I try to fish in as much moonlight as possible. Once my eyes adjust I can see where I'm casting so as not to hook up too many "tree bass", and avoid casting over places where if a bass were to bite I wouldn't have to pole in to retrieve it. I don't mind that by day where I can clearly see I won't beach the boat. But you are right, it seems the darker nights produce a more bites. Now once you get into this when fishing under moonlight you will find the same "rules" apply as when fishing under the sun. Moonlight casts shadows too, and I find mature bass love to hide in the tips of long shadows in ambush for whatever swims by. They also like to suspend on the dark side of a tree snag, like they do by day, so I try to cast to the moon so the bait travels to the fish in the shadow. I don't think they appreciate baits coming up to them from behind. For whatever reason, that casting angle works by day or night.
Black is my primary spinnerbait color at night, including black Colorado blades. They silhouette against a night sky for best visibility by bass below it. If there's the slightest chop in the water, like in daylight I prefer some noise-making in a bait to compete with the surface disturbances, sometimes tying on a buzzbait. But on calm nights with glassy smooth water I avoid noisy baits like a spinnerbait, opting for a quieter soft plastic like what I believe the noisiest to be, the ribbontail. Sometimes it is better to use a paddletail, fairly "noisy" by it's displacement of water, or a simple trick worm, the quietest. Bass have a nearly supernatural night vision, so if their environment is quiet, so will their prey be quiet, and that's what they expect, relying on all their senses to locate food. It should go without saying there is no place for noises from inside a boat. Let a tacklebox lid slap the deck...pick up and move 100 yards, for the bass there know you are there. That's where the pole comes in handy, avoiding a noisy trolling motor. I believe the dunking of the pole actually attracts curious bass, like in the old days we used to slap water with a paddle to revive a sluggish bite. When I hear a beaver slapping around I cast around it too. They draw bass, maybe because bass interpret the severe thunking as a big bass feeding. Lot of anglers leave an area where beavers are working, so maybe the bass are used to not having anglers around beavers and they let their guard down. Who knows?
I put a switch on the console light panel so I can dim the gauges, which otherwise ruin my night vision. I got stopped by the night patrol and given a warning citation for the head lights, but a call to the state headquarters got a letter saying there is no regulation covering those, and as long as the red/green nav light on the bow is visible above the head lights it is allowed. I have to carry that letter to avoid being bothered about those changes, but can still be stopped. One fact I cited to them is the many houseboats and spear fishermen using brilliant lighting that blinds other boaters if you look their way, yet nothing is being done about that. Some of the houseboats look like river boats lit up for a big party.
Jim
