From the archives: Field & Stream became an out-of-doors column posted in The Frederick News-Post in the Fifties and written with the aid of the late Lefty Kreh, international-famed outdoorsman and fly fisher. Kreh, a Frederick local, commenced his out-of-doors columnist profession at The News-Post. This column was posted on Aug. 7, 1959, and has been edited for space.
The nighttime was warm, with no breeze, and as black as an automobile tire. Bullfrogs croaked a deep-toned tune like an oboe, crickets rubbed their legs together and sounded each bit like castanets, even as night birds sang a solo. The master musician turned into directing his nighttime choir, and it changed into a soothing track.
Somewhere out in the darkness, a massive bass chased a swimming frog, and the splashing he made jerked us returned to the venture handy. We had left home at midnight, hoping to trap some hot climate bass that appeared to have lockjaw in the day.
Knowing that lighting tends to scare fish, we had rigged our lures before we left home. Flip Kennedy made a cast out on the darkish waters and started retrieving his Jitterbug. The interest began to return with its aspect-to-face wobbling motion and “bobble-bobble” entice-speak.
Halfway back to the reel, we heard Flip grunt, “I got him.” For some time, I became in doubt just who had whom. After a few minutes of arguing about who would personal the plug, Flip eventually received and beached the fish.
Cautiously, I turned on my pencil flashlight as Flip held up a pleasant two-pound largemouth. A short while later, we both had one son and had been grinning from ear to ear. This nighttime fishing has thrills sunlight hours anglers by no means experience.
We fished till daytime, and the fish cooperated all the while. When we left the last farm pond, sunrise changed into lighting fixtures the brand new day; we could pay attention to a bass searching the weed beds for a final snack earlier than retiring.
This wasn’t our first strive at night fishing; however, it’d be a new enjoyment for many nearby anglers. And what an experience! Night fishing within the summer for bass with synthetic lures is a miles more exciting game than sunlight-hours casting. Add to it the reality that in warm weather, the bass doesn’t feed properly in vivid, warm daylight. At night, it’s a one-of-a-kind story; the water cools off, an amazing deal of insect and water life begins to stalk, and the bass, like enemy submarines, make their underwater forays in the dark against a military of food.
Other clever anglers fish Maryland waters after darkish at some point in the hottest part of the summertime. Night fishing isn’t a guarantee of a stranger — but you’ll seldom come domestic without fish if you follow some easy guidelines. You don’t throw a trap inside the water like every angling.
Here’s how: A minimal use of the flashlight, a heat summertime nighttime without wind, only a few lures, a rod and reel, and a pencil flashlight. It’s no longer like daylight fishing, in which it takes a strong % mule to hold the necessary tackle and gear wanted.
The shallow spots around islands, grass beds, and rock ledges are usually exceptional fishing regions in rivers. Farm ponds and quarries appear to have no “hot spots.” The fish seem to roam in these waters, where no modern-day exists. Some first-class basses stuck from such places have been taken at the floor within the innermost element.
Lures: The Jitterbug has never been a standout floor trap for me in the daylight hours — even though I’ve used it a remarkable deal at night, it’s a distinct story — it reigns preferred in my e-book. The double propeller sorts, just like the Devil’s Horse, are tops, also darters, but plunkers and poppers have in no way been the type to me.
The herbal inclination is to apply the most effective surface lures that make numerous noises the angler can notice. Don’t be misled — for some of the better fishtakers are those who swim below. One of the excellent is the black eel and its imitation, the plastic types. Double-jointed plugs and the big River Runts are all top. I don’t recognize why bass hit them — or how they can see them. The aspect that pastimes me is they do.
Don’t be in a hurry with the retrieve, and must a bass strike at a surface entice and no longer hit — don’t do an element, but wait. Pass the trap about afoot after a long half to a full minute. Usually, the bass has been mendacity underneath it, wanting to peer its flow. As it struggles, he’ll come roaring up and take it. That lengthy, traumatic wait is one of the nightlight thrills of night fishing.
