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Wake baits or rat type baits are also popular and productive. “I like to put my Daiwa reel on a stiff, 8 ft Daiwa Zillion Swimbait rod and tie on a custom-painted, jointed wake bait,” Lain said. “At night, the largest bass in the lake are looking for an easy meal and a wake bait looks like a rat swimming across the surface.”
Lain targets flats with deepwater access and long sloping points to throw his wake baits, fishing uphill to create a funnel ambush zone for the bass to attack his lures. He also favors quarry-style rocks that can be found along the three dams that make up Diamond Valley Lake. The dams offer great ambush zones to chuck a wake bait up around shallow rocky banks.
Nitro Boats pro Todd Woods also enjoys fishing after dark. “A 10 inch black Berkley Power Worm is one of my favorite lures for night bass fishing. For some reason nighttime bass really love big worms
dragged on the
bottom,” he stated.
In addition to the Power Worm, Woods likes a 7 inch, black Senko on 15 lb Hi-Seas fluorocarbon with either a ¼ or ½ once Pro-Tungsten bullet weight. His gear for this presentation includes a 7’2’’, heavy Daiwa Tatula rod with a matching 7:2 gear ratio Daiwa Tatula reel. “I like a high speed reel because you will be amazed at how fast a bass at night can pick up your bait at take off with it,” said Woods. “A faster reel let’s me catch up to the fish, before I miss it.”
In addition to using topwater baits and huge plastic worms, some anglers target nighttime bass with an array of deep diving crankbaits such as a Norman DD22 or Strike King XD10.
Anglers should be encouraged to keep lure colors simple. Most experienced night anglers will suggest sticking with dark colors such as black, blue or reds. A bass is more likely to notice a dark colored lure at night. Using dark colors makes it easier for the bass to actually see the lure rather than just feel its vibrations
through its lateral lines.
Evergreen Wake Bait, Jackall Mikey Senior, Black Buzzbait, and River2Sea Whopper Plopper
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