In my weekly fishing report, I give areas where guides, anglers and I have located different species and at the end of the Walleye report suggest fishing at dusk when this fish comes shallow to feed. Some anglers have told me they have had good results fishing at this time, but if I told you to head out and try fishing for musky would you believe me? Well, you might be surprised that you can experience great night fishing for muskies. I’ll cover the why, where and how in this week’s fishing article.

For the why night fishing could land you a trophy fish is, you won’t encounter other anglers or a lot of boat traffic. Knowing that Muskies can see fairly well in low light conditions due to the high number of rod cells in their retinas helps. They also use their lateral line to sense vibration also.  So, one might think fishing clear lakes at night would produce more fish, but do not overlook stained lakes at all.

The where to fish, is pretty much the locations you sling during the day. The only difference is you have to use your electronics (locator) more. Most muskie anglers will have waypoints and GPS locations where they have caught, had follow-ups or seen fish on their screens.
Also, using the GPS is needed to navigate to different locations at night safely. Vegetation is the primary location and shallower humps with weeds or points with cabbage are great spots to start.

Now for the how. Once you’re in the areas for the fish of 10, 000 cast, what lures should be used for muskies fishing at night? Because of the darkness, you need noise and working a topwater bait at a slower retrieve could be the top choice. This kind of lure can be seen and give enough vibration to get attention.

Another lure that will work might be a bucktail. These types of lures not only can give anglers an artificial bait that produces vibration for attention but also when using a bigger bucktail muskie can see the silhouette of the lure and skirt running above them. Also, when fishing in low light, using darker colors (black, purple or dark blue) is always better. Let me add that if you have a favorite lure used during the day, by all means that could easily work too.

I know during the day it’s all about the speed of your bait but come night it’s the opposite. When fishing for muskie in low light, as I mentioned, they can see and locate your lures using their lateral line much better with a slower retrieve. Night fishing for any species can be difficult but here is a couple of things that might be useful.

When night fishing, clear the boat of anything you will not need. Make sure ALL your navigational lights are working. A battery-operated lamp inside your boat is most important for seeing anything that needs to be done like unhooking/releasing fish and or pictures. Then a head lamp with colored (RED) lenses will still let you see without blinding others and red light is less visible to fish. Now, go get yourself a musky at night.