The first time I caught a Largemouth Bass at night was on a hot Summer night in Florida.
I wasn’t expecting to catch anything but I gave it a go and went to a neighborhood canal with some plastic worms.
I rigged a purple worm Texas style and made a cast.
At first, I had no idea how a bass would be able to see my worm in the dark but I had heard I could get bites as night.
Within 15 minutes, I had a bite and caught a nice 2 pound bass. I was not a believer.
Bass fishing at night is a great summertime activity. It can also be very rewarding.
Bass often school at night and feed on baitfish.
What Color Lures To Use For Night Time Bass Fishing
When it comes to colors for nighttime bass fishing, there are many suggestions that dark colors are the way to go.
I don’t think this is the case. While black and blue can be very effective at night, white can be just as good.
I’ve had great night catches using purple worms and chartreuse spinnerbaits.
My suggestion would be to find what’s working on your body of water in the day time.
Then, at night, show up and try those exact same baits.
Chances are that you should be able to catch them at night too.
If you’re having a hard time one option is to increase the size of your soft plastics.
Summertime Bass Fishing At Night
The long summer days are great for extended trips. In the summer, soft plastic baits can be killer for nighttime bass fishing.
Think about extra large 8 – 12 inch worms in blue, black or purple flake colors.
Fish these near weed lines or in holes in the weeds. In Florida, hydrilla beds can be great for flipping huge worms on hot Summer nights.
If you’re looking to cover water, you can even swim a worm in the gaps within wed beds.
As in other seasons, in the Summer, keep an eye out for schooling bass that are feeding on baitfish.
If you hear them smashing shad or shiners, try a floating minnow, jerkbait, or swimbait.
Noisy Baits For Night Time Bass
When fishing for bass as night consider adding noise to your lures.
Even if you’re fishing normally silent baits, you can modify them for night time use.
Take a plastic work and add a glass bead after the hook. Then the bullet weight.
You can use a bobber stop a couple of inches above the bullet weight.
This will stop the bullet sinker as it slides up the line.
Then, when the bullet sinker slides back towards the bait, it will hit the glass bead and make noise.
This can be irresistible at night.
If you’re using a jig consider buying some of those small jig rattles that you can attach to your jig for added noise. You can also add one of these to a spinnerbait.
Top Night Bass Fishing Lures
Swimjigs
Swimjigs can be a great bait to try for night time bass fishing.
The thing about swimjigs is that you can fish them two ways.
You can swim them a few feet above the bottom and you can slowly drag them or hop them along the bottom too.
You can try both techniques at night. I’d recommend that you try the noisy as well as silent versions.
Sometimes in highly pressured lakes large bass can get put off by noisy baits.
So, if the moon is full and there is lots of light, I’d go for using a silent bait.
Wakebaits
Wakebaits and squarebills can also be awesome night baits for bass.
Look for the types that swim just below the surface and leave a nice v wake. Lunker bass swimming below will be able to see this or at least detect the vibrations.
Squarebills
If you’re fishing in dense weed cover, then a squarebill is a good choice.
The bill ends up acting like a weed guard. Your squarebill bumping up against weeds and then coming free can get bass to strike.
If you’re casting to very shallow water these sqaurebills can also be bumped off rocks and logs. This can also get bass to bite if they’re nearby.
Crankbaits
Crankbaits can also be used at night. Baits that dive to depths of 3 to 8 feet can be very effective on really bright nights.
If you suspect the bass are not hanging out in the shallows, give one a try.
Think about colors like white and chartreuse. The same techniques you would use in the day can be effective at night.
Swimbaits
Swimbaits near the surface are another great lure to try for night time bass. Swimbaits can create a perfect baitfish silhouette near the surface.
Bass swimming below often times strike upwards to attack a target.
Try a jerk and pause retrieve this can give bass time to strike as well as add variation to the retrieve.
The same colors you would use for crankbatis can work for swimbaits too. Try a shad pattern or white and chartreuse colors.
Lunar Phases
The lunar phases can play a big role in night bass fishing success.
Even when fishing in broad daylight, lunar phases can play a big role.
Try to fish in slot 3 days before and 3 days after the full moon.
If I had to choose, I’d pick the 3 days before the full.
These nights can be great fun. If there are no clouds it can be very bright. Once your night vision gets acclimated you may be able to see quite well on such nights.
The full moon can also be the right choice if you’re fishing very cloudy or stained water.
The additional light can be help bass find your baits. Shiny gold crankbaits with rattles or gold willow leaves can be effective on such nights.
Many anglers who fish at night buy large fluorescence lights and use fluorescent line. I find this to be mostly unnecessary. This is especially true on full moon nights.
On these nights you really don’t need all the additional lighting.
I also like to be quiet and stealthy when night fishing.
I feel that especially on pressured lakes, being stealthy can always pay off around big bass.
The new moon is another good time to target night time bass. The difference here is that it will be much darker.
If you’re fishing extremely clear water, this may be your best bet. The darkness of the new moon will help obscure your lines and presence.
Night Time Bass Fishing
Night time bass fishing can be great fun. Sometimes it seems like a whole new population of bass become active at night. It’s almost as if a bass night shift shows up.
You can also hook some real lunkers.
Try some of the same tactics you would use in the day. Just keep in mind that bass may need feed in spurts at night just like they do during the day.
Get out there and catch em all around the clock.
