baitfishing with lights

[lawyer66]

i have seen this alot but have never done it b4 what is the purpose of baitfishing at night with lights is it to lure in the fish and what kind of fish do u catch? reason for asking this random question bkuz i catch bait differently so i wonder if this is a different possibly more efficient way of catching the same type of bait i get.

[ameristrat]

The only bait I fish for at night are goggle-eyes and I don't use light. The sabiki rigs glow in the dark and that has always been plenty for me. I've found at night that, generally, baitfish spread out more (they aren't in tightly packed schools) and unless you know of a notorious hangout, they are harder to net in large numbers. Gogs seem to be the exception but they are the only truly nocturnal bait that I use. To answer your question, The lights do attract bait but you still have to find them. I wouldn't say it is any more effective than whatever other method you are using... I hope that helped, sorry if it didn't.
Ameristrat

[Boboe]

Use lights at night to attract fliers. Catch them with a long handled net coming over the top of the flier, or throw a 6' cast net on them as they sit on the surface near your lights.

[surfinsteve1]

I've used lights in miami to bring the hearing up to the boat at night but don't plan on filling your rig it's more like 1 at a time.about an hour before light.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

if you are after gogs Kill the lights. The bait mafia will just about ram your boat if they see you w/ a hydroglow danglin @ the gog hole 3am.

[Shockwave]

I have good luck with the light gog fishin but Butch is right about the bait mafia. They rolled up on me and gave me hell one time but i did fill up the pen with about 20 dozen baits. I had to kick 5 of them back to the bait don.

[cravertosu]

What, or who, are the bait mafia?

Thanks,
Tim

[TTesterman]

they are the cats that are in the water early night and grow long teeth. they don't sleep much with thier girl sometimes. they go out no matter what the report says and hopefully have pockets full the next day. Gogs and pilchards can freak with light sometimes. so can someone runing up on you fast and in your chum slick. but a bunch of people are not that informed so ya deal with it.. 'bait ain't easy' .

[cravertosu]

TT,

Thanks, but I haven't the faintest clue as to what the hell you're talking about!!
Can someone possible translate into newby for me, please!?!

[TTesterman]

there are though some guys that get on the water all night in our area to catch Goggle eyes (a type of scad) sailfish love them... so do mutton snappers. The sport boats kinda rely on these guys to get them good bait so they go almost every night. IF you are catching racks of bait and the guys that just set up (anchored) next to you all of a sudden flips on thier lights and the baits shut off... well sometimes they look real hard at you like you just screwed them out of a cpl extra dozen baits / mortage payment / electric bill kinda thing. whats really bad is when they stop bitting and that same boat needs bait because they spooked the bait. sometimes you just gotta roll with the waves.

[cravertosu]

Thanks! I'm looking forward to learning how to catch my own bait next year! This deployment has been great in that I've been able to learn TONS from you guys! Look forward to putting it all together when we get back!

Thanks again TT!

[Barely Legal]

Not to make myself sound like an ass here but screw the bait mafia. Free country, i will go where i want. However that doesnt mean i will pull up next to someone trying to make a living, i know its hard enough out there without some prick pulling alongside you trying to get your bait. I'll give them respect and backoff to a safe distance. If you do have to get close to get on the "bait hole" then idle up and do what the other boat is doing, if he has lights off then you have lights off. If i were Dr. Phil i would probably say "we all just need to chill out and share." Or something like that

[TTesterman]

human nature (or sometimes lack of it..) has wisperered in your ear as you pull up..: "If I ancor up here I can slide 12 feet in back of him and my chum will start and I'll have all the bait...!!!" ... so thats just the way it goes.. and ya know there is a bunch of bait out there you just have to find it. bait fishing can be fun and it sure is funny how bad those little sabiki hot hooks can hurt when you get even one in you...