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Thread: Help with Night Fishing Please

  1. #1

    Default Help with Night Fishing Please

    Hi Guys,

    I am new to this side of town (OC) and a complete newbie to the surf! but I am not going to give up lol. I have a buddy visiting today and would want to fish at night, any advise would greatly help. I just want to get us on some fish tonight and any information on spots and what to throw out will be highly appreciated, In return I will post pictures of all the fish I catch tonight with your help! lol

  2. #2

    Default

    I doubt you would get any information on spots but any beach that has fish during the day will produce at night too. I think the most effective bait would be anything with a scent like soaking macs/squid, or gulp products. I've caught fish at night with lures with action like big hammers, drop shot flukes, and hard baits. They can seem to feel the vibration coming from the lure and chase after them.

    If you aren't comfortable fishing the surf during the day, then I wouldn't recommend going at night. It can be frustrating at night since it is more difficult to see. If you do go, definitely bring a flash light. You don't want to get knocked down and pulled in by a wave you can't see so I recommend to fish at a beach that has a breakwall or jetty protecting it since the waves will be a lot smaller. There will still be those sneaker, rogue waves that catch you during the day, so you will get caught off it at night.

    Another con going at night to a spot you haven't checked out beforehand, is not being able to see the structure. It's hard/impossible to recognize it at night unless you already know it's there. Check out the sticky in the surf, harbor, bay section to learn how to surf fish. It is a great guide, and I suggest you get comfortable during the day before getting out at night. Check out old reports and research on this forum. If you do decide to go still, I hope you stay safe. It's pretty safe if you "long rod" it and soak macs/squid since you can just toss it out real quick and sit back in a safe area.

    Good luck and I hope this helps. I'm not in anyway trying to discourage you from going but just letting you know that it can be dangerous at night and nature can be scary.

    -Peter

  3. #3

    Default

    Hey Peter,

    Thanks for the advise, you are right, I surely dont wanna get dragged in by the waves. I will consider throwing out some lures and having a bait pole out there, I am planning to hit up some of the boat docs locally and try my luck there instead of the surf.



    Quote Originally Posted by ptn View Post
    I doubt you would get any information on spots but any beach that has fish during the day will produce at night too. I think the most effective bait would be anything with a scent like soaking macs/squid, or gulp products. I've caught fish at night with lures with action like big hammers, drop shot flukes, and hard baits. They can seem to feel the vibration coming from the lure and chase after them.

    If you aren't comfortable fishing the surf during the day, then I wouldn't recommend going at night. It can be frustrating at night since it is more difficult to see. If you do go, definitely bring a flash light. You don't want to get knocked down and pulled in by a wave you can't see so I recommend to fish at a beach that has a breakwall or jetty protecting it since the waves will be a lot smaller. There will still be those sneaker, rogue waves that catch you during the day, so you will get caught off it at night.

    Another con going at night to a spot you haven't checked out beforehand, is not being able to see the structure. It's hard/impossible to recognize it at night unless you already know it's there. Check out the sticky in the surf, harbor, bay section to learn how to surf fish. It is a great guide, and I suggest you get comfortable during the day before getting out at night. Check out old reports and research on this forum. If you do decide to go still, I hope you stay safe. It's pretty safe if you "long rod" it and soak macs/squid since you can just toss it out real quick and sit back in a safe area.

    Good luck and I hope this helps. I'm not in anyway trying to discourage you from going but just letting you know that it can be dangerous at night and nature can be scary.

    -Peter

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Orange County
    Posts
    100

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by MeenSlayer View Post
    Hi Guys,

    I am new to this side of town (OC) and a complete newbie to the surf! but I am not going to give up lol. I have a buddy visiting today and would want to fish at night, any advise would greatly help. I just want to get us on some fish tonight and any information on spots and what to throw out will be highly appreciated, In return I will post pictures of all the fish I catch tonight with your help! lol
    If you are just trying to get into some fish I would say go with a Carolina rig with a 2 in berkely gulp camo sandworm otherwise know as perch "crack" and fish that.

    With the full moon and grunion running you could also possibly pick up a halibut that is hanging out looking for them but you would want to fish a swim bait like a big hammer or a lucky craft jerk bait.

    As to the OC some of the more consistent spots for perch action are in between balboa pier and newport pier. It's a big stretch of beach so if you aren't getting hit move a little further down the beach and keep doing that until you get into a school
    Last edited by The_Dude; 04-16-2014 at 01:41 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Fossilized SWAT Bones
    Posts
    4,741

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    Soak bait for the "Night Predators" which include Bat rays and various shark species etc. More often than not the species you see getting caught during the day time don't go on the chew at night. Rockfish do seem to do well though like Sandies, spotties and calicos if you know of a spot where the numbers are high. But if you just want a good pull you can't go wrong with targeting bat rays. I'm not saying that there isn't a chance that you will catch other fish but in my experience it is quite an endeavor to actually target them. This is why you don't see many fishing reports written in regards to night fishing in general.
    One quick note too....be careful with night time parking here in socal. My buddy and I fished the grunion run last night and I was cool because I parked in a restaurant lot but he parked on PCH and received a ticket with a $73 bail amount...OUCH!

    If I was you...I'd stay away from the surf and hit the inside of Newport harbor. Especially in the OC this time of year because the south swell can creep up on you and you only have a few seconds to react to a shore break situation. Bad things like a good gear drenching or a shore break wrapping your legs can happen in a matter of seconds. Target the big pullers with bait or spotties around the structure with lighter gear in the harbor instead. My buddy Bam Bam and I used to hit up the peninsula during the warmer months at night. We would put out our long rods with 80lb braid and Carolina rigged circle hooks. Bait of choice was squid because everything likes squid and the circle hooks prevent gut hooking the big bat rays. We would zip tie a glow stick to the upper end of our rods and put a bell on them also as good strike indicators. Then set the drags to fairly taught to help with the circle hook action and place the rods in VERY secure sand spikes. It only takes a few seconds for a big bat to drag your rig into the drink. Then while the bait soaked we would fan out and drop shot flukes or toss swim baits making sure to not get too far from our bait rigs. Good times for sure. To increase your odds of hooking up in the harbor pay close attention to the tidal movement. Tidal movement/ current is the key to a successful outing. When the water starts to flow....It brings the harbor to life because it moves the bait around. A great site to explore the tidal movement is www.tides4fishing.com
    Just my two cents...Be safe out there!
    Last edited by bones; 04-19-2014 at 09:35 AM.

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