Fishing Hole Report

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Night Fishing Equipment To Have On Hand:

• Fishing Craft
• Good Set of Boat Anchors
• Separate 12v Battery To run lights
• External Night Lights
• Underwater Lighting
• Live Bait Keeper
• Chum System
• Rod Holders
• Heavy Bait Casting Or Spinning Rig
• Insect Repellent

Night fishing for catfish can be a very rewarding fishing trip. If you follow the steps I have outlined and do some research on your own, You will be amazed how many catfish you can catch at night. Catfish feed at night and are very active, and when they get into a feeding frenzy fishing action can be incredible! Catfish have a very keen sense of smell and are attracted underwater fishing lighting. If you can put yourself in the catfish’s nightly habitat location there are some simple methods you can use to entice the cats to feed more aggressively. Before I explain these methods in detail, there are some basic night fishing setups we need to address. Fishing at night is a totally different ball game then fishing during the day.

Boat Setup for night fishing

There are some key items that are a must if you are planing a night fishing trip for catfish. The Items are as follows:, lights for inside the boat ,either battery or Coleman fuel type lanterns with two mantles. Set up your lights so they distribute light evenly inside the boat. I hang 3 halogen batter powered lights in my 20 foot pontoon. I hang two in the front, one on each side of the boat, and 1 one on my canopy on the back of my pontoon.(I have used my Coleman’s but they attract a huge amount of insects)

You also will need a secondary light on your person. This light is used for re-rigging your fishing poles. Trust me , no matter how prepared you are before your trip you will loose some tackle, from line crossovers, or snags, or fish snapping your line. (you can limit this by using heavy tackle and making sure your line is fresh) I personally use a led light that clips to the visor on my ball cap.

Your Next light source is to illuminate the surface of the water. A 12v halogen that you can clip onto the side of your boat and pivot the light source at different angles, and hook to a external 12v power source does nicely here. I personally use and adjustable halogen that I can clip to the railing on my pontoon. Direct the light at a 60 degree angle from boat to water. This will illuminate the surface.

You will need a submerged light source. You are probably asking your self right now why do I need submerged lighting? The submerged lights will generate plankton swirls that will attract bait fish. Once the bait fish start schooling The big cats will come attracted by the schools of bait fish. Underwater fishing light Underwater fishing lights can be purchased in a variety of different sizes and shapes. I use a submerged fishing light that is 4″ in dia and 36″ long.Center the submerged fishing light in the illumination pattern of the surface water lighting you just set up. Anchor your submerged lighting about 12 ” off the bottom, (without an anchor they will float on top of the water).. make sure the light completely submerged under the water. I recommend you use a 5lb weight as an anchor. If possible, anchor the submerged light about 2 to 3 ft from the boat.

You will need a secondary power source for the submerged light,surface light and the power source to operate your bait aerator. “do not use your boats power source” This will drain your battery.”you don’t want to get stuck on the lake at night right? If you take a well charged 12v marine battery as your second source it will last through the night.

I recommend you have minimum of three catfish poles pre-rigged and ready to cast out into the water.The reason I suggest this is because it’s real pain the “blank” To re-rig at night. You will end up doing it anyway , but if you have spare poles already set up, use them first before you have waist valuable time with poles out of the water.

Locating the cat’s nightly haunts

Pre-planning your night fishing trip is a must for a successful night. Every body of water is different when it comes to catfish habitat locations, but it has been my experience, that in any body of water the bigger cats roam the shore lines or back waters in search of food at night. I highly recommend you do some research on the body of water you intend to night fish for catfish on. At Minimum Get a topographical map of the area before you attempt your trip. These can be attained at any of the local bait and tackle shops in the area. (I recommend you visit one of these shops to get the local scoop anyway, if you dig deep enough these guys can pin point on the map Where to start fishing. This will save you lots of time.)

Arousing The Catfish’s Senses For A Better Catch.

Once you have your water surface lights and your submerged lights set up and ready to go you don’t even need to do the next step, you are ready to start fishing. The submerged lighting will get the schools of bait fish coming , but I take it step one step further because if you play on the catfish’s extra sensitive sense of smell you can drive the Big cats into a feeding frenzy! Ok You say how?

Well the answer is by introducing “chumming”. Chumming releases a slick of dead fish smells and fish guts that the small bait fish and catfish feed on. I use a simple very in-expense and easy to setup method of chumming. You can also purchase commercial chumming systems that you can set up.Find yourself a nylon netted bag that you close tight with a string. If you can find a netted bag that holds golf balls they work very well. This is what I use, works perfect , very inexpensive. Next , get some good size freezer bags, 3 should do for one nights trip.

Next, Purchase about 2 dozen good size chubs or cut up some other fish like small bluegill, and cut them in 1″ to 2″ slices, make sure you do this in a pan that will not drain all the juices. Fill the freezer bags pieces and juice all together, and let them sit outside in the sun all day long. Yes it will stink to high heaven by the end of the day, but that is what you want! Once you you are out on your boat, and at the position you want to fish, Place the freezer bags inside the meshed netted bag,attach a line to the bag with a small weight to get it to the bottom, then take a ice pick or knife and puncture the freezer bag many times to let the juices flow.

Now its time to fish! But before we go there lets re-visit Your catfish rigs. There are many catfish rigs you can use, and they all work in situations they are designed for. When you are fishing at night and you have submerged a lighting setup ,you want get your line about 2 ft away from the light source, approximated on the outer edges of the source’s beam.

You will be fishing only a short distance from the boat, so your rigs need to be set up to fish in close proximity to the boat. You could fish tight line with a basic catfish hook and a small sinker. Or use a slip bobber system. I prefer to use the slip bobber system.

ok I use the single hook rig. Both rigs work fine but I just have preference for the single hook rig. When I fish for other species of fish I will use a double hook rig but not when I am fishing at night for catfish.my fishing rigs for night fishing are all heavy duty. I have all open face spin cast reels spooled with 30lb test. When you do get a lunker on your line you want the tackle set up to handle the fight. You miss some smaller cats, but it’s well worth it when you catch your first 10lb plus catfish.

Night fishing for catfish baits

Blue catfish and channel catfish will eat just about anything that has an oder, and they love small suckers,small shad, bluegills alive our dead.When I am set up for a good night of catfish fishing I will use both live and dead cut bait. I will normally set one pole up with a small live gill no more that 3 inches in length. My other poles will be baited with cut bait , normally LARGE suckers 6″ or longer cut in 1″ to 2″ chunks.

Now Bait your rigs,Get Your Boat Setup and get ready for an exciting Night fishing for Catfish Trip! Once you catch a lunker 10 pounder + You will be Hooked for life! So have fun and good luck!

Mark Fleagle Webmaster. 30+ Years Of Fishing Experience Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. Click This Link To Find Out More About Night catfishing Fishing Webmasters , Need 100% Free Automated Fishing Content Instantly? Click This Link: Free Fishing Content

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