Fly fishing at night

[Aaron Brown]

Tried my first night time fly fishing excursion on the local trout stream last night. Would have gone much better if I a) had a flashlight b) caught something (other than creek chubs).

These fish are spooky. Early morning or evening is best at this creek. I saw a few, and had 2 hookups but lost them. Then night time came. I was expecting great things but not being able to see much didn’t help.

What’s your preferred fly selection, tactics, etc. I have read shorter than average (during the day) leaders, and even fishing with dries. I was using a sculpin pattern I created, and even tried a medium sized popper. Was planning on hitting it this evening but there’s a big storm blowing in across the Lake. It may not even be raining down at the stream, but i’m not chancing it. So, time to regroup and hit it tomorrow night.

[Tim Angeli]

I’d recommend a mouse pattern or streamer.

[anonymous]

This is a perfect time of year to night fish in our neck of the woods.

Try dragging mice patterns or big, dark streamers that push lots of water.

[Peter E.]

I have never fished at night for trout although I will say that the trick for bass, and speckled trout at night is big, black noisy baits on the surface. But another neat trick that I have learned is that if you use a black light while you’re out there, it does not attract bugs. Good luck.

[gavin poppen]

Night fishing can be allot of fun…but dont just stick to black…sometimes lighter colors can produce as well or better. I usually do better during the new moon phase, or at times when the moon is off the water. Cheers.

[Aaron Brown]

Thanks guys. went out last night, struck out big time. Not even a hit. I did manage to get the crap scared out of me by, possibly, a beaver. Or, a huge carp hiding in 6 inches of water. I don’t normally scare easily but that made me a little jumpy.

Maybe i’m not waiting long enough. I usually pack it in by 11. Maybe i should start at 11?

[Zach Matthews]

http://www.schmidtoutfitters.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=2185&CFID=4971358&CFTOKEN=29384630

That’s been discontinued but apparently they still have them.

[Rob Snowhite]

I concur with the above mentioned flies. Dries that make a big splat when land and wake when stripped in and big pushy streamers.

As for leaders, a straight piece of mono that is strong enough for you to pull your fly out of trees and snags with out breaking.

One other thing is a pair of clear glasses so you don’t get a hook in your eye. Something like this:

[Eric DeWitt]

I have several of the Lumalux lines used for hex and other night fishing escapades.

[none]

Did some evening (not really deep in the night, but it was after dark) fishing on the Bow river in Calgary with a buddy who lives there. A moon lit night really helps.

It was pretty darn exciting to see those big browns come to the shallows and sip on dry flies. I didn’t to that well (missed a few) because I had no clue where my fly was… 😀

[Colin M.]

Can’t speak TOO much on the streamer tactics that hasnt already been said.

[Tim Pommer]

I have several of the Lumalux lines used for hex and other night fishing escapades.  They aren’t really necessary if you know what your doing and are comfortable fishing in the dark, but they are alot of fun to watch, and suprsisingly, don’t seem to spook fish at much, if any at all.  If your new to it, they could be a big help, especially on a moonless night when it really is pitch black.

I have found that the night bite on the surface doesn’t really turn on unit its dark-dark, meaning at least a hour after sunset.  The pattern is actually the least critical part of the whole thing – anything that moves water will move fish.  Tie some sort of gurgler gooking thing out of foam so it floats, like Tim says, and get out there and cover water with it.  Short roll casts, and then sweeping the rod back to pull wake the fly is typically how i do it.  The hardest part is hooking up on fish – there are a lot of short strikes, or just plain misses.  If you figure that part out, let me know.

That about sums it all up right there.

[John Williams]

Colin introduced me to the night time dryfly game this summer. I will say it is much easier when you have a buddy who can stand downstream and coach you to cast by spotting the fish in the glare. It’s also amazing the fish that come out to feed and how close you can get. Never thought I’d see 3 fish over 22″ caught on dries in the span of 30 minutes.

[Colin M.]

John there was no glare by the time you hooked that 2nd pig…that was night vision 😉   and a little Irish ingenuity…

[Colin M.]

John’s post also reminded me of another HUGELY important thing to remember about night fishing…DO it with a fishing buddy…not a good idea to be tromping around in the dark by yourself…plus its alot easier to net the big boys with two people…but mainly good for safety reasons.

[Author]

Posts