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Night fishing questions?

Gonefishing69

By Gonefishing69
in St Cloud Area Fishing Reports - Hunting - Events

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Gonefishing69 Rookie

Gonefishing69

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Was wondering if anyone has been fishing at night? And what time and for what, any info would be helpful, thank you

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Borch Grand Master

Borch

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Walleye. crappies and catfish. All depends on the lake.

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Nainoa Apprentice

Nainoa

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I'm trying to convince my wife that fish do bite at night

Winter Ice fishing is a whole lot less complicated than Summer night fishing. (In July/August I only night fish and could give a friggin' seminar!)

Ice fishing at night, you're really only going for Crappies and Walleye...

Their pattern will depend on the lake you're on and the structure you fish

An inside turn with weeds where there is a deep hole (Or the plane of the main basin, meeting the shallows is your best bet. Crappies will tend to suspend at the top end of the lower third of the water column on lakes that aren't gin clear.

I find more love from them on small baits like waxies and euro's once you get past prime time... I suspect this is because during this phase of the day they are interested in zoo plankton at that depth of the water column.

Walleye at this time seem to prefer to prowl the weedlines for small perch. I'll substitute this with the largest minnows in the bucket (Or Shiners if you've got'em)

If the bullheads start hitting fast and furious... Just go home.

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ezmoney Rookie

ezmoney

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I also ice fish after dark, from around 8 to midnight. You will find the crappies come and go through the night, and I rarely get quality eyes til after eleven o clock.

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Nainoa Apprentice

Nainoa

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I also ice fish after dark, from around 8 to midnight. You will find the crappies come and go through the night, and I rarely get quality eyes til after eleven o clock.

I find it really depends on the lake and the snow conditions/weather...

If I've got clear ice and a full moon I'll see a whole lot more crappie activity later as the night goes on.

But when it comes to Walleye (Especially on clear ice) once the moon is high in the sky/straight over head... Just like summer night fishing... You might as well go home.

Walleye just prefer to strike during the time of long shadows.

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Borch Grand Master

Borch

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But when it comes to Walleye (Especially on clear ice) once the moon is high in the sky/straight over head... Just like summer night fishing... You might as well go home.

Walleye just prefer to strike during the time of long shadows.

Funny, I have had fantastic action on the eyes when the moon gets high especially during the softwater months. Guess it's different everywhere you go. One of my favorite times to fish.

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ezmoney Rookie

ezmoney

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I agree, it must be lake, to lake. Ive found that fishing walleyes under a full moon, especially in the summer can pay off.

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Rick G Grand Master

Rick G

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Im with Borch and ezmoney on this one, by far my best outings for big walleyes come within a few days either side of the full moon phase.

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Nainoa Apprentice

Nainoa

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I agree, it must be lake, to lake. Ive found that fishing walleyes under a full moon, especially in the summer can pay off.

Full Moon, yes... For sure... For both Summer and Winter.

But when we're talking about the Moon being directly over head... I've night fished all kinds of lakes... Pretty much everything except Shield Lakes... And the moon straight over head is always the worst bite of the night compared to the moon being closer to either the rising or setting horizon.

Especially in the summer when the weed growth is giving maximum shadows for predator and prey.

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Nainoa Apprentice

Nainoa

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Pout are a completely different case. It's not like I'm purposefully targeting them night fishing so I can pattern them!

Kind of like Bullheads... They're one of those wild card fish that show up night fishing.

In fact I had once I caught what I'm 99% sure was a new state record black bullhead while night fishing. I gave it a quick and lazy measure just because it was so impressive (Just short of 20" without pinching the tail) Didn't even know the record etc...

Tossed it back...

Got home and looked up the record the next day.

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