After Hours: Bassin in the Moon Light
Everything gets hotter when the sun goes down. Perhaps Kenny Chesney was singing about nighttime bass fishing.
Targeting bass at night is a totally different vibe compared to daytime fishing. While it is calm and quiet, they are active and feeding hard after sunset!- Dylan Grubb
One of the best patterns of the best bass fishing patterns is slept-on, literally! The twilight hours of the middle of the night offer oftentimes the best and most consistent fishing of summertime bassin. When the summer sun is hot, the sun is high, and the lake is alive with pleasure boaters, many anglers can struggle with consistent and quality bites.
Dylan Grubb is a bass fishing mad man, and licensed captain. Across the internet, he is best known as the Extreme Outdoorsmen. In his time and experience on the water, he learned to love night fishing by mastering his approach and understanding since he was young.
Why is it that bass feed at night? There are several ideas and theories behind it. During the summer, the sun is out and intense for a majority of a 24 hour day. The lakes are alive with anglers and pleasure boaters. With boats zipping around, unappealing baits being seen, and a sun beating down, bass are on high alert with all of the commotion in their environment. When the sun sets, there is far less pressure in general. The lake is quieter, the air is calm, and experienced anglers believe that it helps the fish chill out, feel safe, and feed more naturally.
Die-hard nighttime bass anglers believe that some bass just operate like they are on third shift. Like some people, it is just when they are active and eating!
Will Shier, @MichiganBassMan, appreciates all things bassin, especially after hours!
What plays into why some of the bigger fish of the season are caught at night is within the room for error. Big fish are not foolish. They see baits, analyze, and become wise to withdraw a strike. Under the low light under the moon, it is darker and there becomes more room for error on their part. These fish are often actively hunting with the intent to eat. In the dark, these bigger bass that are smart and may have seen a lot of baits will make mistakes because they are relying on using their lateral lines and feeling the bait rather than inspecting it thoroughly beforehand with their eyes.
Largemouth bass have stellar vision, far beyond how humans can see. Lacking eyelids, the long summer days under a bright, hot sun can push fish deeper and offshore, making them challenging to target. There will always be residential bass living shallow around cover, but those that move out and deeper will come to the shallows to eat.
Bass can survive in dirty water or clean water, either using their vision or their laterial line to feel. At night they will be relying more on feeling the bait, then using their eyes to hone in and chase it down. Clear or stained water is always better than dirty water when fishing at night.
When the sun sets, the bigger fish are feeding! Dean Grubb showing off a great largemouth that was caught on a recent night trip.
Fish can be caught anywhere, but some spots are always going to be better. Depending on factors, high-potential areas for night fishing bass are going to be adjacent to deeper water, have some form of cover (grass, seawalls, rocks, etc.), points. Night lights or reflections of light shining on the water are always worth a shot. Bass are smart predators and will use anything they can to their advantage to scope out their next meal.
This is often an experience in fishing where things can happen quicky in the right spot. Imagine nothing for a half hour and then rallying three nice fish on four casts in one particular area! That is the magic of it.
If you want to start, begin looking in water 10’ and shallower. If you want to dial in, look for cover that can draw fish into the area. If you want to really focus, look for high-potential areas. Don’t hesitate to leave one of these spots for another and come back later. These spots will reload or eventually have fish coming through.
Tip: like in other forms of power fishing, make sure to vary the retrieve with pauses, pops, speed-ups, and slowdowns to play to their preference.
On timing, the best time of the night is generally after the sun has gone down and things get dark. An hour past sunset is often when things pick up. It will take time for fish to feel secure to move in from the depths.
Mike Lipinski with a big smile for a big bass during his fit ever nighttime outing!
The best baits to use at night are ones that have a bold action. 99% of the time, this is power fishing. The bass are aggressive and feeding hard. Anglers have the ability to fish fast and cover water.
Remember when we mentioned how bass use their feeling in their lateral line to detect prey? Baits that have hard action and give off vibration are the best option! Something with a lot of thump and water displacement can be detected much easier by a bass compared to a bait that is small and minimal in action.
Bladed jigs and spinnerbaits are the most popular for nighttime success- especially Colorado blades that provide a good Thump and vibration. Wake baits, jigs, swimbaits, and even topwater options, like a plopper or buzzbait, are all great to have close on hand.
Experienced nighttime anglers will agree that largemouth hit the bait differently at night. Because they are primarily using their lateral line and senses to detect a bait moving through water, they will follow behind and track it. This resulting in feeling the weight load up and a higher significance of strikes close to the end of the cast. A single-shank stinger hook, like those used on spinnerbaits, are an insurance policy for ensure more hook-ups lead to fish landed.
One of the interesting things about how bass feed at night is the excellent fish-to-landing ratio. Rather than charging the lure from the side, bass often track it from behind before committing to the strike. As they close their mouth on the bait, the hooks frequently catch the front of the upper jaw or snout. Because the hook placement is solid, these fish often have very little chance of throwing the hook during the fight.
Editors’ picks: Bladed Jig: Berkley Slobber Knocker, Spinnerbait: Booyah Covert Nighttime Series, Wake Bait: Spro BBZ Rat.
Wake Baits are known to be bold and push a lot of water, making the Spro BBZ Rat a stellar choice for night fishing ambitious, feeding bass.
In nighttime fishing, Darker lures, like blacks and blues, are the go-to option of confidence for many. While it may seem counterintuitive because it is already dark outside, but that is not the case! It is all about the silhouette. Dark colors create a hard silhouette against the lighter background that is the starlit sky or moonlight. The darker tone maximizes the contrast and sticks out a lot better than other options where light will pass through.
“I always tie on moving baits that create vibration and noise. My go-to night baits are a black and blue Z-Man Jackhammer Chatterbait and a big purple Colorado-bladed spinnerbait. Those thumping blades and strong profiles help bass find the bait in the dark.”
(L-R) Z-Man Original Chatter Bait, Booyah Covert Nighttime Series, Berkley Sobber Knocker, and the Berkley Power Blade Spinnerbait.
Medium-heavy powered outfits work best when power fishing active search baits. A MH allows the ability to handle vibrating baits that have a lot of commotion while also being able to effectively detect bites and fight fish. Dylan Grubb uses a 7’6” Fitzgerald Fishing rod for long, accurate casts, comfort, and confidence.
There are so many fishing patterns of the year and with so many summertime activities, it is understood why late night largemouth fishing is either overlooked and not taken seriously as an option. It does not take long to ‘get it’ once you have experienced what its all about. It’s a different and thrilling experience where the fish are active and the results show for it!
Captain Dylan Grubb is a licensed guide that specializes in bass fishing. If you are interested in a Lake St Clair smallmouth or nighttime bass fishing trip, visit his website. Stay up to date with his social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and YouTube. Thank you so much for the input for this article, Dylan! Always glad to see people give nighttime bassin the love and appreciation it deserves.
