Mosquito 6/10 NIGHT fishing

[JRV]

I was itching to fish at Mosquito Creek Lake at night and to finally try a floating fish attractor light on the lake. If you dont know what that is , its basically a car headlight , encased in Styrofoam so it floats beaming the light down under water , attracting minnows and small fish seeking the light for security... then hungry bigger fish show up to eat the bait....

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I launched from a private ramp on the north end just after dark , and motored out to an island just offshore , finding some water about 10' deep. I tossed the floating fish light into the water along with 2 rods rigged with minnows , for a half hour.... only 2 minnows showed up ! (yes two lol) so I unrolled my sleeping bag and laid down the seats and began to get sleepy , about 11 pm , I was awoken by the sound of my fish finder going NUTS , I had forgot to shut it off.... along with the floating fish light.... after seeing all the marks on the fish finder I had to get out of the sleeping bag to see what was going on.... minnows... big ones , little ones.... THOUSANDS of them... everywhere , I could actually hear them all around the boat making little splashes ....in the darkness all around the boat.... and directly under the light... I saw them... plenty of them... and every minute or so... they would spook and disappear from "something below" trying to eat them.... So I dropped my 2 rods back into the water and sure enough.... there were hungry fish below the light stuffing themselves on minnows attracted by my light!



It took only a few minutes to learn I couldn't fish 2 rods... so I put 1 away and settled on 1 rod... as fast as I could bait the hook and lower it under the light I caught fish...

I had alot of small fish... released far more than I kept , but I got a good number of legal eaters in my cooler.. then some walleye & perch showed up and I kept a few of those also...

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Lake was flat as glass , not another boat in site.... the lake was all mine besides the few dozen lanterns flickering on the causeway... I had the radio on listening to music and reeling in fish ... until 4 am .... when I gave up knowing I had enough for my fish fry... time flies when your having an exciting time fishing!

Instead of driving home I slept right there in the spot I was fishing , and when I awoke at 8 am in the light of day I had to have some coffee to wake up before motoring back to the boat ramp , So before I got my coffee I baited the rods back up and caught a couple eater walleye... Great trip!

Doing it again tonight !!

would like to apoligize for the crappy pictures , my camera does not perform well in the dark... also for VIDEOS of the schooling bait , and a few fish being caught directly under the light visit here > http://ohfishing.com/NEWS/?p=4832

[JRV]

videos http://ohfishing.com/NEWS/?p=4832

[outdoorsman]

I have heard of that but never seen it. Very cool video. Where can you get a light like that.

[Woody]

Good job Joe!

I have a light that I got for just what you did and just where you did. It's a new style bulb in a test tube and the package says it's 250,000 candle power. When it's hanging right over the side of the boat it looks like you're floating in a swimming pool.

How were the bugs?

---Woody

[JRV]

woody...NO BUGS! had more of a problem with bugs in the day time... on another note...last night I fished again with the light... strong south wind.... big waves... minnows were showing up but wouldnt stay... .

I leared over the years conditions for the light have to be just right... it DOES NOT work more often than it does....

last night... with no major change in weather (in 24 hours) I figured it was the waves & currents that changed the ball game.... what do you know about that?

[Woody]

This is my observation.

It's the food chain. Plankton comes up off the bottom towards the light, minnows follow and bigger fish follow. When the water is moving as in wind or current the plankton is scattered and the chain is broken. Plankton is alive. It needs light to survive and cannot tolerate too much, so it goes deep in bright sun and heat then rises towards the light when the sun goes down. Your light causes a concentration of plankton.

This is why an area can look barren on your fish finder in the daylight and as soon as it gets darker the plankton raises off the bottom and the minnows and fish that you couldn't see laying on the bottom or in small structure also come up.

The "best" fishing on the fishing calenders is on the bright moon. The light causes the food chain to move.

Ever notice how when the water is flat nothing bites. When the wind starts, the walleye start to bite. Walleye have big shiny eyes so they can better feed in low light at night. The waves make shadows and the plankton, minnows and walleye see it as getting dark. Wind also puts oxygen in the water which everything likes.

Sitting in your boat, you are truly the "top of the food chain".

---Woody

[Woody]

A related fishing "tip": If anchored or fishing a small area and nothing seems to be biting, you can start a feeding frenzy by throwing a dozen or so of minnows into the area you are fishing. The minnows are school fish and will swim around to get into a school and attract fish not in a feeding mood. I have done this many times when fishing for bass and crappie. Works for stripers too.

I guess it works like the plankton attracting minnows.

---Woody

[JRV]

Outdoorsman... you can get one at bass pro shops... or on the ad on the bottom of my article (http://ohfishing.com/NEWS) I think I saw one on my page for $7 !



Woody... the night before....flat lake... picked a spot... zillion minnows.... next night.... same weather, same spot , no minnows.... I did see a zillion , they just wouldnt hang around the light...they would visit and streak off .. waves were the only difference... so to me what you said does make sense...

[JRV]

outdoorsman .... scroll to bottom of the article.... brand new one...0.99 cents! http://ohfishing.com/NEWS/?p=4832

[JRV]

While we are on the subject......

I got mine from my dad years ago..

I tried it at Pymatuning Lake and ZILLIONS of bait showed up... I caught jumbo bluegill ALL NITE... from the causeway....

I tried the light again.... few days later... I caught a shitload of white bass.... again...almost all night....

I tried it a 3rd time same place few days later.... caught medium sized channel catfish all nite.....

I tried it again.... NOTHING... I tried it a dozen times since..... nothing..... except thursday when I got crappie

So my best advice for using this light is this....

If your out in the dark.... try it... if in 1 hour no bait shows up your wasting your time

if a few show up (and they will) and swim away...... your wasting your time.....

if balls and balls of bait show up.... your gonna have a good night.......

thats what I have learned about using the light....

sometimes she goes sometimes she don't

last night she didnt go