The Fish Hunter

By: Reggie Roddenberry (8/98)

When was the last time you went night fishing? If it has been awhile, you might give it a try and if you have never tried night fishing, the next couple of months will be prime time!

Bob Szelong & I have been out on Lake Jackson several times recently and we have been catching some big bass on conventional gear. Then, we decided to step up to the fly-fishing gear. Oh boy.

There are several axioms in the realm of night fishing that bears mentioning:

(1) Take only 2 rod & reel combinations for each person because more than that causes a cluttered situation on board;

(2) Use only red lenses on flashlights because a white light destroys your night vision for about 15 minutes after exposure;

(3) Keep tackle bags to only one each because too many of those causes dangerous situations on the boat;

(4) Make sure your boat’s running lights are working. I see too many fishermaen running around out there without lights working – dangerous!); and,

(5) Drive the boat really slowly between fishing spots because some of these same fishermen without running lights were going warp speed out on the lake - very dangerous!).

Now, you ask, what about flies for the dark? I consulted my old friend Tom Broderidge, that fine connoisseur of just about anything worth fly-fishing about, and he & I conspired to list about 10 really neat selections for your enjoyment.

I wanted to list a "Trans-ylvanian Vampie" fly but I can’t find one!

Those of you that have been around the fly-fishing world for awhile know about Joe Humphrey. Well, he created a large, dark fly to night fish for brown trout at streamside. You probably need one of those. If you can’t find or tie on of his "night flies", here are some others to try:

A dark colored, really large sized Dahlberg’s Diver (purple & black color is great), Whitlock’s Mouse fly (black or brown is fine), Poppers (black & chatrusce works wonders), a Crayfish fly (dark brown & orange is good), Marabou Muddler (in black, brown & yellow colors), a bulked-up, huge, black & purple colored Lefty’s Deceiver, a giant sized Seaducer (3/0 +, with really tightly wound hackle using grizzly mixed with purple & black – almost that Vampire fly), and Doc Allee’s Rabbit Strip fly (ask him to show you one, I lost my last one to a big fish)! Flies must be weedless, period!

Okay, now for the techniques section of my story. Use a 9’ rod and an 8, 9, or 10 # rod/reel system, floating bass bug taper fly line, and short, stout leaders (6’ length, not < 16# test tippet). Why?

You want to be fishing close to the shore in shallow water (2-5’ depth), along weed, grass and pad lines, casting inside the coves and along the points of grass. You will want to throw the fly "to places where Angle’s fear to tread".

Pick a dark night, the less moon the better, and leave the dock about 10 p.m. Plan to stay until at least 3 a.m.

You won’t need to make long casts – about 30-40’ is fine. Let the fly sit on the water for 10-15 seconds and, then, move it once or twice.

Change the retrieve around until the bass (or pickerel, hopefully not an alligator) tells you it’s the right pace!

CLUE: Get in close to the cover. Get up into the grass or pads. Find the pocket edges and cast there. Keep trying, don’t give up. If you aren’t among the croaking frogs and slithering snakes, you are not in the right place!

Now, about "clutter" inside the boat. Let me relate this short tale to you.

We were inside of a grassy cove and I had made a short cast into some grass clumps. I had retrieved the fly nearly back to the boat when, suddenly, I discovered my fly line was wrapped around a tackle box.

As I bent down to remove the entanglement, a big bass blew up on the fly – in my face! Water flew everywhere as I stepped back away from the explosion and tripped over another tackle box.

The resounding thud of a flying Reggie landing on a boat seat was echoed by several unmentionable words describing everything’s ancestry. What really hurt was that I broke the seat, lost the bass and the fly! Ouch.

Don’t forget the casting basket when you go night time fly-fishing and watch out for Nessy!