A lot of people feel just a little bit uncomfortable freshwater fishing at night, as one fisherman told me, 'even bass need to get some shut eye!' Though truth be known, night time largemouth bass fishing can be just as fruitful if not more so than during daylight hours.
I think its common knowledge that the best time to fish for almost all freshwater fish is either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Although not that many freshwater anglers are concerned with the 'why'.
Bass are by their very nature are ambush predators, they love to lay in wait ready to ambush their next meal. Therefore to ambush prey they have to find ways to keep themselves concealed and out of plain sight.
So one could say that bright light is a bass's worst enemy, because light obviously makes them highly visible to their prey.
This is why you can expect better results fishing for largemouth bass early in the morning when its still relatively dark and late in afternoon or early evening when the sun doesn't penetrate the water so much. Largemouth Bass use the lack of light to help remain concealed, not only to help them to ambush prey but also to help them from becoming prey themselves from larger predators.
Thats why if your out largemouth bass fishing at the brightest part of the day, its always best to fish on and around the fringes of thick well shaded cover or use a deep diving crankbait and fish in deep water where the water is darker.
Better still you can fish at night!
Largemouth Bass Fishing at night can be surprisingly fruitful especially when you understand how the water environment differs at night and how largemouth behave differently after the sun goes down.
Obviously at night there is very little light, even on a clear nights full moon there is very little light in the water column even in shallow water. As a result largemouth bass feel a lot more confident and secure about venturing further to find a meal or even just to explore.
During the cloak of darkness largemouth will also respond better to sound, whether that be the rattle of your lure or the sound of your lure landing on the waters surface from a cast. Because a bass won't be able to rely so much on its visual acuity it will simply switch to its senses it can use in near darkness which of course is sound and the detection of vibration.
Also when a largemouth bass encounters what it thinks just might be prey, it will be much more ready to strike without visually re-affirming that the object its actually an acceptable food source.
All this is great news for those adventerous enough to try largemouth bass fishing at night, as even the oldest, wisest and of course largest largemouth bass will be much more ready to lower its guard and take a swipe at anything it thinks might make a tasty treat.
Some tips for Largemouth Bass Fishing at Night
Use a dark lure - Black freshwater lures are best at night, you want a lure that is going to make the strongest silhouette in low light.
Use a lure with a loud rattle - because the fish can't rely on their visual acuity you have to offer something else to entice them out.
Fish near or around light sources - fishing around a dimly lit pier provides just enough light in the water for predatory fish to see that something is there.
Fish around known cover - if you have fished the area before and are familiar with the cover, chances are fishing the same cover at night could provide you with larger fish.
John Salamon has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to freshwater fishing and freshwater lures. For more informative articles on the latest freshwater lures available and some great freshwater fishing techniques visit the Freshwater Lures website.
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