't see the lure traveling through the air, so you won't have any idea where it will strike the water. Aim high rather than low and stop the cast soon after the lure loses momentum and starts dropping. If you get a backlash or line snarl, strip plenty of line off the spool and make sure there are no snarls remaining before you reel it back on again. This is very important if you want to prevent trouble on the next cast.

At night, hooking and landing a fish from a level sand beach isn't much harder than in the daytime. If the fish runs down the beach you can easily follow it without a light. A fish hooked along a rocky shore or from a jetty is another story. Here you'll often need the help of a light to follow and work the fish into the rocks where you can reach it.

Unless the water is calm, a gaff is usually needed to land a fish from a jetty or breakwater. The gaff should have a long handle and I find that painting the gaff white helps to locate it quickly when you lay it down on the rocks. It is a good idea to fish a jetty with another angler so you can be of mutual assistance. Then, unless both of you hook into a fish at the same time, one man is always free to use the light and gaff the fish. It is also safer to fish a jetty with another man.

Speaking of safety, night fishing requires much more caution than daytime angling. Jetties and rocks which can be navigated with ease during the daytime can cause trouble at night. Ice-creepers or wading sandals worn under your feet to provide a grip on slippery moss-covered rocks are a must. Waves are more of a threat at night since you don't always see them coming and a rising tide must be watched closely so that you don't get trapped out on a jetty or rock. You have to study the rocks and work out a plan of action for landing a fish before you make the first cast, otherwise, in the excitement which follows, you may take a nasty spill. Above all, night fishing calls for a slower pace than daytime fishing. Take it easy when casting, walking or landing a fish and you generally won't have any trouble.

Which lures are best for night fishing? For striped bass give me a rigged eel every time. You just can't beat the "snakes" when there are good-sized stripers around. If you plan to go out at night from June to November, you should always carry these reliable bass killers. Surface plugs and underwater plugs are also popular lures. Metal squids and spoons are not too good for night fishing in the surf, but they should be carried if you plan to fish around dusk or daybreak. Most of the artificial lures bring more strikes if they are retrieved somewhat slower than they are during the daytime.

Natural baits often produce at night. During the summer months you can't beat shedder crabs and skimmer or sea clams in the surf. The blue-claw shedders are not as good for surf fishing as the calico or lady crabs. Seaworms, squid and the sand bugs found in the sand under the waves are also good striper baits at times. At night, the bait fisherman may be bothered a bit more by crabs and other pests, such as dogfish and skates, but by bringing along plenty of bait and using a cork to keep it off the bottom it is possible to have good fishing.

For me, surf casting at night equals any fishing experienced during the daytime. Some of my most memorable surf-fishing trips have been at night. Hooking and landing a good-sized striper in the moonlight gives me a greater thrill than landing the same fish when the sun is shining. Even on dark nights surf fishing has a quality all of its own. There is a great deal of mystery and suspense involved in hooking something big on the end of your line on a black night.

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