Catfishing at Night (cont.)

Catfishing at Night (cont.)

Tips For catfish success at night

Then, after darkness falls, start fishing the places you've marked. I usually start with dropping three or four lines, increasing depending on how well the fishing is. If the water is 25 feet or deeper with a slow current, I like to suspend my bait between a foot and a half to two feet above the bottom. Normally the water I fish isn't that deep so I let the bait float in the current a 5 o 6 inches from the sinkers. When you can't get a strike in deeper water, move on into the shallower flats. More often than not this is where the catfish will be at night. It's simply a lot easier for them to get baitfish in five feet of water than in the deeper water of the channel. And usually, that's where the baitfish will be hanging.

Knowing where to fish in the shallow water can be a challenge, but there are some factors to consider that may help. The catfish will feed into the current, and if possible try to find large schools of baitfish, and the catfish won't be far away. And have some patience, I normally give each spot at least a couple hours before I move on to the next area I've marked.

When catfishing at night it helps to keep track of the moon phases, ambient light and time of night. These things affect how the catfish feed. Catfish do not like to feed during a full moon; therefore catfishing will be poor during the full moon. This is a good time to go day fishing for bream. The best moon phase to catfish is under the new moon. The new moon provides excellent fishing all night long. In between moons the is a period of good fishing right after sunset that last maybe an hour, sometimes two. Then it picks up again about an hour before to two hours after sunrise.

Use reflective tape to mark fishing spots, hazards, creek mouths, and anything you think might help you navigate better in the dark. Make sure you remember to bring a spotlight and an extra battery. The spotlight to help you spot the tape and to help other boats see you, and the extra battery is always handy in the event the main battery runs low, or has problems. And, as always, bring a first aid kit and wear your life jackets. Ways to contact someone if something should go wrong and access to weather alerts are important too. Thunderstorms pop up quick in the summer.