Fish at night

With crappie in a transition period and on the move, finding them in congregated groups can sometimes be a problem during October. According to Carolyn Reeves, fishing at night under lights is a simple process: you get the crappie to come to you.

“Catching crappie at night under the lights can be an extremely effective method during October,” she said. “With a little planning, it can produce some amazing results for much of the year, but especially when fish are in transition.”

Bruce and Reeves are strong believers in Hydro Glow lights. They have found the quantity of shad attracted to these lights around their anchored boat is much greater than other lights.

Reeves said that getting lots of forage fish into an area quickly, particularly threadfin shad, and keeping them there is a key to nocturnal fishing success under the lights.

“The baitfish draws the crappie to the lights, and we simply use shiner minnows at a variety of depths below the lights to catch the fish,” she said. “The key is to place the minnows at different depths until you determine the preference for the fish on a given night. Even then you need to keep experimenting because the depth preference will change as the night progresses.”

“One of the biggest mistakes fishermen make when night fishing is fishing too deep at times,” she said. “Usually it’s best to anchor in 20 to 25 feet of water, usually right on a creek-channel ledge. Many fishermen have a tendency to fish just off the bottom by a foot or two. That’s a great place to start the process, but often we’ll end up catching most of the fish in 10 feet or even less of water. When the shad really get in tight and thick around the lights, the crappie will move up to feed on them and that’s where you want your bait.”

Bruce said that where you anchor the boat is also critical.

“You certainly want to anchor in a general area where you know crappies are located, but you do not need to set up over a big brushpile,” he said. “Once it gets dark, the fish will begin to move around foraging. If you set up on a ledge, drop or hump with the Hydro Glow lights, it attracts fish as they cruise along the ledge. Having the bait congregated in big numbers makes the process simple. It is simple; if you have the bait concentrated around the lights, the crappie will come.”

Editor’s Note: This story appears as part of a feature in South Carolina Sportsman’s October issue. To ensure you don’t miss any information-packed issues, click here to have each magazine delivered right to your mail box.