For surf guys, its commonly accepted that night fishing will produce the best results on large fish, particularly from now until the season's end. Thing is though, most people don't do it even though it provides obvious advantages to the angler seeking larger fish. Let's hear why or why not you employ this tactic when surf fishing for large bass.

I fish at night because that's when more and larger bass come into the shallows to feed. There are also fewer people around. Another good reason is that by fishing at night, I'm not competing with family time.

I can go for about 6-8 hours before I get tired/sore. Since I can't fish both day and night, I fish at night.

All my anecdotal evidence says nightime is more productive.

Other advantages:
Less people
Cooler in the summer
More private if you're catching
Easier access to sensitive areas
If you do run into anyone at 3am, chances are it's not his first time out.

I do fish at night, however, not as much as I would like......I fish alone 90 % of the time......and stories of fisherman getting jumped and the such is a bit of a turnoff.....I work 6 days a week most of the time as well....so after a few nights...I need a little rest.

99% at night.
cant make a confident cast in daylight from the surf.
Unless of course it is an active blitz...

Im ascared of the nightness .

100% night for me

large come into the shallows during a flood tide@ night looking for food

they don't come in as often during the day

I didn't know there was any other way ??

I fish, for the most part, at night. Bigger fish are more comfortable in shallow water after dark for one thing. I work during the day and have a very active social life on the weekends, so the wee hours of the morning are far more suitable. I can go 8 hrs at night thru dawn, time seems to flow by a little easier. Also it is quieter, no boats, and there is nothing more fulfilling than watching the day break over the horizon, the only sounds are the waves crashing (damn near like therapy). Its substantially cooler during the hotter months and there are far less other anglers competing in the swim. As far as the danger posed by roving bands of teenagers, I am armed, light and mobile. More importantly, at my favorite spot, I will spot trouble long before it spots me.

99% at night.
cant make a confident cast in daylight from the surf.
Unless of course it is an active blitz...

me too, even as I migrate to a boat, I will be night- dawn-dusk.

besides all the obvious advantages, it also does not get in the way of my time ith my family. they never notice Im walking around like a zombie all day.......:sleeps:

Love it! Fishing in the dark feels natural, fishing while the sun is out always throws my confidence a bit.

only at night......

all wild animals feel more safe after dark

Night Time is the Right Time.......

I cast in the daytime to see how new plugs work.

Its the only way to fish. No crowds, no spot jumpers and nobody watching you catch.:grins: :grins:

Mike, good thread, another question would be: Who only fishes the daytime?

BTW, you are over extending on your backswing :D

I know a couple of other surf guys converted to boat guys and we all are still fishing in the dark. One of the "others" said the other day: "Well, Suns up, Time to head in. The bite is always better in the dark as the bass are less wary.

Try to fish at night, but I have light sensitivity while driving. Its about 50/50, If I'm tired, I can't fish at night unless I'm going till sunrise.

I do prefer the solitude at night, and when its 90 during the day, its the only way to go. There is something awesome about getting knocked out of a trance by the sound a danny cruising the surface getting smashed.

95% night for it is the most productive time.But becuase of the kind of work I do if it rains hard I don't work, so in the spring and fall If it is a good rain storm I will fish in the day with a lighter rod.sometimes I'v had a better bite in the day then at night in a storm.sometimes not always.

90% of my fishing is @ night,there are sometimes,but mostly @ the end of the season I will fish into the sunrise but for the most part it is @ night.
Chance's of catching large bass are much greater,not many people are around to pick up on the "good spots" and it's easyer to slip out of the house when the kids are asleep:scatter:
There are so many plus's to fish @ night It works out better for me in all directions:musc:

5/0

most of my bass fishing is between 9pm and 1 am . However, since i had my kid almost 3 years ago, I have had to be extra careful about how much I go..
I have embraced this and enjoy the rare chances that i get to go even more... catching fish is just a bonus.

loosing night fishing has lead to other things though... Shore fluking.. Every once in a while in the late afternoon i will go down to the pier and chuck bucktails- today i landed a 16 incher.... not a keeper, but the thrill for me is just catching something and mastering techniques like fishing bucktails. They sure are tasty though..

I'll be back in the surf heavily at nights in a couple years... once my kid is out of diapers and is more self sufficient is my guess.

Hopefully there will still be alot of big fish around when i can fish like i used to

wow u guys really fish at night time? i should try that sometime ;)

1.) no crowds
2.) Bass don't like bright light (like the sun)
3.) see #1
4.) except for the skeeters, much more comfortable temps.
5.) Did I mention no crowds?
6.) Majority of anglers you meet are experienced enough to know what they are doing.
7.) see #1 and #5:scream:

sleep deprivation is hard on the body on the weekends, especially if you're only averaging 4.5 hours a night during the workweek.

i can't fish as hard as i used to.

i'm a wuss.

:hihi:

sleep deprivation is hard on the body on the weekends, especially if you're only averaging 4.5 hours a night during the workweek.

i can't fish as hard as i used to.

i'm a wuss.

:hihi:

You're me...One night a week, anymore than that, I crash. I sleep lightly during the week -6hrs is a coma. Changing the circadian tho is a beyotch. It'll catch me on monday at work.

me too, even as I migrate to a boat, I will be night- dawn-dusk.

besides all the obvious advantages, it also does not get in the way of my time ith my family. they never notice Im walking around like a zombie all day.......:sleeps:

It also explains you lusterous pallor

I've caught a lot of decent fish at dusk and dawn. I actually do pretty bad at night but I think that is largely due the learning curve of night fishing ie. what to use, tactics etc. I have on occasion caught some really big ones at night. I just dont go as often as I should..

I like the solitude, along with the obvious advantages the night cover provides.
Other than the catching opportunities though, I like waking at 12am and staggering down the stairs half asleep without waking my wife.:sleeps: I have this part perfected.:hee: My truck is loaded the night before with all my gear, except for one thing. Putting on my headlamp and walking around to my back deck gets my heart pumping.I check the woods for bears and boogeymen, then I reach into the livewell and select about ten eels barehanded, always watching my back. I place them in the eel pot with a little ice and I'm off. The 50-60 mile commute is usually nice and easy at this time of night.No red lights, no traffic. Its clean sailing all the way. Once you hit the water its game on until 4:30 comes around. It all happens too quickly, then its back to the grind.:kewl:

With family and work, I can't burn the candle at both ends, so I'm a daylight boat fisher most of the time. I can get up at 3:30a be home by 1pm catch good fish and still have time for the kids, if I tried the night owl route, the kids wouldn't get any dad time, I got a long life ahead of me,when the boys are grown I may migrate to the night, but until then I'll stick with seeing the sunrise shortly after I get out.

most of my bass fishing is between 9pm and 1 am . However, since i had my kid almost 3 years ago, I have had to be extra careful about how much I go..
I have embraced this and enjoy the rare chances that i get to go even more... catching fish is just a bonus.

loosing night fishing has lead to other things though... Shore fluking.. Every once in a while in the late afternoon i will go down to the pier and chuck bucktails- today i landed a 16 incher.... not a keeper, but the thrill for me is just catching something and mastering techniques like fishing bucktails. They sure are tasty though..

I'll be back in the surf heavily at nights in a couple years... once my kid is out of diapers and is more self sufficient is my guess.

Hopefully there will still be alot of big fish around when i can fish like i used to

Neb, born almost 3 yrs ago,,,,still in diapers????
Both mine were dry from 2yrs 3 mos on, dont baby him, be like a drill instructor!!!!!!!!!!!!!:hee:

well, i am clearly in the minority but i fish mostly during daylight hours...often first light and dusk...i know it is not optimal for catching large to fish non-dark hours but it is the fish going after a surface plug that has me loving being on the water when i can see ...also i think i am so dependent on fishing structure, fishing different angles, watching the plug do different things in the water...and ultimately seeing the various types of follows and hits...

Nowadays the only way to go at night is armed or with a crowd of you're own.

I used to love fishing at night, caught a lot of slobs over the years, drifting eels at night. I find vision, age and the simple fact that I'm just not as driven to catch large like I was years back; put me in the 4am-noon fishing slot. I'm driven now to get my weekly dose of salt air and bend rod; but it's more about the connection now not the quest for large.

Don't believe you can't catch keepers under a hot summer sun either, I catch some nice size keepers most trips out. Yeah they might be 15-30lbers, but to me at this age and my preference for light tackle; those are nice size keepers. I remember one day a number of years back coming back into Scituate Harbor on a cooker of a day, mid-day sweating my arse off, but I always take a few last casts around the rocks just too the north of the lighthouse. Well 95 degrees, kiddy pool temperature water and a bright sun overhead; didn't seem to bother the 25lber and few slightly smaller friends I nailed on a ledgerunner. That day I've never forgotten and I don't ignore sweat shallow cover, even if it's a hot summer day.

The only daylight fishing i see is in the fall in Montauk , I only fish night tides ./.... To many idiots out in the daytime

especially in the summer, night time is more productive and you don't run into any crowds. Starting right about now in the season, I'll be fishing a spot at night into sunrise and as soon as the sun is up, the people show up with their bait buckets. never fails.

I love fishing at night - from shore or in the kayak its the way I fish 99% of the time. There is something thats hard to describe about being out all alone in the dark standing on a rock surrounded by moving water that I love. Catching is fish is great but I see it as a bonus, even if the cathing was better during the day I think I would still spend the majority of my time fishing at night...

Love the cover of night....

especially in the summer, night time is more productive and you don't run into any crowds. Starting right about now in the season, I'll be fishing a spot at night into sunrise and as soon as the sun is up, the people show up with their bait buckets. never fails.

This about sums it up for me,, and in fact made my last day trip yesterday.. Schools Out !!!!
Its summertime full swing here at the Jersey Shore Now, Started Like ClockWork On The First Day Of Summer.............
10 Weeks Of "Fun In The Sun" ..
Not For Me,,

Hitting the late night tides is where its at - until the fall...

Is it Labor Day Yet ?????

After dark is the only time to fish if you want to catch quality stripers. Any other time of day is a related second choice.

Some spots just have nothing during the day but light up at night. If you want to fish them, then you do it. I enjoy the sunset run as much as anyone else, but night is when you can focus and, as others have said, much less people around, which makes it easier to focus for me.

it's quiet, no people, cool temps, peaceful...and I like it...something about creeping around in the dark and sticking bass does it for me.
I'm ready for a break now though....work and family are suffering.
June and fall are bigtime for the nights for me....I lay off a bit in July and Aug. to focus on the things neglected above.

I fish at night out of convenience, and now that I found a couple of suckers to go with me, I go more often. I have a one and three year old, it's difficult to justify time away from them and the wife when they are awake and I'm not working is near impossible. The fact that the fishing turns on after dark.......just a BONUS!
Other obvious reasons have been posted over and over, I think the most appealing is elbow room.