River fishing at night??

I’ve fished the river during the day… and I’ve zig-zagged to miss logs, debris, etc., floating in the water. I’ve also driven under the Highway 52 bridge over the Mississippi and almost crapped my pants cuz that water is scary.

So, for the sake of anyone out there who shares my interest in night fishing and safety concerns fishing at night on the river, does anyone have any tips, hints, tricks or suggestions to keep us alive and safe while we go hunting for The Biggest Catfish Evar?

I can’t tell you how grateful I am for IDO and the folks on these forums. You guys do so much to help make this sport safe and fun for everyone… thank you.

Rule #1. Know your water intimately.

Watch the river levels. Rising water always means more debris in the water. I’ll translate debris = trees.

I find a good gps route to the areas invaluable.

Speed is not your friend.

Watch out for the guy that doesn’t have his lights on.

It’s a good idea to wear your PDF anytime in the boat, more so at night…even when the boat isn’t moving.

There’s more and I’m sure there will be others adding to the list.

Love your cat fishing fever Jarred!

Thanks Brian!

What about lighting? What do you guys use for “headlights”? Do you usually have a lookout in the bow watching for crap on the water?

I’m thinking about mounting 12v fog lamps on the front railings of my ‘toon for headlights. I mean, I wouldn’t THINK of driving around at night without my headlights on… why any diff for the boat?

Make sure to let someone know that you are out and what time you plan to be off the water. Also where you put in and area you plan to fish. If you end up in the water with cell phone in pocket, it will be of little use!

-J.

Go slow. Keep a spot light handy. Find a good spot and don’t move around every 10 minutes. Develop a milk run of spots. On pool 9, I often find a camping spot not to far away from where I am fishing. Take a second pair of eyes with you, tie a jug onto your anchor rope so you can just drop it quick and come back and get it. Let someone know where you are and when you’ll be back. Wear your PFD especially when you are moving. Have redundancy in your lights so if something breaks you can fix or replace on the fly. Leave all your lights on when moored. tuck in and tie up to snags. Nothing can hit you if you have cover in front of your rig.

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suggestions to keep us alive and safe while we go hunting for The Biggest Catfish Evar?

All good suggestions.
My ? is where did you spot Evar ? BK and I had him on vidio a couple 3 years ago,I cant belive he went that far up river.

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I’ve fished the river during the day… and I’ve zig-zagged to miss logs, debris, etc., floating in the water. I’ve also driven under the Highway 52 bridge over the Mississippi and almost crapped my pants cuz that water is scary.

So, for the sake of anyone out there who shares my interest in night fishing and safety concerns fishing at night on the river, does anyone have any tips, hints, tricks or suggestions to keep us alive and safe while we go hunting for The Biggest Catfish Evar?

I can’t tell you how grateful I am for IDO and the folks on these forums. You guys do so much to help make this sport safe and fun for everyone… thank you.

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Lights…Lights…Lights… These are your friend. Make sure to get a light or spot light to point out any debris in the water. We also do this from shore for casting purposes.

Like BK said – PDF’s are a must when on the river. I’d rather be uncomfortable and alive, then comfortable sinking to the bottom.

Also – get to know the river during the day. This allows you to know and understand where the shallow spots are and if there are jams you need to know about, etc. The river is everchanging, so just make sure to be on your toes while moving spots.

This is all my experience from managing the river at night in a canoe (which posses some dangers in itself).

Just keep your head on straight – have your mates keep an eye out for you also while driving and you should do just fine!

Good Fishing!

All of the above plus I like to have a super powerful hand held light, like 1 million candle power. It’s amazing how on a moonless night how a hand held lantern, say a 6v spot light seems almost worthless. With the “big” light you can spot the cans real easy – they have great reflectors on them and you can light up quite an area.

a spotlight is a must, minimum of 1.5 million candlepower. i prefer corded spotlights, and i keep a converter wire so that if my 12v outlet goes bad, i can plug directly onto my trolling battery. some people keep more then one spot in the boat, i just have a high powered flashlight with also, that if i were to need in a pinch.

things are much different at night, you need to be knowledgeable and comfortable on the body of water you are on. as in – you should know it well enough to run without a light if need be. until you are at that level, take things slow at night, so nothing “jumps out in front of you”.

i feel a GPS is a must. not that you can’t get by without it, but it makes things much, much easier. you can plan a route, or at least follow your previous trails that kept you out of harms way. plus, if you get caught in a heavy fog, it will be worth its weight in gold.

have a cell phone, and marine radio with. my personal cell is a verizon gzone phone, so if i do go overboard, it will work for me, as it is waterproof.

have plenty of bug spray, and i would also suggest investing in a thermocell – AWESOME INVENTION!!

and make sure you have plenty of gas, and charged batteries before heading out.

now go out and have some fun. the river is a great place at night, and literally zero competition.

Jared, I’m off for my cat nap but here’s a couple things to consider regarding mounting lights on your toon.

First check with the boating regulations. I “think” I read that they aren’t allowed except for docking.

Also, remember your toon/boat goes up on plane? Unless you’ll have someone on board that can adjust your lights as you’re moving they will either be too high or too low depending on the attitude of your bow.

They do make remote control lights though!

Stuart, we weren’t going to talk about that on line remember?

Night Night

bring a big spot light… i have a 3million CP handheld spot that i plug into 12v and use on the river. its great for identifying stuff floating.

but if you’re gonna run the water in the dark, you better scout it out during the day.

And don’t forget to keep all clutter off the deck….

You don’t want to be tripping over anything….

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And don’t forget to keep all clutter off the deck….
You don’t want to tripping over anything….

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For some reason, this prompted me to ask this question:

What about a flare gun? Does anyone else carry flares?

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I beleive spotlight was mentioned above. however I found a nice way to run a spotlight for extended time by having a dc plug with the attached 12v battery clips,(bought mine at radioshack) and have an extra battery that you may normally use for your trolling motor. This allows for you to move the connection from boat to boat or around the boat. Comes in real handy for landing as well. I chose to use a 15 million candle power, it might be over kill but I am not hitting logs!

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What about a flare gun? Does anyone else carry flares?

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Plan on being stranded on a deserted island?

I don’t think a flare gun would be recognized as a signal for help on a metro river. Maybe if a CO was paroling at night, but I don’t know how much of that they do at night. Just my thought.

Guides on Federal Waterways are required to have flares.

Everts has one pack of day/nights left for $32. and they’re good for 3 years. I’m not so sure they are of much use in our area, but then again….

I suppose you shoot enough off and you’ll get someone’s attention. Thanks for correcting me again Brian.

What Pug said. (missed your post old man)

If people were looking for you already, I can see them helping. Otherwise all we would get is a OOOWWWWW AHHHHH, nice fire works.

one other thing that is a must! if you don’t wear glasses, get a good pair of clear safety glasses to wear at night. the bugs can get thick on the river, and it is much better running at higher speeds with the glasses on.

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What Pug said. (missed your post old man)

If people were looking for you already, I can see them helping. Otherwise all we would get is a OOOWWWWW AHHHHH, nice fire works.

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Can we shoot one off after my 50 lber?

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I chose to use a 15 million candle power, it might be over kill but I am not hitting logs!

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Jeepers! 15 M? Do you just plug into Prairie Island on P3 or what?

Clear glasses and WOT!

Spotlight optional.