Most anglers end their fishing escapades at sunset, but a few adventurous ones prefer to fish after sunset. While this can be challenging especially when fishing for trout, it can come with immense rewards in a short time.
Trout behavior changes as the dark approaches, and you can take advantage of this behavior change to maximize your catch. Night fishing can be one of the best approaches to catching trout, but you ought to understand how to work around the behavior change [1].
One primary concern is whether trout bite a night, which in many ways can be considered an occurrence most anglers are faced with. This article delves deep into this topic and touches on general trout fishing at night.
Do Trout Bite at Night?
Night fishing is much more fruitful than day fishing, but you may experience a little hyperactivity from the fish if you are fishing for trout. Trout, specifically brown trout, are attentive, and their activity increases as it gets dark, meaning you have a bigger fish school to leverage.
During the summer, the weather changes to high-pressure weather, which contributes to the fish’s higher activity as it gets cooler. Trout become more active at night than during the day and are in search of food at this time.
Another advantage of looking for trout at night is increased chances of catching large trout. Older, larger ones hibernate during the day and only come closer to the water surface as it gets darker.
Does Vision Affect Bites?
Like most fish, trout rely on vision to maneuver the underwater environment. Even though their vision goes down as it gets dark, it does not prevent them from detecting objects and vibrations in the water.
The lateral light organ is heightened at night, allowing them to sense objects near them. As a result, they can detect vibrations coming from lures and other objects in the water. The vision does not affect bites as they detect objects at night, just like during the day.
Also Read: Best Fishing Line for Trout
Choosing the Best Lures for More Bites
Going to fish for trout at night alone is not enough to get you a fruitful catch. The most important thing to remember is the tools you choose for the activity, with lures topping your list of considerations.
Trout is more sensitive to vibrations than the size and color of lures. Therefore, make sure the lures you get have enough vibrations to reach trout fish schools. The higher the vibrations, the more chances of catching much fish.
The best lures for night fishing for trout are topwater lures and spinners. Choose topwater lures that can attract trout at night; consider white or yellow hues visible in the dark.
Also, make sure you give trout time to key in the lure and slow down your retrieve pace. That way, your speed matches the water conditions increasing the chances of catching quality trophy-sized fish.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that with the poor vision of trout at night, they need time to detect the vibrations. Be patient and pause lures in the same locations after a few strikes to give the fish time to key in your lure.
Spinning lures work best as they come with whirling blades [2]. These provide vibrations that are loud enough for trout to detect and get attracted to. Choose a spinning lure with white or silver blades for enhanced visibility and increased chances of attraction by the trout.
Live Bait for More Bites?
You can increase your chances of more bites at night by using live bait to catch trout. Since trout depend highly on their lateral line to sense objects, live bait has a more natural pattern underwater, creating more accurate vibrations, similar to what trout are used to.
Additionally, trout have a keen sense of smell, which you can take advantage of by adding live bait to your lures. You can use power bait or worms and attract much more fish.
If your live bait does not have a strong-enough smell, you can add strong fragrances to attract trout faster. You can use shrimp or garlic to enhance the smell of your bait for increased chances of attraction.
The good thing about using worms is that they have a natural movement underwater, attracting trout in numbers. When using worms, hook them on one side and leave the other free for a more natural movement in the water.
Like with lures, give trout time to detect bait and key into it. Take pauses between strikes to allow trout to catch on to the vibrations and smell. With this, you will increase the chances of catching large trout.
The Bottom Line
Fishing for trout at night needs more preparation and skill than fishing during the day, but that increases the chances of getting a quality catch. With the right lure, bait, and fishing techniques, you can have more bites and take home many trout.
