Night Fishing

joostan

Well-known member
Just a quick question but has anyone every done an all night boat fish? Is it worth it?
I am considering going out on Friday night (around 7pm) and fish through the night. Am I wasting my time?

Thanks
 
Myself and Jason have thought about this one also, i think the mian point is, do you feel safe and is the equipment you have on board able to aid you in the dark, things like floating wood, marker boy's and other boats all could spell disaster.

For me i would not like to think i was spending alot of time moving around out at sea but i would feel abit safer anchored on a mark (outside a shipping lane :)

For me it is a no not worth it.
 
Aye agree with Rich and Keith, the only chance you may have of pulling it off safely is if you choose a fully cloudless night and its around full moon time so as there is at least some light.
Its surprising how dark dark can be as theres not even any horizon to focus on so no chance of seeing anything in the water.
We more or less just got out there and waited for a bit of daylight .....

Mind you first light (before sunrise) is the opposite and we find this one of the best times to be out there, so long as you can see the water and the ripple and the horizon ..... but overnight .. no no unless you sit in the river, but then thats even worse for debri ...

good luck

norm
 
Always fancied travelling out at last light to a wreck over rough ground and anchoring up through the night and see what turns up. Then steam home or try some other marks once it was light.

Would rather do it on the lighter nights when there's not that many hours of darkness tho.

Even better with a couple of boats together.
 
hi mate, the thought and the ideas just fine, but its just so surprising how dark it gets , and if you had a spotlight or headlights they wouldnt show up anything as the distance to the next reflective object is just so far :)
Like being down the pit with the lamp turned off.
Another problem I had was having to turn the instruments off (especially the sounder) as even on low light settings they just blinded you and washed out everything else .... :) :) back to the drawing board ....


norm
 
hi mate, the thought and the ideas just fine, but its just so surprising how dark it gets , and if you had a spotlight or headlights they wouldnt show up anything as the distance to the next reflective object is just so far :)
Like being down the pit with the lamp turned off.
Another problem I had was having to turn the instruments off (especially the sounder) as even on low light settings they just blinded you and washed out everything else .... :) :) back to the drawing board ....


norm

The lights were not a problem as I have got enough ambient light (and head torches etc) on the boat including a 10million candle spot light, plus the instruments are LCD and run with no back light. I was going an anchor off the wrecks and have all the safety equipment (flares, VHF, life jackets, coffee, sarnies). I was just wondering if you actually catch anything or are the fish not eating at night?
 
Cod certainly feed at night, best time off the beaches is at night as the fish come in closer under darkness, a false sense of security with us lot waiting with the fishing gear. Would think that bait fishing would be best, as scent would be more of an attractor than jiggers etc at night. What about fishing rough ground closer to the shore where there might be some light off the road lights etc.....
 
night fishing

night fishing

i know some one who has done this when he was young and daft(now hes older and just as daft)however as said verrrry risky and generally fish seem to go away at last light and come back with daylight,i sure as norman said they can still be caught in darkness
 
It was just a thought and thanks all for your opinions. I think I will just go out before light then and get the best of both worlds.
 
aye, that would be interesting to hear someones elses views of how dark dark can be on a small boat ... haha instead of just mine ,,,,, :)

norm
 
Hello lads, not been posting for a while as have been away from boat fishing, had to sell my Arvor 20, i still look in all the time and read the catch reports.

I have read this post with interest.

I have done a few through the night fishes with some good success especially in june when the nights are shorter. Here are a few points you might find of some use.

First off there are two totally different feelings with boating in the dark, the first one is going out when its dark to start off with, you cant get any concept of distance as you cant see anything i.e sea state to judge swell etc. You have your plotter so you know where you are put you cant actually judge anything.

Second one is going out when its still daylight as normal so you know what is around you and you get a better feeling of distance etc, then it starts to get dark around you so its not like someone turning off the light. By now you will know what the sea is doing etc. You can then pick lit landmarks up like the shops on Cullercoats front 6 i think bright lights, or whatever landmarks your area has.

As for pot markers, good point Rich, as you will have made your way out in daylight you will have left a track on your plotter avoiding these so watch your position on the way back. Floating ropes can be a pain in daylight as well as night.

As for dark, it gets very very dark as you say Norman. In fact you wont be able to see each other in the boat unless there is a good moon.

The fishing, well in my experience i have had some frantic catches just as the sun goes down and it gets dark especially off St Marys, fish are predatory creatures so like the cover of darkness, i know its dark 100 ft down bit when the last of the light goes the fish will feed.

Another thing you will find when coming back into the tyne when its dark is trying to pick out the red navigation lights against all of the orange street lights, they seem to disappear.

Hope this helps.

Adam.
Good luck for the rest of the season.
 
I would agree with everyone else,about the dangers etc;, but I think close in, say, half a mile offshore would probably produce fish, on the fact that shore fishing produces a lot more fish in the dark, so around 30-40 feet of water would be my guess on a largish tide with a flatish sea, moonlight and some cloud which helps illuminate the sky.:)
 
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