Years ago, before I had access to a boat slip at the marina, I frequently pulled the boat to work entirely ready for the water and fish by five or 5:30. This time of year, when it gets dark at 5:30 in the afternoon, this was the only time I had to fish, but it wound up being the BEST time of the day/season to fish. My favorite time of the entire month is the full moon of December, the time of year to catch some GATOR trout, and with all the pressure on these fish, some of the big girls may get completely nocturnal. I would be putting the boat in the water when everyone would be taking theirs out, and my constant question would be, “Did you catch ‘em today?” On quite a few occasions, I would get the answer I was looking for, “We didn’t catch sheet.” That meant the fish were going to eat after dark. You see when a lot of boats are buzzing around, and on top of them, it can put them in the “lockjaw” mode. Let it turn dark, and all the “day-timers” go home; that’s when the numbers of bites increase, and some of the big girls eat.
NOTE: I can’t talk but so much smack… The most considerable speck I’ve ever caught at night was 7.75 pounds, but I have hooked up on some pretty impressive numbers. For example, one night, we had 42 good ones before there was a “limit,” so my limit was when I had a cooler FULL. Many other days/nights, I had a LARGE cooler full, for a “limit.” Of course, back then, I was selling them, so I didn’t have a problem keeping big numbers.
One of the nighttime standout colors was chartreuse, which produced more bites than anything else, and was the color I was looking for. The more I fished the (old faithful) chartreuse MirrOlure, the more I loved it. But then we discovered the Rattle Trap, and it was a complete game-changer. Not only could you keep “in touch” with it due to the resistance and/or vibration on the plug, but you could cast it into the wind and a long distance. So now I have come full circle back to fishing what they eat best of all: shrimp. A soft plastic (DOA) shrimp on a jig head the 3/8 oz. 4/0 Barefoot Jig. Tim Barefoot’s has recently added the 3/4 oz. 6/0 Barefoot Jig to his arsenal of saltwater tackle.
Primarily, I have been talking about speckled trout up to this point, but drum and snook are outstanding candidates for a night bite. All three of these species are “programmed” to eat shrimp in the current.
SALTWATER TACKLE YOU MAY WANT TO TRY:
7/0 and 11/0 J-Hook Chin Weights: Target fish include Tuna, Wahoo, Mahi or Common Dolphin, King Mackerel, Wahoo, and more. Easy to rig!
4 oz. Crab Decoy Jig: Target fish for Striped Bass, nearshore Drum, Snook, Grouper, west coast bottom fish, and more.
4 oz. Tuna Squid Decoy Jig: From the eastern, western, Alaskan, and gulf coasts, target fish include: Tuna, Dolphin, Wahoo, Fluke, Flounder, Striped Bass, Seabass, Amberjack (east coast), Yellow Tail (west coast), California White Sea Bass (west coast), Grouper, Snapper, Halibut, Ling cod, and all Alaskan bottom fish.
8 oz. - 12 oz. 10/0 Squid Decoy Jig: Catch BIG Grouper, Amberjack, Giant Stripers, and more.
