Any top tips for night fishing

Hi folk ,
Do any of you guys have top tips for night fishing?
Cheers

Not top tips as such but...

If you're new to night fishing (?) try and get there before nightfall so that you can get set up and become familiar with your surroundings... I always put the brolly up as it can get quite wet at dawn even when there's no rain forecast .

Think about how you are going to detect bites if not using electronic alarms, there are some good floats that will take a starlight along with purpose made quivertip attachments that will accommodate the same and some sort of head torch either in the form of a headband type lamp or visor clip on type will help you a lot with unhooking, re-rigging and re-baiting.

I use an unhooking mat combined with banksticks to create something like a windbreak and behind this a battery powered lantern (along with spare batteries) with one side of the lens taped over so that little if any light actually reflects onto the water which enables me to unhook fish in good light.

Take plenty of warm clothes as it can drop very cold at night even in high summer along with a warm drink and food.

And don't forget to tell someone where you're going

Get there in daylight to acclimatise yourself to the layout of your swim.

Keep your area tidy by packing away all unneeded gear and place well behind you. You do not want to be stumbling over things in the dark.

Lay out your unhooking mat, forceps, scales/ sling in one place. I place a solar light next to the mat to aid finding it quickly with a fish in the net, also anyone visiting you won't fall over the mat.

Put your front rest near the water and under no circumstances go beyond this in the dark.

Keep all lights to an absolute minimum your eyes will get used to the dark and you should only need a light for baiting up and unhooking any fish.

Plenty of hot drink and hot food.

Enjoy the experience, it becomes wonderfully addictive

Never be afraid of the Noises of The Night; there is nothing in this country, wild as opposed to urban feral at least, that can harm you. I once had a Friesian cow fall off a 40-foot sheer wooded opposite bank into the river mere feet in front of me at 1.00am one night, but then that's natural; it's just meat-'n'-drink sea-trout fishing.

When deciding on places to bait and cast to, make sure to find a permanent mark (tree, bulding etc) that you'll still be able to use in the dark. The biggest tree on the horizon, last tree to your left\right etc. Make sure to have enough clothing\an adequate sleeping bag to keep you warm and dry enough. There's not much fun to be had when you are cold or wet through. Tonight is a perfect example, it was reasonably warm today. However, I'm happy that I bothered to bring my winter skin and winter sleeping bag, it's a bit on the chilly side now.

Dont forget a torch and a spare torch.

Get some loud bite alarms and a comfy bedchair so you can sleep through the night. Make sure the rod cant get pulled in though.

Ive been nightfishing for 20 years or so and my only tip-
No artificial light whatsoever-your natural vision is good enough and will be ruined by torches etc.Nothing like lying in the bedchair looking out at the lake in anticipation,your hearing also becomes far more sensitive and you can pick up all the sounds of nature acutely.Leave the torches for emergencies only.

caferacer said:

Ive been nightfishing for 20 years or so and my only tip-
No artificial light whatsoever-your natural vision is good enough and will be ruined by torches etc.

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I would only turn them on to tie a new hook, untangle a tangle or..heaven forbid if it happened ..unhook a fish. (insert smiley)

I catch so few fish that I would consider a run as an emergency,Im also chiefly motivated by laziness.Therefore I stand by my zero light policy.

Make sure that your sleeping bag has a "quick release" zip, or better still use a duvet with some kind of weatherproof cover.
Nothing worse than being nice and snug inside a zipped up sleeping bag, getting a screaming run, and you then do an impression of an epileptic caterpillar trying to get to your rod......mg:mg:mg:

My only tip as all the others are great, is don't sleep with your tackle fishing, whilst river fishing.
Nodding off is inevitable, so be by your rods.

are you fishing rivers or lakes at night?....

Rivers:

Make sure your familiar with the pathway/routes....

Do a daytime recce and note clear spots and potential places to place your seat/rod rest.... look for landmarks or bankside features for reference. After dark, its gonna look a whole lot different (without full visual reference you get in day light - this confuses the brain I guess)...

Use your torch bare minimum... perhaps only to land fish. I use a Peztl head torch with a red light and two intensities of white light. The red light is superb for tying new hooks on - that sort of thing. Baiting up? can do it in pitch black by touch.

Be extra vigalent of bankside vibration. Sounds seem to be amplified at night. I rarely drive in a bank stick in fear of disturbing nearby fish (but then I am constantly roving from swim to swim).

Keep calm and carry on fishing.. I love facing my primeval fear of the dark - its exciting and have become addicted to fishing rivers at night.... Less activity from other anglers, fish often become more active after dark, not to mention, better access; the baillif has got better things to be getting on with

Night time on lakes:

Choose a nice lake!!!!

Choose badly and you will be sharing the bank with someone coughing their lungs out on a bong at 3am, constantly fiddling with bite alarms, head torches bouncing all over the lake etc etc etc etc........ Extra vehicular access as 'mates' arrive to see how their 'mates' are getting on (or actually, the beer drop off)...

In my experience:

DON'T fish alone at night until you're familiar with it's problems

It's pointless to try to stay awake all night. Try to work out possible best feeding times (that's the fish feeding times!) and plan to be fishing then. Some lakes, for example are hopeless at night, but good from (say) 5am onward, others don'r get going until 7/8am. Personally I've never found the dead of night much good for the effort put in but others will have different stories......

Be AWARE of the waters edge at all times. Easy to become confused in half light or light which brightens some areas of your swim and not others.

DON'T try to rush things. Bait up, cast, fix indicators etc with care. You are NOT in any great hurry are you?

Be AWARE of things that go BANG during he night!! Regardless of how brave you think you are the sounds at night are exaggerated. Foxes, badgers, Hedgehogs all roam around at night (not to mention Rats!) and sudden sounds can scare the life from you if fishing alone. (Read a Chris Yates book on the subject if you don'r believe me!)

Lastly, even in June the night can get very cold so for me clothing of quality and a decent hat are crucial. We all suffer cold during the night - think of all the times you've walked home from a party in the early hours - so warmth is an absolute must. SEPTEMBER NIGHTS FOR EXAMPLE CAN BE VERY, VERY LONG WITH NO REAL SUN OR WARMTH TIL WELL AFTER 7am.....

Oh, one last point; As far as I'm concerned you cannot have TOO MUCH HOT DRINK and whilst tea etc is good you cannot beat a hot mug of SOUP during the early hours. Tomato is pretty good..............Quality food also helps...


It's a wonderful experience IF you plan it with care. Doesn't matter if you catch ziltch really as long as you enjoy the experience...

Have fun and good luck..................With all the above advice at your disposal you cannot really go wrong!!

"Personally I've never found the dead of night much good for the effort put in..."

Me neither, and I'd add that despite seeing more day-breaks than I care to remember, the much vaunted 'first light' has been an absolute waste of time for me over the years. In fishing terms anyway. Dawn is still a magical time to be abroad in the countryside.

Can't add much to what has been said already, but I would say that regarding the point someone made about bursting out of your sleeping bag: It has always baffled me why the manafacturers haven't gone down the velcro route. I remember as a kid designing what I titled the 'Rip-sack', a sleeping bag with velcro fastenings and loops to fix the bottom firmly to a bed chair in order that you could just 'rip' your way out of it in the event of a run.

I haven't bought a bag for many years so there may perhaps now be something along those lines?

---------- Post added at 08:07 ---------- Previous post was at 08:05 ----------

chav professor said:

are you fishing rivers or lakes at night?....

Rivers:

Make sure your familiar with the pathway/routes....

Do a daytime recce and note clear spots and potential places to place your seat/rod rest.... look for landmarks or bankside features for reference. After dark, its gonna look a whole lot different (without full visual reference you get in day light - this confuses the brain I guess)...

Use your torch bare minimum... perhaps only to land fish. I use a Peztl head torch with a red light and two intensities of white light. The red light is superb for tying new hooks on - that sort of thing. Baiting up? can do it in pitch black by touch.

Be extra vigalent of bankside vibration. Sounds seem to be amplified at night. I rarely drive in a bank stick in fear of disturbing nearby fish (but then I am constantly roving from swim to swim).

Keep calm and carry on fishing.. I love facing my primeval fear of the dark - its exciting and have become addicted to fishing rivers at night.... Less activity from other anglers, fish often become more active after dark, not to mention, better access; the baillif has got better things to be getting on with

Click to expand...

Worth it for spotting those dog toffees if nothing else.

My top tips would have to be:

There are no prizes for being the, coldest, most hungry or thirsty or the most uncomfortable angler on the bank.

I always ensure that i will be comfortable (warm if cold out at night) well fed and drink hot liquids when needed.

I rarely fish the whole night through preferring to fish for a few hours after dark then bring the rods in and get my head down for a few hours and then restart a couple of hours before dawn.

I use as little light as is physically possible as it will wreck your night vision if used extensively.

I keep my Delks on silent with the remote on vibrate which is perfectly adequate - you don't have to wake up the whole venue when you get a bite . . . . . . .

As said before, arrive in daylight and set-up neatly with no unnecessary items strewn around, know where your landing net is at all times and simply . . . . . . enjoy.

And, when you finally get a run on the water with the fish of your dreams dont be so befuddled with sleep that in your haste to get to your rods you simply miss them altogether and run straight into the lake like a friend of mine did.
I still like to remind him of it from time to time.

Fred Bonney said:

My only tip as all the others are great, is don't sleep with your tackle fishing, whilst river fishing.
Nodding off is inevitable, so be by your rods.

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I don't know why Fred thinks rivers are so different to stillwaters, yes there are more variables where rivers are concerned but in all fishing scenarios, once you've worked out the fishes location, you should then always work out how you can safely catch and land them.

Fish are creatures of habit, so will pretty much always demonstrate the same behavioural traits; barbel will either try to head back to where they've come from or find fast water and attempt to head downstream in it.
Chub will repeatedly try and stuff you into any/every close by snag.
Carp will do the same as chub, only they don't kite-in as willingly when in open water.

cg74 said:

I don't know why Fred thinks rivers are so different to stillwaters, yes there are more variables where rivers are concerned but in all fishing scenarios, once you've worked out the fishes location, you should then always work out how you can safely catch and land them.

Fish are creatures of habit, so will pretty much always demonstrate the same behavioural traits; barbel will either try to head back to where they've come from or find fast water and attempt to head downstream in it.
Chub will repeatedly try and stuff you into any/every close by snag.
Carp will do the same as chub, only they don't kite-in as willingly when in open water.

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I thought he was alluding to types of fishing other than carp angling where bites have to be hit rather than waiting for the Delkims to sound and where a quick nap can see you wake up to an empty rod rest.

Peter Jacobs said:

My top tips would have to be:

There are no prizes for being the, coldest, most hungry or thirsty or the most uncomfortable angler on the bank.

I always ensure that i will be comfortable (warm if cold out at night) well fed and drink hot liquids when needed.

I rarely fish the whole night through preferring to fish for a few hours after dark then bring the rods in and get my head down for a few hours and then restart a couple of hours before dawn.

I use as little light as is physically possible as it will wreck your night vision if used extensively.

I keep my Delks on silent with the remote on vibrate which is perfectly adequate - you don't have to wake up the whole venue when you get a bite . . . . . . .

As said before, arrive in daylight and set-up neatly with no unnecessary items strewn around, know where your landing net is at all times and simply . . . . . . enjoy.

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Sound advice Peter bbbut; "I keep my Delks on silent with the remote on vibrate which is perfectly adequate - you don't have to wake up the whole venue when you get a bite."
Nah, you can't beat the noise from a one toner:
Extreme Carp Run 2011 - One Toner!! - YouTube

I do show restraint on busy waters but if it's just a mate and me or I'm alone then it's full on!

---------- Post added at 12:21 ---------- Previous post was at 12:14 ----------

Chris Hammond ( RSPB ACA PAC} said:

I thought he was alluding to types of fishing other than carp angling where bites have to be hit rather than waiting for the Delkims to sound and where a quick nap can see you wake up to an empty rod rest.

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But pretty much all coarse species can be self-hooked by design and if you were to bivvy up, surely you'd use a self-hooking rig in conjunction with a freespool or centre pin reel?