night time for northerns

[woodstock60]

Last year a friend and myself stayed after sunset and iced a couple of bruiser northerns.  Im gonna spend some evenings trying for them now that the walleye fishing is over ( for my area).  Id like to hear anyones input or stories on this subject.    Thanks

[osiris]

ive only ever cought 2 slimers at night theyre not active at night where I fish

[SKaquaholic]

same thing here...I've only been out a couple times at night fishing, and this lake is predominantly pike, and those are the only two skunks I've had this year...so I don't think they are very active at night, at least around here.

[deadsmelthead]

Although a Pikes eyesight is its #1 attribute (their vision is extraordinary) it requires a good amount of sun light to work to their advantage, My best Pike days have been clear sunny days mid morning to mid afternoon..That said i would take a few things into consideration if targeting them at night like possibly looking for a clear sky bright moon phase and possibly go with some dead stinky bait to trigger some of their other senses.. I fish a lake that gets stirred up from time to time, so its like fishing in the dark in a sense.. I do 2 things keep some dead bait on standby and I Jig some rattle traps all around the location i am fishing to try and draw them into my set up... When doing this its best to keep your set up kinda tight together, since you arent going to the fish you are trying to bring them to you... I havent experimented long term with this method but I have seen a small difference in fish picked up..

[thomasthepikehunter]

Its common to get them up to an hour after sunset. I can't say I've ever got one truly at night though. I know some people say you can get them on a full moon while walleye fishing, but never consistently. From a biological standpoint, it makes sense. While they have amazing eyes, theirs do not pick up light well. A walleye, however, has ok eyes, but they seem to see just as well at night as they do in the day. Ice fishing, its even worse, because the ice blocks out some of the sun's light. I often find the very best time for pike is the last hour before sunset. I catch them all the time at sunrise, but its rarely a hot bite. They don't seem to really start up until about 10 am. Chances are, if you start fishing at night, you'll get more bass than pike.