VineAssist
07-21-2011, 07:01 PM
Felt that it was time for this kind of thread with the recent explosion of bass boats coming out to the lake in recent weeks. Fishing here at Irvine Lake at night can be quite intimidating for the first timer or even someone not experinced at fishing a night time pattern. In this thread I will basically break down how to approach a typical night time at the Vine from the hours of 5pm until 11:45pm.
5:00pm-6:00pm
This is the time that typically a lot of boaters are either leaving the lake or just getting on the lake. This is the time of day that I will typically run the lake and look around for signs such as birds working shad, boils etch. If I dont see any boils are such I am going to go to my confidence spots. Spots that I know will have fish! At Irvine Lake this would be points with chunck rock on them and the red clay cliffs. Throwing a jig or a worm is a sure fire way to figure out what is going on down there. For me a jig is confidence bait so I would start with that. I would slowly work the jig downhill this time of year and feel my way down the point trying to feel as much of the point as possible. This will come in handy later in the night! If I do get a couple of fish during this breif time great during this part of the trip I am mainly trying to feel what the points are like and get to know them by braile per say.
6:30-8:00 or sundown maybe even a little after
This is the time you will want to be burning up water. This is when I go in search of those topwater, crankbait, more aggressive high 5 on the trolling motor type bites. This is also a time when you can hang a big one if you are fishing the right baits! For me this is the time that I will bust out a double bladed buzzbait (helps me slow down) or a zara spook type bait. With these two baits I am going to look to cover water and not really give the fish opportunity to key in on the bait. I want them to react! You can catch good number of fish on these two baits as well as a giant. If there was a ton of grass matted on top or water lilly I might try and throw a frog around looking for a big fish but that would be up dependent on the weed levels.
8:00-9:30
This is the time of day when I will either continue to throw the buzzbait or go to secoundary points. If the buzzbait bite is good I will continue to thow it or go to a jig and a big worm on the secoundary points. For a jig I would use a 3/8oz to 5/8oz jig with a big bulky trailer. I want to move as much water as possible and get the attention of the fish. Some of the bites you can get doing this will rip the rod out of your hands. If they arent really intrested in the jig I would go to the big worm. When I say a big worm I mean a 10" to 12" Berkley Powerworm (ribbontail) or a 12" to 13" Uptons Customs or Sweetwater style worm. When I fish these big worms I stick with a 3/16 to 1/4oz brass or tungsten style bullet weight with a 8mm faceted glass bead and a 4/0 EWG style hook. I want to work this super slow trying to feel everything.
10:00-11:30
This is when I return to those confidence spots with the same jig and big worm that I discussed earlier. I want to find those sweet spots on the point that where sticky and felt fishy. I want to work this really methodically trying cover every square inch of the point. Some big fish will come around and start feeding or stage up for the morning and they will be vunerable now. When I get bit now I am going to get that fish away from the cover and make it an open water game.
11:30-11:45
This is a time when I am going to headback to the barn and make a few casts around the boat docks or boat ramps with a frog or a buzzbait. Its quite common for fish to hang around these areas eating animals or bait that has been banged around by all the ruckus goin on at the docks. Also a lot of fish get released in marinas and such there is a good chance some of them will stick around.
There are some techniques that can be substitued for others. If I was after a trophy sized fish say 7lbs and above this breakdown would change dramatically! Hope these few tips and tricks help the bass fisheman on the water
5:00pm-6:00pm
This is the time that typically a lot of boaters are either leaving the lake or just getting on the lake. This is the time of day that I will typically run the lake and look around for signs such as birds working shad, boils etch. If I dont see any boils are such I am going to go to my confidence spots. Spots that I know will have fish! At Irvine Lake this would be points with chunck rock on them and the red clay cliffs. Throwing a jig or a worm is a sure fire way to figure out what is going on down there. For me a jig is confidence bait so I would start with that. I would slowly work the jig downhill this time of year and feel my way down the point trying to feel as much of the point as possible. This will come in handy later in the night! If I do get a couple of fish during this breif time great during this part of the trip I am mainly trying to feel what the points are like and get to know them by braile per say.
6:30-8:00 or sundown maybe even a little after
This is the time you will want to be burning up water. This is when I go in search of those topwater, crankbait, more aggressive high 5 on the trolling motor type bites. This is also a time when you can hang a big one if you are fishing the right baits! For me this is the time that I will bust out a double bladed buzzbait (helps me slow down) or a zara spook type bait. With these two baits I am going to look to cover water and not really give the fish opportunity to key in on the bait. I want them to react! You can catch good number of fish on these two baits as well as a giant. If there was a ton of grass matted on top or water lilly I might try and throw a frog around looking for a big fish but that would be up dependent on the weed levels.
8:00-9:30
This is the time of day when I will either continue to throw the buzzbait or go to secoundary points. If the buzzbait bite is good I will continue to thow it or go to a jig and a big worm on the secoundary points. For a jig I would use a 3/8oz to 5/8oz jig with a big bulky trailer. I want to move as much water as possible and get the attention of the fish. Some of the bites you can get doing this will rip the rod out of your hands. If they arent really intrested in the jig I would go to the big worm. When I say a big worm I mean a 10" to 12" Berkley Powerworm (ribbontail) or a 12" to 13" Uptons Customs or Sweetwater style worm. When I fish these big worms I stick with a 3/16 to 1/4oz brass or tungsten style bullet weight with a 8mm faceted glass bead and a 4/0 EWG style hook. I want to work this super slow trying to feel everything.
10:00-11:30
This is when I return to those confidence spots with the same jig and big worm that I discussed earlier. I want to find those sweet spots on the point that where sticky and felt fishy. I want to work this really methodically trying cover every square inch of the point. Some big fish will come around and start feeding or stage up for the morning and they will be vunerable now. When I get bit now I am going to get that fish away from the cover and make it an open water game.
11:30-11:45
This is a time when I am going to headback to the barn and make a few casts around the boat docks or boat ramps with a frog or a buzzbait. Its quite common for fish to hang around these areas eating animals or bait that has been banged around by all the ruckus goin on at the docks. Also a lot of fish get released in marinas and such there is a good chance some of them will stick around.
There are some techniques that can be substitued for others. If I was after a trophy sized fish say 7lbs and above this breakdown would change dramatically! Hope these few tips and tricks help the bass fisheman on the water