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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2020
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    Night fishing for bass question

    As I said in a previous post , I use lights at night on my boat when fishing for bass on lake Cumberland. With th black light I can see my line ok but not much on the bank. When I use the green light I see the bank much better but worry that the green light may spook the bass.

    any opinions as to whether the green light spooks the bass???

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2000
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    Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
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    At Cumberland it might be a different scenario, what with the extra clear water it sometimes has .... but:

    In the distant past we used to use Moon Glow lights, which were basically just small white lights that shown thru a plastic diffusing lens. It wasn't real bright, but enough to see the bank and your lines. I doubt green lights would spook Bass, since the white lights we used back then didn't seem to ... But, there's never any way to tell whether any light spooks fish, since they're likely gone before your baits ever get to them.

    Now, if you had Livescope you might be able to see their reaction to various light colors, but if they did spook it may not even have been the light, anyway. It could just as easily have been the trolling motor prop/noise, shadow of the boat, noise from inside the boat, or even the "ping" of your electronics.

  3. #3
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    May 2012
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    I see lots of LED set ups now that have black lights and green bank lights. I would guess it makes some difference but not much. Probably less than say your trolling motor noise or moving around the boat noise. I know we have caught plenty of bass right under a submersible/floating green light fishing for crappie and walleye at night.

  4. #4
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    Aug 2008
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    Don't LM bass sleep at night?

    When I use to scuba dive at night the bass were always found sleeping. Our underwater lights would wake them up and then they would swim away. We found them tucked into the submerged weed line. The weed grew down to a depth of about 12 ft. and then stopped growing as the bottom dropped off. This was in the pits up in Linton, IN. The water was warm in the summer months and very clear in the pit we dove in that night. Most all the bass we saw were right along the edge of the weed line and when startled by our lights would swim off into the deeper water blackness. Our underwater light was the only thing that we could see. But I guess not all LM bass are sleeping at the same time if you were catching them in the darkness. Maybe you were catching the 3rd shift LM bass and the 1st shift bass that I saw were sleeping after working hard all day long.

  5. #5
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    Thanks

    Thanks for the comments!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 1969
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    Louisville, KY.
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    Quote Originally Posted by bassinrookie View Post
    As I said in a previous post , I use lights at night on my boat when fishing for bass on lake Cumberland. With th black light I can see my line ok but not much on the bank. When I use the green light I see the bank much better but worry that the green light may spook the bass.

    any opinions as to whether the green light spooks the bass???
    I have night fished for bass for decades and I never use lights. Generally at night the fishing is bottom oriented whether with spinners or jigs / plastics and what is best IMO is to develop a keen sense of feel and quick hookset reflexes rather than depending on "line watching" with lights. With that thought in mind I have learned that your rod and line are keys plus I tend to use slightly heavier weights than I might while using similar techniques during daylight hours to keep better bottom contact. I still use mono on my spinner bait rigs but I have evolved to use braid with a fluro leader on jigs / plastics for the improved sensitivity. On using quality rods I remember jig fishing years ago with a friend at night and he was popping them right and left with his new GLoomis MH casting rod as I kept missing them. He must have put a dozen in the boat while I think I may have managed to stick one although I was getting bit. He put down his jig rod to throw a spinner for a while and offered for me to try it and I put 3 in the boat in minutes although we were fishing the exact same jig I couldn't feel the bites well on my cheap a$$ rod. From that point on I have been collecting GLoomis rods (and others) for the improved sense of feel - fast action but light. Brush up on your feel and ditch the lights...

    kc

  7. #7
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    Thanks KC

    Thanks KC, very helpful. I will try without lights on my next night trip.

  8. #8
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    Oh yeah, Rookie .... I forgot to mention that back in the day when I was using the Moon Glow lights, I was also using 17# test Cortland braid (white with a green strip around it). I had to, so that I could see my line in that dim white light of the Moon Glow. And actually, I really didn't "really" need to see the line, as the braid let me know I was being bit even when my eyes were not focused on the lighted line. The only thing the Moon Glow really did was let me know how far away the bank was, and where to go to retrieve a errant cast that was hung on the bank or in a bush/tree. The rod I was using was a 7' Kunnan ... and it's still the rod I use now to "worm fish" for Bass at night.

    Oh, and don't forget : the law says you have to have your transom light on after dark (and it may offer you a dim view of the bank in the darkness of Cumberland).

    Luck2ya !!

  9. #9
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    Thanks

    Thanks crappiepoppie

  10. #10
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    Figuring out how far away the bank is

    The hardest part of night fishing along the bank if seeing how far away the bank is. The bank looks farther away at night than it is and I ended up throwing my baits on the bank more than I wanted.

    I remember going duck hunting years ago. We would get up at 3 am and be on the water an hour or so before daylight. I set up the decoys where I figured they would be about 40 yard out from the blind. When the sun came up I found the decoys were much closer to the blind. Things look different in the dark.

    I found trying to cast baits at night was more difficult. If I had to do it over again. I would use a weed less setup. A worm with the hook buried into the plastic worm making it easy to retrieve.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    London
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    The scuba diver seem to answer the question fairly well. Light woke the bass and bass swims off. Full moon, I tend to fish the dark side banks maybe a little more then the lighted banks thinking the bass like the dark better then the light. But no matter I am a black light user and will most likely keep on using one. I like seeing my line and knowing when it hits the bottom. I just like it. I want to think all you fellows on the report of the braided line and the report of the rods with such sensitive feel. Great report.

  12. #12
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    Am a blacklight user. Recently switched to braid and use blue fluorescent P-line for leader. Use about 12 foot of leader, which can be seen by bl, which I can tell how deep my bait is at all times.

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