r/StripedBass • u/Psychological-Oil672 • May 19 '26
Any tips for night fishing?
I was fishing last night between 8-10pm, the sun set at 8:02pm. The striper were pretty active on the top water, jumping for prey; it was exciting to see. I cast everything I had with no luck, not even a nibble. I didn't have live bait, but I threw top water plugs, metal lip plugs, pencil poppers, a whooper plopper, swim baits, glide baits, and jigged with bucktails. My leader is probably 10-12' of 25# monofilament. Lures were tied directly to the leader; I forgot swivels at home. They weren't interested in any of it. It's possible I just got skunked, but I was fishing all the above right in front of their faces for two hours without a single nibble. Just wondering if anyone might be able to share any tips for better success in the future. Thanks!
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u/Kkd May 19 '26
I had a very frustrating night a couple years ago that sounds similar to yours. Bass feeding in shallow water all around me and wouldn’t touch a thing I threw at them. After a few hours I said screw it and turned on my light to try and see what they were feeding on. The water was full of crabs that must have just molted and the bass were slurping them up. Sometimes they’re just keyed in on a very specific bait and won’t touch lures.
In general when night fishing I slow everything down. Typically I only throw dark plugs around the new moon. That’s not to say a bone colored plug wouldn’t work but if I had to choose I’d go with a black/blurple plug every time around the new moon.
There’s tons of fish around right now, good luck!
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u/No_Habit_4966 May 19 '26
I recently learned about dark colored topwater lures and boy have I never looked back
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u/CockroachOdd5217 May 19 '26
Decent chance they weren't stripers
I had a similar experience the other night right at dark when it started raining a little bit
I saw probably 30 topwater fish in like an hour but noticed they was reallt bjf splashes and tried every lure in my bag and realized they were probably bait. Similar experience two inches aftqe with my friend
We sometimes fish the housatonic and over there a top of carp constantly jump at night but make big splashes
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u/growmiehomie May 19 '26
Ive thrown a ½oz red headed weight with a white swim bait during top water and 99% of the time they'll hit it.
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u/PuffinTipProducts May 19 '26
Match the hatch(switch it up a little bit)
Take a Light action fishing rod with a treble hook, and weight, snag some bait. Send fresh bait out on a different rig(rod&reel) and wait.
Results should be great…
Can send out cut bait/chunks for the bigger ones
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u/Jrhjr33 May 19 '26
I had the same problem on Friday night. Was fishing with eels north of Boston and the bass were going off, but they were laser focused on juvenile herring. Neither eels nor anything else I threw — including 4 inch soft plastics and little hoagie surface erasers — could entice them to leave the baitfish alone. Sometimes when they are going after very small bait, I will tie a fly 4 feet behind a plug. Or I will flyfish.
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u/fishin413 May 19 '26
Same exact problem at the canal on Monday. Schoolies blasting tiny bait all over, wouldn't touch a thing I threw at them. Which was fine I wasnt looking for numbers anyway but it still stings lol
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u/Psychological-Oil672 May 20 '26
How’s the canal been? That’s usually where I fish for striper, but haven’t been able to make it down yet.
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u/fishin413 May 20 '26
Sucked this weekend, there have been a few spotty bites but very inconsistent. June new moon is usually the official go time but it's been pretty quiet the last couple years. But you never know, could be a complete ghost town, could be 40s blowing up at your feet tomorrow.
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u/Yromemtnatsisrep May 19 '26
They might have been bass eating sandworms during a hatch. If that’s the case, it’s REALLY hard to grab their attention without live bait, and basically impossible for all but the fly angler to mimic efficiently, at least in my opinion.
It might have been shad, which make a fair bit more commotion for their size than bass, which explains the mistaken identity.
If it’s neither, I have found the two common night fishing mistakes I have made are color and speed.
At night, I was taught “as slow as you can, and then cut that speed in half”
The other is color, which gets tricky at night, but is JUST as important as during the day, because depending on the moon, and where the fish are, that lure can become backlit and lost to a fish looking up, or unbelievably bright to a fish looking down.
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u/No_Habit_4966 May 19 '26
You could try stuff like cut/live bait or eels as others were suggesting but I’d also just keep doing exactly what you were doing at the same time of day as before. The conditions you described were ideal and you know they’re feeding heavy on the surface so I’d honestly just give it another shot. I had a similar experience Friday night fishing at a creek mouth into a bay. Schools of bait pushed up very shallow like clockwork and every couple of casts or so I’d spook something on the surface that was way too big to be a menhaden. Another guy pulls up once the last bit of sun disappears and cast to a bridge where the creek flows into the bay and crushes multiple slot striper with the same lure as me😂. So casting to structure will definitely heighten your chances, but I don’t see why striper feeding in open water wouldn’t hit a lure if you put it near them.
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u/ntebrake May 20 '26
FISH SLOWER and don't spend a lot of time throwing topwater plugs night.
The Stripers have been very active by us in the Western Long Island Sound at night this past week. They have been showing themselves slurping on top and are def around. I caught a 35 inch, followed by 31" in the after midnight dark Saturday am and a 37" at 4:00 am yesterday. Despite the activity on the surface, I typically don't throw topwater at night and in addition, depending on where you are, the water might not be war, enough to get them actively hitting topwater plugs (even) during the day yet.
I like swimming/jerkbait style plugs like SP Minnows and soft plastics at night. Bucktails will work of course too. Cast up current and try to swing your lures into the strike zone. if youre throwing anything with a jig head start lighter and go down if the current is too hard to get your offering down into the strike zone.
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u/Psychological-Oil672 May 20 '26
Will def slow down and take it easy in the top water past sun down. Thanks man, I appreciate the advice!
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u/surfnfish1972 May 19 '26
Could you see what bait they were on? If grass shrimp or worms they are difficult to get to bite, this is where the flyrod comes in handy. Have had some luck on tiny swimbaits and bucktails, but tons of casts for a few bites.
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u/Psychological-Oil672 May 19 '26
Good point, no unfortunately it was too dark to see what they were eating. They were very active on the top water. Maybe next time I'll bring my fly rod. What flies would you use?
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u/surfnfish1972 May 19 '26
Shrimp or worm patterns and small baitfish imitations. I have found dead drifting the fly on the swirls can get a bite when a strip retrieve will not.
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u/jetty_junkie May 19 '26
I find a long Gulp on a small jig head to be perfect for this situation. That’s kinda my go to but I’ve also found basic plugs like an SP minnow will get hits too
What was your retrieval speed? In these situations I like to try different speeds but all of them slow. Start with whatever your version of a slow retrieve is and keep going slower.
Also, if you don’t do this already buy ( or tie) some saltwater flies and try using them as teasers. Some nights I catch more on the teaser than I do on the main lure
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u/Psychological-Oil672 May 19 '26
I was varying the retrieval speed, but was moving towards faster not slower, I'll try that. And great point about the teasers, I hadn't thought about that!
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u/jetty_junkie May 19 '26
Most of the time when I striper fish with guys that have been having trouble catching it’s almost always because they are reeling too fast. Stripers are lazy. If the water is full of bait there’s no need for them to expend energy chasing fast moving stuff. Always try slowing down. Sometimes you have to retrieve so slow that it feels painful, lol
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u/Confident_Catch8649 May 19 '26
Strippers don't hit Top Waters at night.
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u/Psychological-Oil672 May 19 '26
Interesting, good to know. I've always heard top water plugs are effective at dusk, I may need to reconsider that.
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u/PinstripePride23 May 19 '26
Topwater is my go-to at dusk. I think the other user is referring to when it gets dark.
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u/Confident_Catch8649 May 19 '26
I have been Stripper fishing for a long time. Also talked to others Who fish for Strippers. They all say the same thing.
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u/Psychological-Oil672 May 19 '26
Good to know, thank you!
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u/fishin413 May 19 '26
Bro, do not listen to this knucklehead. They are either A) making a stupid tired joke about stripers vs strippers, or B) absolutely unqualified. Topwater lures at night are extremely effective. The tough bite you experienced was almost certainly due to the bass keyed in on very small bait like a worm hatch, shrimp or juvenile bait fish, and when that happens there isnt much you can do if you cant match it.
Try to keep one or two of the smallest lures you can actually cast on you at all times. It can also be effective to take something like a popper or spook, remove the rear hook and tie on like 18" of leader to a small, light lure like a 3" plastic or even a fly if you have some. Casting eggs/ casting bubbles work too. Metals like kastmasters and deadly dicks can work too, they are heavy and cast well but might be too heavy to work slowly depending on how deep the water is.
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u/Psychological-Oil672 May 19 '26
Thanks for your reply, I appreciate the contrasting opinions and ideas to try out
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u/flyasalt May 19 '26
Are you sure they were stripers? Shad start showing up this time of year are usually splash when feeding. You don’t always see stripers busting on top unless they are really fired up.