Fishing Pressure Making Bass Nite Owls

FISHING PRESSURE MAKING NIGHT OWLS OF BASS
By Ron Kruger
Night fishing for bass is getting better every year here on Kentucky and Barkley lakes, and I think I know why.
The increasing water clarity in both lakes has something to do with it. Both the largemouth and smallmouth bass are members of the “sunfish” family, but that doesn’t mean they like the sun. It’s a biological interpretation. They’re grouped into this family with bluegill and other species because their eggs require a certain amount of sunlight to hatch, not because they like to bask in the glow of the mid-day sun.
In fact, they shy away from bright light.
In the first place, they don’t have any eyelids. They can’t blink or squint. Plus they have a fixed pupil. So they seek serious shade or move to deeper water to compensate when the sun is high. The deeper the light penetrates the more they move.
That’s why clear lakes like Bull Shoals in Missouri, where I learned to fish at night decades ago, and my beloved Dale Hollow in Kentucky and Tennessee are famous for night fishing, while murky impoundments like Rend Lake in Southern Illinois hardly ever see a black light.
Our lakes are somewhere in the middle of these extremes, but with each passing year, they clear up a little more, and I believe the nocturnal trends of our aquatic friends are on the rise as a result.
I’m a bit of a night owl myself, and I’ve always loved fishing with a marvelous moon dancing on the water. It soothes my soul. It’s usually quiet and comfortable--except for the occasional bout with bugs. Mystery and intrigue are a part of every cast. And I’m convinced the chances of hanging a big fish at night are doubled.
Or, at least, they used to be doubled. With the tremendous increase of fishing pressure during the last few years, I believe the chances of hooking a big bass at night have multiplied in proportion to the number wakes from weekend warriors.
With good reason, Western Kentucky has become the top spot in the nation for bass tournaments. Big trounaments and small ones are every where every weekend. Nearly every ramp has some kind of contest going on. Most of these guys are very good fishermen who are teaching our bass hard lessons during the day.
For many years I’ve held the theory that some bass are simply more nocturnal by nature. If, for whatever reasons, they prefer to feed after the sun goes down and the fishermen go to bed, they’re less likely to be caught. Consequently, more of them grow big.
But what makes some bass more nocturnal?
I think it’s fishing pressure. Bass aren’t very smart, but those who survive are the ones that adapt best to a changing environment. The phenomenal increase in fishing pressure during the last few years has had a definite impact upon our aquatic ecosystem.
More bass then ever are learning to become nervous and cautious when those 225-horsepower bees are buzzing around on the surface. They’ve learned that when the bees are buzzing, they get stung. Simple as that.
It’s not just tournament fishermen. Regular weekend fishermen are on the increase, too. Even pleasure boating is on the rise. Whether they carry a rod or not, they all make the same buzzing sound that many of the wiser bass have learned to associate with danger.
They learn to keep their mouths shut when the sun is up and the bees are buzzing. They wait until things settle down and their eyes fully adjust to the night. Sometime around midnight, their rod and cone cells complete the slow process of reversal. At that time, they see mostly in black and white, but they can see to feed almost as well as they can during the day.
Midnight until dawn is when the biggest bass in our lakes go on the prowl, and, if I can, that’s when I try to put my Flair-Hair jigs and plastic worms in their way.