Moon Phases, Sound, Scent and Other Factors to Enhance Night Bassing

Night Fishing Tips with Josh Bertrand

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Fall 2019

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TURN ON ELECTRONICS

I definitely use my electronics at night, especially when I am fishing offshore structure spots. If there are areas that I’m trying to be super-stealthy, I will turn them down. I will turn them completely off, if I’m flipping the bank.

LAST BIT O’ ADVICE

TRY NOT TO OVERTHINK IT! Nighttime fishing is still just fishing. You are literally doing the same thing you do during the day. If you just go out to the same places you would in the daytime and do the same things you do during the day, you will have success.

SHADE IS STILL A FACTOR

The moonlight creates shade, just as the sunlight does and a shade line is a good fishable pattern day or night. The shade can be just like having a mud line. It is something that you should key on.

As the moon is rising, it can create shadows, up to five-feet off the banks and that is something to pay attention to. You can run it almost the same as a daytime shade line pattern.

If you are forced to fish at night, without a moon, one of the patterns that you can get on pretty easy is shade lines from artificial light, using marinas, boat ramps and residential areas. Those are areas where you can have active fish, all evening long, all through the summer, even when there is no moon.

COME PREPARED. Make sure that everything is in good working condition on your boat, all your lights are functioning, and you have a backup spotlight, because that’s what’s going to get you home.

KEEP IT SIMPLE, only having a couple of rods out with each of those techniques we talked about will limit the things you have to find in the dark.

WEAR GLASSES. When you get snagged and something comes flying back at you, you won’t be able to see it. If you cannot see it, you cannot really react to it by ducking or moving. Glasses can protect your eyes from flying objects. •

Photo: Garrick Dixon

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