When is night time, night time?

[underwaterimage]

OK another daft question from this newbie to fishing. Ive been to Shoreham arm five times (all during the day on the flood tide) and blanked three off them. All the regulars are saying go at night time, so.... Does that mean as soon as the sun dissapears, or a good few hours into the inky blackness?

[Spur-Hound]

This is a popular opinion and realy can help boost catches, ANd no it doesent have to be pitch black, SOmetimes the fishing can go mad the 2 hours iether side of the sun going down,Cos even then there is very little light shining on the water,So many times ive been fishing and right through the day ive been only getting a few, But just as the sun dipps, they go mental, And on one occasion i ended up catching 50 odd fish just in the hour the sun went down(mainly haddies and whiting)Coincidence??? doubt it. I think for some species it would be better to be pitch black right enough.

 

The smaller fish feel more secure to come out and feed in the darkness to avoid predators, and i soppose the predators click onto this and follow in around darkness. This goes for fishing daytime aswell in shallower marks, Dull gloomy days are often more productive than when the sun is blazing down. You read and see about all the animals on our planet that are most active at night, especialy for feeding, I guess fish are the same. Also remember though a lion would not reject an easy meal just because its daytime, So iether would fish.

[arthurcodsbody]

Try to time your arrival when the best tides are an hour or so after darkness then arrive while its still light just before sunset it helps to set up in the light especially for someone reansonably new to fishing, you'll then be fishing well into darkness anyway. Obviously this all depends on the tides so one thing I would suggests is a good head light.

Matt

[FearTheHands]

Being a relative novice myself, this is something I found out (luckily) very quickly.

 

Float fishing from a pier and at West Bexington the bites were very few & far between until an hour before sunset & a good hour afterwards.

I was literally yanking them out on each & every cast so it most definitely is NOT an old wives tale!

[underwaterimage]

This is all good news, i hopefully see an end to my blanking run then.

[maximo]

best of luck im just about nocturnal through the winter.

and as was said above try and get down just before dark to get ready after a few times it wont be necessary.

get a decent light as well.

you should definitely catch more.

[Guest jay_con]

Depends what type of fish your after. With cod it would appear to be the more flood tide you have in darkness hours the better. But, as im sure someone else will point out, there are many exceptions to that rule. If the water is heavily coloured then that is just one of many situation when what I have just said goes out the window.

 

Many cod anglers hate big bright full moons. The best angler I know says he doesnt mind (whats he know that I dont?). As a general rule we get less fish on nights with a big bright moon.

[Socksy Squirrel]

Easy,it is night time when the pouting come out to play

[maximo]

i would agree with the full moon but i always seem to struggle on clear nights when the stars are clearly visible.you often see a lot of shooting stars on these nights but they dont bring me luck.even when a good sea is on it seems to put the fish off,maybe pressure related .

pouting ive had two this year,never caught one on west coast before .

[kentangler]

Daytime is OK if the water is very stirred up and coloured. Sunny or bright days can be OK for certain species during the cooler months, ie. flatties, use coloured beads or sequins near the hook, or a flounder spoon or small baited spinner for most flatties. summer bright days are mostly useless. Very dark cloudy days are nearly as good as dark. Best time to start fishing is one hour before sunset, and on as far as you like into the night. Never had much luck myself at dawn. Dusk seems to be better.