Fishing into dark

Hi all,
A question for you all.My fishing time is being limited at the minute so my best chance of getting on the bank will be short sessions after work.I will then have about 30 mins of light to get set up and would fish to around 10pm.
The place i will fish is the Lower Witham below Lincoln.im not after any certain species or massive fish but just want to get out on the bank.
My question is how would you guys go about this sort of session and what would you target?
I was thinking just plain maggott feeder and switch between maggotts and worms on the hook for roach and perch and maybe a bonus bream?
Anyway would very much like to hear peoples opinions on this.
Thanks.

Paul you don’t need day light to tackle up this can be done quite easily with a head touch. However, it is important to know your swims and to take note of how to get to them and back in the dark, believe me going back is not the same as walking to your swim. It helps if you are tidy and that you are consistent in the placement of your gear. You’ll be surprised what you can do without switching on your head touch.

Regarding species, roach, chub, bream, carp and barbel can all be taken at night; dusk and one hour into dark being on average the most productive time, and you are likely to catch a better class of fish in the dark. All your daytime baits will catch at night; however some may also attract unwanted species such as eels, Tommy ruff and crayfish which are not normally a problem during the day. Don’t forget bread and cheese with liquidized bread in your feeder, it’s likely to produce a better stamp of fish, and of course there are also natural particles such as sweet corn. There is a whole range of pellets and boilies, just substitute your feeder for a PVA bag to get some loose feed on the bottom.

You will need to think a bit more about landing what you catch your view, even with a touch, is a lot more restricted at night and if you are lucky and do hook into that fish of your dreams you don’t want it running into snags on the far bank or even under your rod tip, hence the reason to know a little about your swim before fishing it in the dark. 90% of my fishing is at night and one thing I always carry is a spare light and my clothing is such it will be comfortable when the temperature drops after sunset and believe me at this time of the year it can drop very quickly, if you are cold it’s very hard to pay attention and you will start to make mistakes.

I think that’s enough for the time being others can add their bits as well.

Get some isotopes to go on the end of the rod maggots or worms should be ok. Buy a good head torch and keep everything tidy so you don't lose anything.

if you make your rod up during the day making sure its all lined up you can put a small dot of model paint on each section so if its dark when you get on the bank its a lot more easy to set up your rod if you use a filter on your tourch (red green )you can use your tourch without lighting up the whole bank bait and tactics see above /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif

Long time since I fished the Witham, Dog Dyke, Tatteshall, but if it's still the same species as it was then, bream have to be your target fish. The roach are unlikely to feed after its gone dark. I can count on two hands the number of roach I've had in the dark hours from rivers over the last 10 years.

As it's bream, I'de take your groundbait mixed wet to the river and get it in as soon as you get there before you do anything else. This will give it time to settle and the fish to come on it.

As for isotopes the Drennan ones are great for quiver tips as they come with many fittings to fit all types of rod/Q tips.

Baits, use the once they catch on in the daylight, particularly corn tipped with small worms. Caster was always a very good bream bait in the days I fished the Witham, so don't overlook them.

John's commentson the rest are bang on!

All the above is good stuff.....personally I think one of the main problems when fishing in the dark is working out which directiona hooked fish is moving!Yes,the rod is up in the air with a nice curve but it not always easy to see where the line goes in the water.....

I agree a head torch is very useful but when good fighting a fish seemingly running in all directions even this can be lose its effectiveness....however it is a must have item!!

As noted above,fishing into darkness is not a time to fish new swims-in fact I always fish a swim with good banks that I know well and have fished many times in daylight,and never near trees.......!

Obvious things like having the landing net/mat always in the same place,having minimal tackle out of the bag,having a disgorger fixed to your jacket,weighing scales always ready or hanging from a tree and hand cloths close to hand.

Everything will always seem to take more time but try not to be in a hurry-going backwards into a river after dark is not funny atall.....in fact I know some who push a white stick into the ground as a marker so as not beyond this point.....

Finally,I would always go with someone to begin with or at least let someone know where you are fishing and when to expect you home...

Hope you enjoy the experience anyway and keep safe!

(ps always take plenty of warm drink-temps drop dramatically at night..believe me!!)

Thanks for the advice guys.Its all a great help.I have my head torch ready to go and isotopes,on that subject anyone have any suggestions on how to attach them without buying the enterprise type fittings?
I will be fishing a swim that is about 5 minutes from my house that i have fished for years in the day so i know it well and there are not any snags or anything so should be ok in that respect.
I have bought a waistcoat that i can wear over my korum thermal suit so i have items like scales and unhooking tools in easy reach so im just about set i think.
As bad one suggested the bream might be my best bet.im not sure how the river fishes at this time of year at night as i have only night fished it for the carp during summer but some of this is just to find what i can manage to get out and just to be out on the bank.
Ive actually got a pass out for tomorrow day so im heading to the Bain for a bit of chubbing but will be out on the witham after work next week to i will be sure to put all your advice into practice.
Thanks alot everyone and feel free to add any more suggestions.

Paint some leads and feeders white - they're much easier to swing to hand if you can see them!

See if you can get hold of this type, they clip over the rod tip.

I'm sure you can get them cheaper though. I'll have a look

Cliplight

Paul If you PM privately your address I'll send you some of the Drennan clips in various sizes for quiver tips.

Thanks for the offer Bad One. That is really kind of you. I have just sent you my addy.
Yet another reason why FM is the greatest!

Paul instead of painting your leads or feeders use the glow in the dark beads then your feeders and weights are still cammo also use the glow in the dark rod rests

The first time i went night fishing was as a novice angler with a couple of more experienced lads who had all the gear you could buy in those days to give you light on demand , to their horror i had borrowed someparrafin lamps and illuminated my peg and half the river ,while they fumbled about in near darkness i blissfully ignorant of what i should be doing bagged up on chub watching the end of a match rod in my floodlit peg.

Most of my night fishing for bream on the river Lune was with a petrol Tilley Lamp and it made no difference to my catch rate. The only problem was it was very heavy and I kept breaking the gas mantels. In a lot of ways I miss the old Tilley Lamp it was very comforting and you could warm your hands on it.

Yes,the old Tilley lamp was very good in many ways-you could always be sure of a wonderful selection of moths etc to keep you company....in summer the number of insects became almost unbearable at times as they tended to circle ones head as well as the lamp!!The good old days.......................

It also had a very nice soft light as well.............

The fish in my pond are neither frightened or interested in beams of light from torches and i have a powerful floodlight that shines directly over and into the water if i switch that on in total darkness they just carry on about their business ...approach them in daylight and they scatter if you creep up on them ,i wonder if anglers worry more than fish about stray light when night fishing?

paul

I don'tknow the river in question at all, but when night fishing the thames when it's not charging through, an alternative to quivertipping with isotopes is using a bobbin with an isotope in it (most of them unscrew at the baseor have a slot for this). This also gives you the option of using an alarm if you so wish... not everyone's cupof tea I know, but sometimes looking at two isotopes makes my eyes go a bit barmy...

Just to echo two other bits of advice, keep everything to hand and take the minimal ammount of kit you can get away with. It's worth bearing in mind that lots of anglers take a vast array of "justins" - "just in case I want todo some spinning, just in case I want toput a float on"... etc.In night fishing, there are virtually no "justins", I reckon to be able to get all theterminal tackle I need, including disgorgers and baiting tools in a 2pint maggot box. That sits next towhere I'm sat.

Pre-bait Paul. It sounds as though this is 'your' peg right next to where you live. If fish get accustomed to finding food in the peg then, after a few weeks of trickling the bait in, they'll be queuing up for your hookbait. Don't bait up with fishmeal/fish oil-based baits though, use something highly digestible with not too much protein in, iecorn, maggots, worms, etc. Or, if you fish there regularly, just throw all yourleft-over bait in at the end of every session.