Winter Night Fishing?

[Steve Burke]

Which species do most people night fish for? Is there any species where night fishing is any better than day fishing? That sounds sarcastic as I type it but it's not meant to be, but with no night fishing experience I wouldn't know. I read magazines where people night fish for carp, eels and catfish but is the fishing any better than in the day, I don't know.

 

The only species that would temp me to night fish would be perch, but I read somewhere, possibly one of steve Burks articles where he mentions that after about an hour into darkness it's not very succesful.

 

Dave

 

That's right, Dave. There's the odd water where perch will feed at night, although sometimes even then it's only for a few seasons. In general it's a waste of time, with just the very occasional perch indeed being caught.

 

Most species will feed at night, sometimes better than during the day, sometimes not. Of those I've fished for, eels are definitely more catchable at night, but you're not likely to catch all that many at all in the winter. On waters like Wingham where there are few of them you'll catch more bream at night than during the day.

 

Like many others I don't fish all night in winter, although I do in summer. For me the dividing line is the clocks changing. It's not the cold as it's something that doesn't bother me, although the heat in summer does. It's more the long hours of darkness with nothing to see.

 

However I used to frequently fish for a few hours after dark in winter on rivers. Especially on sunny days with low, clear water then it was often better after dark for chub and roach in particular.

 

On stillwaters I've often stayed on after dark in winter when after pike, roach, rudd and chub. The latter 3 species have often fed better then than in daylight. On the stillwaters I fished the chub fishing was particularly good after dark on very cold winter nights.

[Vagabond]

Winter night fishing ?

 

Used to do a lot in my younger days, but rarely on freshwater. In those days you could catch plenty from the sea.

 

A winter's night on Dungeness beach, with a fine sleety drizzle hissing in from the east makes most freshwater winter venues seem positively tropical.

 

Chevin and I used to lie on the beach each covered with a sleeping bag - not to sleep, but so we could watch our rod tips more easily and and at the same time shelter from the wind and keep our hands from numbing. Unhooking numerous cod on a winter's night, followed by baiting up and rinsing your hands in cold sea water soon put you well on the way to frostbite.

 

No staying snug and warm in a bivvy - there was too much action.

 

Freshwater winter nights are for wimps