full moon fishing

 Now that summer is upon us and with the next moon just a few nights away, I thought it might be a good time to gather some intel from the NWKA think-tank and share some of what works for me.
I've always been drawn out by the night. I appreciate the change in energy, the stillness, the silence, and best of all is that most of general pop is off the water.
The darkness also adds a bit of a creepy vibe that I cant help but enjoy.



That same darkness also adds a few challenges to night fishing and until lighter, water proof,less expensive,and good quality NVGs become available, we are stuck with full moons and head lamps to assist our limited natural night vision.
I try not to use my head lamp, until it is absolutely necessary, in an attempt to preserve my night vision as long as possible.
After exposure to white light, it takes most healthy individuals, up to 30minutes+ to recover and regain full function of our night eyes. Using a red light on your lamp will help decrease that time but Ive found that this only really works well when you are fishing alone (or everyone else is using red light) and once you have been exposed to flash photography you might as well go ahead and switch to the more effective bright LED light.





Another thing that I appreciate about the red light that is does not seem to attract insects as much as the white LEDs.



That is another reason that I choose not to use any lights for as long as I can.  It kind of goes without saying that light attracts swarms of insects on the water at night. A light strapped to my head gets uncomfortable and then frustrating quickly.
Casting at shadowy structures that constantly threaten snags and loss of gear, swarming insects, and a few "WHATwasTHAT!?!" moments on the water, can cause me to pack it up early and head in.

Another interesting light source that I've been using lately is the "glow stick" fishing rod (Berkley). Yes, it has attracted insects but not unbearably so, and it does interfere with my natural vision when its "on" , but when its turned off, it glows in the dark!
BRILLIANT!!





In the past few years Team Bridgeport has clipped the standard issue, old school, glow sticks onto a pfd, hat, clothing, ect, and it helps us locate each other without shouting across the water just to find out how alone you are. Add that to the glow stick rod and we become reasonably visible.



Something else that I try to be aware of is that is seems that everything that I do at night is louder. I know that this is only perceived volume, but if you believe that sound or the lack of affects the fishing, stealthier practices are advised.

Here are a few of our best of night fishing shots.










We fish shallow fresh water using a variety of lures, colors, and agents.

I hope that I was able to share something that helps anyone interested in after hours adventures and I hope this inspires those who have experience to help me out with some tactics that work for them.

That looks like so much fun!!!

Thinking about putting some green LED’s on the front sides of yak for fishing anyone have any recommendations for some good bright light strips?
May also put some blue strips in the cockpit, but mainly looking for something I could use for Walleye,Burbot, and Squidding when I go to the coast.

Thinking about putting some green LED’s on the front sides of yak for fishing anyone have any recommendations for some good bright light strips?
May also put some blue strips in the cockpit, but mainly looking for something I could use for Walleye,Burbot, and Squidding when I go to the coast.

I run the green yakpower green leds on my kayak. I really like them. They are extremely bright. I love yakpower controller. I only use the lights a couple of times a year, but use the yakpower controller all the time for my fishfinder, usb and auxiliary power ports.

Guppy Tamer I believe those were some that I had an eye on, are they the ones that you mount a plug-in jack  on the side of your yak and the light strip plugs into the jack? If so do you think that the light is bright enough to penetrate the water. I believe they were over a 100$ for 2  20” strips so my concern was how bright they are.

Yes, those are the ones I have. They are very bright as definitely penetrate the water. I'm sure it depends somewhat on water clarity, but even in murky water in sure it penetrates some. I took some pictures a while back I will try to find and post.

Thanks for the info, I am gonna order those.

Check the Coast Guard regulations for lighting motorized and non-motorized boats.  Many strip lighting colors and setups don't comply with those regulations, and if you mount those lights on a kayak you may create confusion about what the kayak is in low-light and nighttime conditions.  It would be like replacing the red tail lights on your car with green tail lights. Any confusion could result in a collision between a motorboat and your kayak, which would not be a good thing for you and your kayak.

Thanks Pmmpete, the system we are talking about I planned on getting with a splitter where I could turn on/off various electronics, and could then also have some button lights Red/Green on the front, and have control over what’s on/off from the cockpit.