** This Troutbitten article is part of the Night Fishing for Trout series. You can find the full list of articles here. **

I drove far back on the dirt roads with my boys this morning. We took the long way around. They got a kick out of some over-steering and gravel sliding around the bends. Nothing dangerous, mind you, but it’s pretty easy to get a rise out of eight and ten year old boys.

With my dusty truck parked on the rough edge of an outcropping, we slid into waders and strung up fly rods. Then we walked together along a ledge that overlooks the narrow valley and a wide, rolling river. The whole situation is a little rugged. I like it. The boys are old enough to sense the inherent dangers and be smart. When they push it too far, a quick holler steers them back on track. But they get it.

We had a fantastic morning, catching wild trout, telling stories and making future plans. I was about to call it a day — to quit while we were ahead — when Aiden called Joey over to the side of the river again. They spent the next hour catching crayfish in the side water. There were impressive numbers of mini lobsters over there — a bunch of juvenile crayfish the size of, oh let’s say a #10 Wooly Bugger, 2X long.

When we finally walked out, I already knew what I would do after dark. I would drive back and walk in again to fish the shallows. I’d tie on small buggers or a medium Craymantis to fish the same water that my boys just rummaged through. Long day and a long drive around dusty bends or not, a pint of coffee and granola bars should keep me going.

A Troutbitten Craymantis should get the job done.

Know Your Water

You have no business night fishing an area that you can’t visualize.

Close your eyes. Now imagine the spot you plan to night fish. Think about the first cast. Where are the rocks, tree limbs and logs? How much of the gravel bar is exposed at this water level? How swift does the current break around the undercut bank? If you guessed at any of these things, if you were uncertain at any pass, then you will struggle at night.

I’m sure you’ll do it anyway. You’ll fish water that you’re pretty  familiar with, and you’ll even try to fish new water at night. I still do all of that too. And, every time, I realize what a mistake I made.

If you don’t have a clear mental image of the obstacles, if you don’t know the flows, you’ll be lost and frustrated in short order. It doesn’t matter how bright the night is — how much moonlight spills onto the water’s surface. Your fly will be lost in the drift.

Because without knowledge of the water, there is no confidence at night. And without confidence, it’s tough to catch a trout.

Knowing the water for day fishing is not enough, because seeing the river at night is a different trick. Good fishing starts with imagination, and that goes double for night fishing. You must imagine the target in front of you, knowing what borders it on all sides and understanding what the currents do to a stout, eight foot leader. To fish it best, you must know the water intimately. And all of that starts in the sunlight.

If you’re serious about this, then scouting during the day is your best bet. And once night fishing is in your blood, you’ll start to see sections of river for how you’d approach them in the stillness of a black night. You’ll notice a piece of water that you would never fish in the daylight and mark it as golden after dark. My Troutbitten friends are probably tired of my worn out lines:

“That’s good night water, man. Look how the river’s edge breaks over that shelf and glides through the shallow pockets — across the small gravel. That’s goooood night water right there.”

I can’t help it.

Sometimes I take photos of the water I’m planning to fish at night. On trips to unfamiliar waters, I do this frequently. While fishing the daylight hours, when I see those prime night spots, I snap a few shots on my cell, just to have a reference to review before walking in later. The pictures help me form a plan. They give my imagination a reference point.

Making Plans

It’s easy to get lost out there after dark. Not geographically (because if you walked downstream to start, you can pretty easily find your vehicle by walking upstream, I hope), but with everything so different, so confusing at times, even the most experienced night angler may feel bewildered. Questions and uncertainties are amplified after dark.

Night fishing is the hardest thing I’ve ever done with a fly rod. And that’s why I love it. So many things are backwards from how I do them in the daylight: I wade downstream instead of up (usually), I fish the top of the column instead of the bottom (often), I fish shallow instead of deep (sometimes). And even the best nights are still nothing like the fish-catching feedback I get while tight lining nymphs during the day. It’s never a numbers game, and if you come out of a night trip with double digits in the net, pat yourself on the back during the walk out.

In short, it’s hard to know what the hell is going on out there with the lights turned off. Why aren’t the trout eating right now? I don’t know.

So I go into my night fishing hours with a plan — much more than any day trip. The program might change if the light, water or feeding conditions suggest a new strategy. But having an outline holds me together on a dark river.

Tonight

I’m hitting the water again this evening. I’ll drive along the dusty road at dusk — the same one I drove with the boys this morning. And I’ll be a little more careful around the tight bends. I’ll walk in and start by fishing a pair of small buggers, right where the boys were stirring up the crayfish. I’ll fish a pair of lightly weighted flies, and I’ll cast them at all angles — whatever approach provides me the greatest stealth.

If that doesn’t produce hits, I’ll change over to a single #6 Craymantis. It’s front-weighted, so I’ll fish it differently. I’ll jig it slowly and try to be patient, shooting longer casts and stripping back through those same shallows.

Fog

In an hour or so, the moon will be up over the treeline. I know this because I’ve been on the water five of the last six nights. But the growing half moon should be off to the side of the river, and I expect it won’t affect the trout all that much, especially on the shady bank. Then I’ll walk up to the deeper undercut and along the line of brush. It’s not too deep, but enough to harbor some of the biggest trout in the river. I’ve caught large wild trout there in the daylight and the darkness. I’ll start with a Bad Mother because it rides in the film — a mouse emerger, if you like.

I’ll work upstream to the top of that section, ending where the river bends west. And if the action is slow, I’ll swap out the Bad Mother for a light streamer about an inch longer. I’ll slow slide it off the bank, carefully covering all the water back down to the bottom of the brush.

If none of that produces, I’ll be at least three hours past real dark. It will be half-past midnight, and if I have the legs (I got up at five-o-clock this morning) I’ll wade the pocket water and fish two stoneflies. Swapping out to a Mono Rig and night sighter, I’ll tight line the same cuts and buckets that I target in the daylight.

Sounds like a plan. Time to pour the coffee and get out there.

Fish hard, friends.

Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com