Some fish, for example hake, are classed as nocturnal, doing much if not all of their feeding after dark. Others such as wrasse, and reputedly plaice, are said to be diurnal, or strictly daytime feeders. And between these two extremes lie the rest of the species anglers are interested in, many of which will happily feed in the light or dark. The extent to which they are willing to feed, or in some cases possibly even prefer to feed after dark is both species and conditions dependant. Species of specific interest to boat anglers here include bass, conger, cod, whiting, smoothhounds, rays and tope. There are others too. To try a spot of night fishing for them does not however mean putting to sea for all night sessions. It could in some cases be as simple as choosing overcast conditions towards late afternoon and early evening, or in brighter conditions, going out early evening and staying on for an hour or so into the dark. Allowing darkness to settle around you is far more preferable than putting to sea in total darkness, and is often all that is required. As the sun sinks lower in the sky, rays of light hitting the waters surface are more easily deflected away to the extent that while it might be perfectly easy to see what you are doing up top in the light that is left, down below fish will already have become reliant on other ways of finding food than by eye sight.

Ask any shore angler when he expects to have his best catches and invariably he will say after dark. The reason for this is that many fish move into shallower water when the light goes. One reason given for this is the fact that along crowded holiday beaches, the commotion of holiday-makers in the water keeps fish out of casting range. Yes, but what about the beaches where holiday-makers don’t go; what about rock marks, and what about winter fishing. People in the water keeping the fish off would be a valid argument if fish were actually trying to get in close during the daytime. But in most cases they are not. The real reason why most fish move closer to the shore when the light fades is the food availability. The same is true of banks and reefs that are shallow lying or even dry at low water, because to a fish there is no distinction between sand drying out offshore and a beach leading on to dry land. It is all down to the abundance of potential food living between the high and low water regions of a shore, the extreme lower shore, and the coastal margins, much of which only becomes active as the light fades.

Many shallow water creatures adopt the principle that if they can’t see a predator coming, then would be predators can’t see them. Nothing could be further from the truth as many small creatures learn to their cost. Most fish have very good eyesight. Fish with bony skeletons such as cod and plaice have colour vision, though colours are filtered out with increasing water depth, red being the first to go at 10 metres. Fish with skeletons formed from cartilage such as sharks and rays are thought only to see in black and white, though some sharks are able to use incoming light twice thanks to ingenious adaptations designed to help them see in low light conditions. But regardless of their eyesight capabilities, many predatory fish do not need to be able to see to hunt. In poor light or murky water conditions, other senses are switched on. In the case of bony fish it is the lateral line, which is a channel filled with gelatinous blobs with tiny hair like structures protruding from them. These detect vibrations caused by shock waves that carry especially well in water as it is 800 times denser than air. Cartilaginous fish can also detect vibrations, as well as electrical impulses from live prey. Sound travels 5 times better in water than air, and both groups of fish have very good hearing. Both also have the ability to detect scents and smells, which in the case of sharks and rays is legendary.

The answer then to attracting more fish at night is either live baits which set up vibration in the water, or the freshest baits possible with regular changes to keep the scent trail going out. On the subject of catching more fish after dark than in daylight hours, for my money the jury is still out. I regularly used to fish during the winter months straight after work, doing the whole session in the dark. There is something about night fishing that makes you feel more confident. We used to get good catches, and I saw some pretty big fish. But I cannot say with my hand on my heart that it was better than day light fishing. There might however be good reasons for that. For starters, more people fish by day than after dark, so more fishing hours are available to compare night catch rates against. At the same time, we never put in enough hours to come to any firm conclusions from our own catches which were at times patchy, and rarely ever bettered daytime catch rates for cod. But I think its more fundamental than that. It is hard to go to sea in a boat with a 75 hp engine on the back and motor off literally for one minute. And therein lies the problems so far as I see it. There is a tendency to motor off too far. Some of the best cod catches I ever saw fell to 13 foot open boats anchored up virtually on the low water line.

Fish like conger are going to be a slightly different proposition. Conger are less free roaming, though they do hunt over more open ground adjacent to their regular haunts after dark. Wherever you normally find thornback rays you are as likely, and maybe even more likely to find them after dark. Smoothhounds are another fish that love to feed after dark close in. I investigated the prospects of night fishing for tope a few years ago and had some interesting moments trying to tail them by torchlight. These too will move in surprisingly close to the shore. Sharks (and rays) generally become especially active after dark. Bass are another species that feed well and close in when the light has gone. Obviously terrain and conditions have to be right for whatever it is you are looking for after dark. But don’t be afraid of setting the baits out just below the low water mark if the ground is right. Fish generally seem to become bolder when the light has gone. Food is more plentiful which is another big turn on to fish feeding. This said, the actual mechanics of fishing after dark is something that needs to be prepared for, rehearsed, and only put through its paces when both you and the conditions at sea are ready for it. Daylight fishing bears absolutely no comparison to going out and being out there when the light has gone.

As at hinted earlier, the best way to get into night fishing is to get out there before the light has gone. Get the boat anchored up and have the lines in fishing, then allow the light to slowly fade around you. If not, then have a spare rod and spare traces rigged up ready. It’s easier than fumbling around later by torchlight. Going out after dark for the first time is a whole new experience in itself. It’s like sailing into a pitch-black void. Unless there are other boats lit up you can see nothing. It can be an eerie, sometimes disorientating feeling. It’s at times like this that floating debris becomes a threat. Looking back to the shore, particularly when you are heading in, is a totally different world. Street lights reflecting on the water make everything so much easier, while buildings provide targets to aim for. But light reflecting on the waters surface, particularly moonlight has a few tricks up its sleeve. Because it is coming in at an angle, it catches the slopes of any swell there might happen to be, giving waves the illusion of looking many times bigger than they actually are, which can be a bit un-nerving. On occasions swells will turn out actually to be much bigger than had been anticipated. Not being able to actually see what conditions are like before launching is always a hazard of night fishing. I remember sitting out there one night watching the street lights disappear behind the crests of the waves. The longer the gaps before the lights re-appear, the bigger the swell.

Light is the key thing when fishing at night. You have to have it, but it can cause problems. Staring out into the darkness, your eyes eventually become accustomed to the conditions allowing you to see quite a bit more than you might think. Then you look at a light source and it’s back to square one for a while. When we first started night fishing it was from an open boat with a pair of Tilley lamps. They gave off plenty of heat as well as light, which in the winter was fine. But with hindsight, fuel-burning lamps in a boat with petrol on board is not a good combination. The main practical problem with the Tilley’s was in positioning them. To be able to see properly, and to illuminate the white taped rod tips, light is best when it comes from behind you. That way it doesn’t affect your eyes quite so much. To do this, the source needs to be high up, which for Tilley’s in an open boat was a non-starter. Later when we switched to boats with a cuddy, we fitted car-reversing lamps to the corners of the cuddy lip. This was a big step forward. You could of course do what the shore lads do and use a headlamp. This also removes the need for a good powerful torch for netting fish and for getting the boat back on the trailer. On the down side, all that moving about appears to people on the shore like somebody signalling for help. Tilley lamps sitting low in a rolling the boat have the same effect. People on shore have been known to raise the alarm as a result. Legally speaking, you should also have an all round white light on the cuddy roof and navigation lights.

For me, the reality of fishing after dark has never quite lived up to the expectation, though there have been some good fish and excellent catches. Two trips in particular stick in my mind. The first was a stingray and smoothhound session off Sowley in the Solent. For days a strong south westerly forecast which had failed to materialize had cancelled the trip, and time was running out. On the last available evening we decided to give it a go. This was aboard a 13 foot boat with a 4 hp outboard (something I certainly wouldn’t do these days). The fishing was slow and we dozed off, only to be woken later by big white topped rollers zipping by. The Solent can be a dark lonely place as we struggled to find the entrance to the creek where the boat was moored. The moral here is never to take chances after dark. The second trip also has a weather theme. It was a winter cod trip back in the mid 80’s during a long still cold snap when temperatures dropped to minus 26 degrees C. The sea was mirror calm with not so much as a breath of wind. The first 500 yards of water was like a jigsaw made up of neatly fitting cracked plates of ice through which we left a dark channel as we headed seaward. We had quite a good trip with fish well into double figures. Our main problem was that we could do nothing with the fish when we got home as they were quite literally frozen to the deck of the boat. But it hadn’t felt that cold because there was no breeze. Wind strength and direction are the most important consideration for small boat fishing, and never more so than after dark.