Brown trout fishing at night

[Jcope]

Larry,
I have been fishing for brown trout at night at a small reservoir in Nevada that holds the state record brown trout. I have had limited success, I have seen some big browns cruising the shoreline at night by spotlight but have only caught small ones. Normally I cast stickbaits from shore, do you have any advice on time of night, lures and scents. Would it be better to be in a boat and cast towards shore?

Thank you for the great shows and this forum I have learned alot.

[dahlberg]

hi J
You are certainly on the right track.
Be super, super quiet and sneaky, don't shine lights, best black light only.
Pre-dawn. fish best "corral and intercept" points for predator/bait.
At times, largest insects, if present can be a factor. Use ears to find critters at night.
Most successful big brown guys have been long line, pre-dawn, late fall, early spring, trollers on flat lined minnow baits.
I'm not saying what is best, just what's worked.
I'm not sure what the regs are where you fish, but I can think of a dozen different approaches using everything from live bait to lures, top to bottom including swimbaits and even topwater. I'd scout the shallows during day time to find boulders, bait, weeds, flats, inside turns where the "drop off" is very close to shore. Float tubes, kayaks, etc. super sneaky is the ticket IMO. On huge water, where boat access is needed, a combo of boat and personal sneak craft might be best.
good luck!
L

[Jcope]

Thank you for the advice.

[BROWNTROUT]

Well not an expert, this works for me at night/early mornings. I use a floating Rapala 3.5" size { for example }. then this lure is tied to 10# mono. I use a 9ft. steelhead type rod or fly rod. At the head of a riffle the rappie is flipped into the current and with the bail open line is fed off the spool till it gets to the pool section. Bail shut and start to SLOWLY reel the rappie upstream. If the lure ticks bottom I slow down. In other words let the lure "dance in the current with a slow retrieve". Browns clobber this. When using the lure the front hook is removed and the rear treble is replaced with a Gamagatzu treble. Under catch and release one can clip 2 of the three hooks on the rear hook. Usually I choose Rapalas in Brown Trout or Rainbow trout color. Honestly I donot think color matters, It just makes me feel better. Sometimes working fish into netting position can be challenging but fun. You will be amazed what lurks in them there pools.

[zsteelheadman]

@Browntrout

Better than snipping off perfectly good hooks on a treble hook just use a Siwash. You end up with a better penetration on the hookset and save a perfectly good treble hook. Also if you put a slight bend in the hook taking it out of alignment with the shank you will find that your hookup ratio will improve as well.

[BROWNTROUT]

@ zsteelheadman
You are correct the single swiash does work better.

[beahobo]

Larry
i was wondering if you have a webite

[dahlberg]

you are on it!
best,
L

[Shark_bite]

Back to Browns. I do alot of Brown fishing at night in SE Wisconsin harbors from shore for browns. Two techniques you should try:

1. A dime to quarter size chartruese spawn sack. Use brown spawn fish it under a lighted float. Set it about 2-5ft. down. Fish will rise, but don't like to drop. Use a heavy thill float to get casting distance. I fish 8lb. line with a 9lb. flourocarbon leader about 2ft. long. Spawn may or may be legal where you fish.

2. My go-to method (hard to get skunked on this method): fish a 1in. White/glow Berkeley nitro tube 2-5ft. under a stick float on 6lb. line. Use a long noodle rod and you can handle big fish on 6lb. I tip my tube with two wax-worms, but this optional. My biggest brown came on an un-tipped tube. Slap some glow paint on your thill stick float so you can see it at night. Twitch the tube, then pause it. Browns absolutely love it. If you want more casting distance use the same rig as I described for spawn sacks.

You wouldn't think such big fish would be interested in tiny offerings, but they love them here in the Great lakes. In the clear water you can watch the fish approach your bait and delicately sip it into their mouth. Then the battle's on! Try it, and let me know if it works. One other thing, big browns can be territorial, so sometimes tossing a Rapala J-13 in the Brown trout color can trigger aggressive strikes.