Story and photography by Brian Hughes

September may be the last chance for many to take advantage of beating the heat while fishing at night.

September offers what may be considered by some a last opportunity. As a rule, the ninth month begins with summer like temperatures, and some of the warmest water temps of the year. July and August have combined to heat our lakes and as of yet there haven’t been enough cool nights to knock those temperatures back.

Daytime fishing can be tough, with fish lackadaisical. Milling around, suspended over structure, daytime fish can be both hard to locate, and hard to entice. However, we have an answer. September may be our last chance to take advantage as we night fishing.

Fishing at night is not for everybody. Some folks just don’t have the desire. As far as fish are concerned, night time can be the fight time. And I don’t just mean bass. Many anglers in the know will set up for catfish, sand bass, stripers and crappie at night, as well as bass. As for me, I’ve always really enjoyed catching bass at night as it can be so much fun.

You can’t always see the bait so when a fish blows up on a topwater, or smashes that spinnerbait it can really be a jolt! Additionally, you can never be sure at first what you actually caught. The two biggest catfish I have landed both came while night fishing for bass, one on a spinnerbait, the other on a 10” Power Worm. Night fishing has a lot going for it so let’s take a deeper look.

Safety

I want to start with some tips about safety at night. First, don’t go alone. I used to do it a lot, but it’s just not a good idea. If something does happen you’ve got absolutely no plan B, no backup. Fall out, you’re on your own. Maybe you can get back in the boat, but maybe you can’t.

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