| Scott,
When you are fishing N. Illinois lakes after dark which areas are you most productive in (ie suspended, weeds, first breakline)?
What do you look for in the area (steep dropoffs, clear water, weeds, baitfish)? And what kind of baits are you throwing?
I'm having a lot of trouble locating these critters after dark. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Scott
[email protected]
|
| Scott,
Thanks for the question. The first and most important thing I do before night fishing is make the a quick milk run during day light hours. At certain times during the summer, the weeds are so bad that you can hardly fish your baits through it. I like to get a good handle on what a spot looks like for that given day before pounding it when the sun goes down. My favorite baits for night fishing are topwater (Topraider, Globe, Creeper, Hawgwobbler); crankbaits (Depthraiders, Jake's); bucktails (Large fluted colorado blades). I concentrate mostly on three distinct areas at night:
1) Good weed flat areas adjacent to current and high boat traffic. The baitfish seem to stack up
in these areas at night. Some of my most productive areas are areas that just get blasted
during the day with boats but once things settle down, these areas hold some great fish.
2) Points or humps that have weeds on the edges and are adjacent to deep water.
3) Deep weed edges.
The best way to locate fish quickly is to mix it up. I will generally throw some quick casts over
the weeds in 4 feet of water with topwater. Then throw some quick casts with crankbaits and bucktails on the edge of the same spot. Once you have some action, adjust your methods accordingly. The quickest way to accomplish this is to have someone in the boat with you. One of you cast topwater over the shallow area and the other work the deeper edge. Keep mixing it up.
I can't stress enough to make sure your boat is clean and neat. There is nothing worse than trying to move around the boat at night with "stuff" laying all over. Position everything with positive musky attitude - thinking your going to boat a fish, it is just a matter of time. Keep a spotlight handy. I have had to use it many times when fishing the Fox Chain. With the 25 mph speed limit at night, the nose of the bigger boats will be too high for them to see over the bow. Be ready to move quickly!
Best of luck! |
