Crappie Night Fishing

If you’re fishing out of a boat, there will be more things that can cause a nightmare than if you’re fishing from a dock.

I guess my biggest thing that comes to my mind when night boat fishing is that you do not want to have to travel 20 miles down or up the lake to fish.

Stop and think; it is dark and who knows what dangers are lurking in the water like stumps, trees, trash, sandbars, or just plain low water.

You want to try and find a place during the daylight hours that is not far from the launch site if possible, such as a brush pile.

Bridges are great as long as it has at least 25 feet of water or close to it. I say this so you can still go after crappie after they spawn and into the summer.

This way, it will give you a lot of water to adjust to the depth of what crappie like and still catch them like crazy. I have been out at night and seen some bridges that look like little cities with all the crappie fishing going on.

Make sure you let someone know where you’re going to be and what time you will be returning and take a buddy. If you’re catching them like crazy and you know that you will return later than agreed time, call and let the folks know.

O.K., let's get everything that you’re going to need.

First of all, the night that you’re going make sure that the battery charger is plugged in during the day and you’re charging those batteries up to the max while getting everything else ready for the fishing trip.

I highly recommend the crappie floating lights, at least two of them.

There are a lot of different types on the market which I have showed you in the picture. These are used to attract the bait fish and we all know when they show up, the big fish will follow.

If you missed the article on the Brand New Crappie Candle, go back and read up on it. Crappie night fishing is a perfect place for it.

Now a lot of guys like to use the boat batteries for the power supply, but I have found that a lawn mower battery is smaller and does not weigh that much. I have one for each of the lights I’ve placed in the front, middle and rear of the boat.

The front and rear batteries are for the floating lights and the middle one is for my black light. I use the black light because I like to use 8# fluorescent fishing line. That way it shows up real good under the black light.

The Boat will have Lifejackets that must be worn at all times most of all after dark. Stop and think; you can't see that good at night and no one else will be able to see any better.

Rod holders if you do not want to trust laying them in the boat against the side wall, here again stop and think we are not just taking Crappie.

Bass and catfish also will show up for a free meal and you might just lose a pole or two. Rod holders will secure your rod and give you that extra few seconds to get to the pole, and don't forget you are only allow five poles out unless you have company. Check the state regulations for your area to verify what the laws allows in your area of the country.

I like to have two anchors that way I can keep the boat from swinging if the winds pick up at night; one for the front and one for the back of the boat and enough line to tie onto the anchors. I do not recommend you tying up to the bridge because someone in their boat might come running by after dark and you don't want to hang them.

Flash lights with extra batteries or you can use the ones that I talked about in other articles that attach to your hat. If you missed that go back and read it.

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