Night fishing is a very enjoyable experience when the proper precautions are taken to make sure the experience will not be marred by not being prepared.
To help make the trip enjoyable I offer the following tips: 1.
The light of the moon is never good enough.
Take flashlights, lanterns, or any artificial source of light.
Just remember to take spare batteries.
It is also true the older one gets the more light one needs to see what one is doing.
If you want to have some fun just try to tie any fisherman's knot in your closet with the door shut and see how you do.
It might look foolish but one of those hats that has a lantern on it is worth its weight in gold when tying the above mentioned knot or when fishing for hooks that have been swallowed.
2.
The weather almost never cooperates.
It is true you may have nights where everything goes well but they are not the norm.
Be prepared is still the best motto.
Proper clothing, properly layered will turn an otherwise trying night into one where, at least, one is comfortable while catching nothing.
Trust me.
Being cold and catching nothing is a miserable experience you will not want to repeat.
3.
Always check the weather.
Always check the weather.
This is not a typo.
It is that important.
No matter how clear the sky is when you leave the house; no matter what the paper said in the morning; check it out.
It is a good idea to carry a small radio that can get you a weather report.
Don't forget the batteries.
Plan according to the weather report but provide for unexpected events.
It is a well-known fact that, although the weathermen are always "right" mother nature sometimes just likes to makes fools of us all.
4.
I know this one will sound silly but I have found on several occasions it was a lifesaver.
Be prepared to pack up and leave at a moment's notice.
In other words be organized.
My father and I on a balmy summer's evening decided to take his boat out on Lake Mead in Nevada for a shot at some night-time fishing.
We put in at Calsville Bay and proceeded to our favorite spot in the first cove to the west.
About ten o'clock the wind from the south picked up and we found ourselves bobbing about in three to five foot swells that were driving us into the shore line.
To get back to the marina we had to go out into the lake and around the point protecting the marina.
That point is on a clear line all the way to the dam.
When the wind blows up from the south the waves can get ten feet higher or higher.
Let me tell you; nothing but the moon to steer by; huge waves crashing against the shore and running parallel to the beach made for a very exciting hour getting back.
If we had a radio with us we would have heard the high wind advisory put out earlier in the evening advising us to get off the water.
5.
While it is a good idea to have extra equipment with you and all fishermen have a tendency to take at least twice as much as they need; try to keep your tackle in such a way as to make it not only easily accessible but safely stored and handled.
Reaching into your mess of a box and trying to find your favorite nighttime lure by impaling your finger on it is never a good idea.
Much simpler to have it boxed or stored in a container.
6.
I know this one will not be popular with a lot of folks but it is crucial: Keep the consumption of alcohol down to a minimum.
I have found drinking and fishing do not mix.
Before too long one is there for the drinking not the fishing.
7.
Finally remember it is always at least twice as hard to get out of a predicament as it was to get into it.
The ratio goes up as you add in companions.
There you have it.
Have fun, be safe and go fishing!