So, when was the last time you loaded the boat up in the pitch black, and took it out for a spin, trying to catch some of your favorite speces doing some night fishing? If you haven't done this lately, you are seriously missing out on some prime time fishing action, especially around the full moon periods. Here are some tips, and information to help you when you decide to finally go night fishing.

When I say that I prefer freshwater night fishing, I'm not saying that you can't go saltwater night fishing at all, as a matter of fact, you can catch even bigger monsters in the dead of the night out on the big blue sea. I am just referring to freshwater fishing, because I live further inland, and experience more fresh than saltwater. Again, this is just a personal preference. If you have the time and resources to chase the monsters of the deep, by all means, go for it! There are a few reasons that I prefer freshwater night fishing though.

When you are dealing with freshwater, some of the best night fishing spots come to my mind.  The reasons behind this, are that you aren't dealing with the waves and chop that you will regularly find out on the ocean.  You also don't have to deal with the currents in the river systems, constantly moving your boat around, forcing you to focus on boat position instead of catching fish.  For these few reasons, I would much rather load the boat up and go to my favorite lake to do some night fishing, than in any other type of fishing water system.

When you are out on the lake night fishing, you are in an open area.  It gets pitch black on some nights when there is no moon, and although there are certain regulations or night fishing, you can easily get into situations that you don't want to be in.  Imagine you are sitting on the inside edge of the bend on your favorite river, and some boaters are coming the other way.  They can't see you, because you are out of their line of sight.. that is, until it is too late, and they are on top of you.  When you are out on the lake, you have plenty of notice on whether or not other boats will get close enough to you to be of concern.

The US Coast Guard requires that any boat out on the water after dusk carry a set of certain colored lights on board with them. In the rear of the boat, while you are anchored, you are required to have a 360 degree bright white light, that you can remove from its stand, to wave around should you come across the situation where you need to get another boaters attention. Also keeping the small green and red lights that you typically see on boats. These are to alert other boaters which way your boat is facing, because you put the red on the right hand side, and the green on the left. From a distance it is easy to distinguish what direction you are facing, and easily put a position on your boat in the dark of the night, saving you from being one of the many night fishing disasters.