Night fishing ?

[Extex]

thru the ice - anyone ever drop a light thru a hole? We did it last summer and caught a lot of big rainbows & cutts that would cruise the plankton cloud. I am curious if anyone has tried a light thru the ice and their results. I am wanting to try it right against the weed lines for the big splake.
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[Get_Ur_Done]

You should tell me more about this dropping a light through a hole caues i might try it when i go fishing tommorrow night
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[Kent]

I have tried it at Strawberry both in the summer and the winter. At times I have felt that it helped, but at other times I wasn't too sure. I have found that it doesn't take long to drain a battery (at least with my underwater light) especially during the winter.
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[hawkeye]

Is this legal? Is this considered artificial light? It sounds like a good idea but I would hate to get ticketed.

Hawkeye
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[Kent]

Yes, it is legal unless one is underwater spearfishing.
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[Extex]

Well we dropped a sumersible light down about 10 ft and drifted or anchored at nite. The light attracted plankton and schools of bait fish & minnows which in turn attracted the bigger fish as well [cool] We would dead drift jerk baits, minnows or other bait into the area. This is a proven technique on the strippers in Powell and we tried it out last summer on a couple of lakes for the trout, looking for the bigger trout - our biggest bows of the summer came from this method.

I used to crappie fish at nite this way with a light on top attracting the bugs - the minnows after the bugs and everything else after the minnows. []

I don't know how much plankton there is in the cold waters now and if it would even work. I may try it this weekend if we stay out at nite.
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[fuzzyfisher]

i have fish fish lake at night on ice and soft water.. the splake do not seem to like the under water light as much as the rainbows do..

if i was going to be night fishing fishlake in the next week or so.. there is no way i would use a under water light..the moon is going to be brite enuf that the light is not going to alumanate the area your fishing much.. and it might spook some of the bigger fish that will be feeding as the sun go's down..

but let us know how it works tho i have been thinking of doing some night fishing under the ice with my light as well..

dude on fish?
Ron
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[Extex]

Kent - My light I got from BPS is a low energy flouresent type and last summer I used it about 6 hrs several times on a 7amp hr gel cell. Never did drain it completely. The high intensity incandesent types will drain a battery quick.

It was pretty neat to see the cloud of plankton develope and then the bows show up cruising like whales sucking up the plankton. We would flip a bait to the fish and watch their reaction. Most of the time that fish would not bite but a fish on the perimeter would slam it if it thought another fish was getting dinner - a lot of fun on the clear lakes.
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[Coldfooter]

I was also going to suggest lanterns. When we ice fish late into the wee hours in say the "Footer" we open all hatch ways and let the light from the lantern do a little magic. Last trip that stunt didnt do us a lot of good, but hey, it was a touch catch weekend all around..

Whats more,, A lot of people mistakingly believe that snow and ice block light from entering the water below the ice. Not so!
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[Kent]

[size 1]"The high intensity incandesent types will drain a battery quick." I can attest that that. TD, you know me, while ice fishing at night, I tried using both a lantern and an underwater light simultaneously! The lantern is a necessity for light and the heat doesn't hurt eitther, and dropping a light down an ice hole seemed like something to try. Guess I need to find a fluorescent one if I decide to give it another try either ice fishing or off of the side of the boat. Anyone want to buy an incandesent underwater light, cheap?[/size]
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[Bigcat]

[size 1]When I lived in CA I used to night fish with a submersible light a lot during the summer months. I have both a high output white light and a green florescent light (low battery draw) and both work well. We would drop it about ten feet below the boat and then drop a worm about 15-20 feet down (toward the edge of the light/dark border) and wait. The bait fish would swarm like crazy and then the big bows would come in. We usually did it over deeper water (sometime 100 feet deep) usually by dams because the water temp was 80 degrees and the trout would stay deep in cooler water until night. We sometimes would have 80-100 fish nights.

I added an extra deep cycle battery to my boat so that I can use lights all night long and it never did drain it down all the way. And I would usually drop a light off the front and one off the back. In the morning I still had my normal battery to start the motor and get back to the dock and my deep cycle would charge back up while I was headed back into the dock. [/size]
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[size 1]I haven't tried night fishing here in Utah but would love to try it this summer at Strawberry. Has anyone tried night fishing in the summer at Strawberry and what bait worked best. It would need to be something that would not deep hook them so you could easily release all those slot cutts. Would vertical jigging work (MGB and HA69????) Just curious. [/size]
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[Extex]

Bigcat - We used senkos and some other minnow soft baits just hooked on circle hooks and would weight it with a split shot so it would drift down slowly - cast out - rip and drift back underneath the boat for action.

The best by far was a 4 inch minnow or chub just drifted thru the water column on a circle hook - those hooks tend to hit the corners of the mouth. I need to find a better way to rig the chubs on a circle hook so they don't come off as easy or maybe spend more time finding a better plastic [sly] We caught so many one nite last year on bigger tackle I got my ultralite crappy rod out with 4 lb test and hooked several bigguns and had a blast until I got the rod stuck between a rail and the boat and pow - that rod became an ice fishing rod [mad] 20 inch cutts on ultralite gear is fun fun!

TubeDude I had a spot back home that had a brushpile sticking out of the water - we would tie the lantern into the top of the brushpile back up about 20 foot and fill the coolers full of slabs[cool]
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[fish4fish]

Could you get soem white glow glow sticks and tie them to your line a foot or so above your lure? would this work?
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[Troll]

A lantern dosn't shine directly into the water enough and will also light up your movements. We use them but inside a reflector box built of wood scraps, spray adhesive and alum foil. It does OK at aiming the light downward and if you stay behind the box the fish will not see your movements. The best thing I have come up with for Ice fishing lights is a 3 to 5 cell Mag-lite. Cut a hole slightly smaller than the lens end of the Mag in a piece of 1/2" ply and your done. Set the plywood down over a cleared ice hole next to your fishing hole and set the maglight down on the board pointing into the depths. Adjustable beam width, points right at your lure/bait, and the flashlight is always right there at hand. You can even tape a colored filter on if you want.
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[Hellsangler69]

Ice fishing at night is a blast if you can stand the cold . Had good nights and been skunked too . I just use a lantern on the ice . Never tried a light down the hole .
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[fishin4fun]

I fish at night all the time and have seen no real difference (just my opinion). I've had some night were I swore it made all the difference... others wondered if it hurt. I think it does attract fish, but if they aren't hungry, they just frustrate you more!!

I use a lantern all the time for heat and light and figure it lights up the ice/water well. Just can't say for sure if lights down the hole, in the water, etc. really matter. Who know though... fish can be weird one night, not another, that sums up fishin'.

F4F
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