Night Fishing...One Googan's Take

[Deamon]

I'd like to preface this by saying...I am by far nowhere near an expert. I have been lucky enough to get some by way of "ground and pound", usually as a weekend warrior. I'll always have those memories and priceless pictures. I no longer have to say "once in a lifetime" unless we're talking about 60# wsb or 40# halibut...those are my current goals. I have a 52# yellow but that was on a boat (in LJ!)...so in my yak world, doesn't count. I want a 50# tail while sitting on top of a piece of plastic. Okay, okay, one of those wsb by way of hook and hand (that I happily grabbed like a little bitch) but I digress, this thread is about night fishing and I NEVER hand off a quality fish so don't ever think about it, lol. If we eliminate sharks, bat ray and sand bass in "open waters", we're talking about the ghost...WSB. Yes, I've seen one tail caught at night and plenty of butts in the gray but rarely...in the dark so let's focus and not muddy the waters...I believe I have gone out often enough to share some of my theories. I'm not looking to get second guessed or poo poo'd. Just close this thread out if you believe I'm a faker...this isn't being written for you. My goal is to set up some night trips...soon...with steady, experienced guys to help crack the wsb code...fishing...err, catching without live squid. I know there's a string of guys just like me as I talk to them and read their BWE wishes often. My belief is if we can get a string of guys, fishing under good conditions, we'll have a better, safer chance at cracking this code. The swordfishing off Florida was basically non-existent (besides by-catch) until some guys figured it out.

And I'm not giving up anyone's secrets shared to me over a beer (or for money) as I have had to take the long hard road of trial and error...old school ways. I have usually...gratefully...hung with good dudes on these night trips...key word is usually, lol. Very, very good fisherman who are well prepared, experienced and steady on the water and have the same strong desire to go on a sleigh ride in the dark. That's usually what it takes...even after MANY multiple zip trips while throwing in some near death experiences to learn from...lol. Oh by the way...zip mean zero...nada...all night. I can look back and laugh about some of the clown chances we took at times but while in the moment, spooky, spooky as shit played out. Whatever problems one has during the day, multiply the intensity at night.

I do know I want to crack the WSB code or even just a piece of it...Let's start with real facts:
WSB are around whether squid show or not...
These fish must eat and they can be very opportunistic/lazy and very willing to take many types of bait, fresh dead or live...on heavy tackle
These fish are called ghosts for a reason. They eat at night.

The weather and beach must offer doable conditions. To me, when the squid are not around, our chances are even less. After a full night on the water, the rest of my weekend is shot trying to recover, lol. The family gets snubbed out by me, the zombie. All factors that have to be considered.

Oh well, it's bed time. If there's any interest in me finishing this thread out...just chime in and start looking at your night schedules and maybe we can give it a go soon...a good friend who now lives on the East Coast used to always say..."if you wait to hear about a bite in order to go fishing, it's usually over by that time. Let's go find our own bite"...Jim