I don’t have much experience pitching blades, I’ll leave that mostly alone but the same concept applies for jigs only perhaps different equipment/line choices.
You need to master pitching during the day before knowing what’s really going on at night. Wind is your main factor for distance, then current. The single goal is putting your lure into the strike zone for as long as possible and just as important especially in cold water, at the right speed. Daylight pitching will let you know where your line is. And it all starts on the cast.
Different line will impart different actions on your lure, and when I say actions i specifically mean how it will travel thru the water column in current. Thicker line will allow your lure to be dragged and will create more lift, love some 8# copolymer or 20# braid in shallow cold water <8′, cold water imo those fish want that plastic to be presented ever so slowly, and it allows your bait to flutter in those spot on spots that much longer. But when you start pitching farther, and into deeper water that line works against you. 832 and PP imo have lots of drag, 832 being the worst, and when you’re pitching out all that water/current is going to drag your bait up and out of that zone more than a thinner slicker line.
Wind is also really important to factor into the drag equation as well. Our jigs want to be on the straightest line from knot to rod tip to maintain sensitivity for bottom, bites, and if your setup is sensitive enough to feel what the bottom is, and if you have caught a leaf or chunk of river gunk. If your line is dragging in the water behind jig, add in a lil wind dragging your line even more so out of that straight line it doesn’t matter how expensive your rod is, you’re not gonna feel crap. Even before that jig has even fallen to bottom I’m already doing what I can to keep that straight line present. Knowing what the current is doing, where it’s going, where the seam is, where the eddy is behind it possibly, and each cast tries to maximize putting that slack line where I want it to lay in line for when that jig hits bottom, then when the jig hits water I let it sink for a second and smack my rod close to the water taking out all the slack, again doing what I can to take all the bow out of the line from knot to tip before that jig has even sunk a few feet down.
Heavier jigs will give you more feel, helpful in windy conditions, as well as putting a plastic on that will create more drag to help keep that line taunt, paddletails, bfshin products are good w the ribbed bodies, love my ringworms but with a small tail they tend to snake thru the water, if conditions are calm or if casting not far its not much of a concern. Shape of jigs is also a big factor. Fireball jigs drag more than pill shaped (vmc mooneyes), pill shaped faster than teardrop, etc. Choose the correct jig type for where you’re fishing, and what type of plastic you’ll have on. More drag from the lure itself the easier it will be to maintain good feel. Too heavy and you’re dragging bottom(which isn’t always a bad thign), and snagging crap every other cast or breaking off.
Another big point is learn to feel the presentation. I hate lights at night and anyone whos fished with me will attest to me making comments of why all the lights at some point during our excursion. You have to gain a feel for the pitch. So many are concentrating on their rod tips, on the water, on the sky, birds, other anglers etc they aren’t actually focusing all their energy into that singular lure somewhere in the water. Know where that lure is, visualize what it’s doing out there, forget all the depth charts, sonar returns, blah blah blah and map out in your brain exactly where you’re casting to and where your lure is on it. See each rock it bumps into, see each snag you break off of, and know how to sneak your way in and out of each one the next cast. Close your eyes and just feel it, I’m dead serious, close your eyes and feel your presentation. It’s instinct to pour all your focus into the other senses when your main visual cues are taken away, challenge yourself to pour that focus into your feel and your feel alone.
Ever since my 7mxf st.croix rage broke I’ve been in crisis mode finding a comparable, gloomis, tfo, Fenwick, st.croix just haven’t gotten me there, I bounce between a couple, for my mlxf it’s a 610mlxf muse gold. 2nd best stick I’ve ever owned. Crystal fireline with a 4′ mono leader have brought alot of fish in.
Lots more to chat about night pitching but that’s a good start. Cheers 
