I will miss Michael Jackson. The King of Pop and I had several things in common: We were both carbon-based life forms, we both breathed oxygen, and we both loved children, but perhaps in different ways.
We were also considered to be lunatics. Consider that the word lunatic comes from the Latin “luna,” which means “moon.” If fishing under the moonlight fits the bill, then guilty as charged.
So what does Jackson have to do with fly fishing? Other than perhaps the sequins on his jackets would’ve made great spoon flies, nothing. However, one of his songs did play a pivotal role in expanding my fly-angling horizons.
The year was 1984. Lisa and I were celebrating our second Halloween at our new home. Our firstborn was only months old, so I was put in charge of welcoming the neighborhood kids at the front door.
I kept replaying Jackson’s song “Thriller,” from the album of the same name, on the stereo and blasted it outside for passerbys to hear. Vincent Price’s monologue at the end goes like this:
“Darkness falls across the land,
“The midnight hour is close at hand.
“Creatures crawl in search of blood,
“To terrorize y’all’s neighborhood.”
Those words got me to thinking: What creatures are lurking under lights at the pond in my neighborhood?
So after the trick-or-treating was over, I told Lisa I was going to take the dog for a walk. Which is strange she believed this since we didn’t have a dog at the time.
At the lake, under one of the lights on the water’s edge, there were dark shadows rising beneath the surface, terrorizing the minnows on top. I’d brought my fly rod along, with a wet fly tied on the end of my leader. I cast it out and let it sink, and while doing so, a small sac-a-lait came up and tagged it.
So began my exposure to fly fishing at night. Now I’ve always been a night person, and I love fishing. So the combination was like putting a cat inside a yarn shop.
Over the years, I’ve spent nearly half as many hours fishing at night as I have daylight. You can flyfish for just about any species after dark. I’ve done browns on the Madison River in Montana, snook under boat docks in South Florida, rainbows on the Norfork River in Arkansas, stripers at Toledo Bend and bass and crappie in numerous lakes and ponds.
But my very favorite night fishing is for speckled trout.
Most of my evening excusions have been to the Caminada piers (old bridge) at Grand Isle. Other spots we night fish include Sunset Pier in Mandeville and the docks at Prien Park in Lake Charles.
In the old days — before most piers had hanging lights — we’d bring our lanterns and drop them down near the water, then wait for the bait and, later, the predators, to show up.
If you’ve never witnessed a speck strike a lure under a light, it’s pretty amazing the speed at which they do it, then swim away. The strike-to-hookup ratio is five to one. The only way to change that is to hook the fish before he bites. (I can see the emails coming, “Catch, how do you do that?” You can’t, it’s a joke.)
The Clouser Minnow is an excellent imitation of the bay anchovy, a.k.a. silverside, which everything eats after dark. If you cast a Clouser off a pier, and skim it just below the surface, you’ll catch specks. If you let it sink to the bottom, then strip it up, you’ll catch sand trout or redfish.
I’ve also had good success using the Gummy Minnow and the Charlie’s Angel.
When the waters are full of shrimp, it’s a classic case of matching the hatch. I’ve caught the most fish on a Chrystal Shrimp or Epoxy Shrimp, although my buddy Steve Lee often outfishes me using a small (No. 2) white Seaducer.
Michael Jackson created the moonwalk, and that inspired me to create the “mooncast” for fishing off piers at night. Obviously you’re casting more up-and-down than horizontal, but also you want to cast a bit sideways to the pier, and do a reach mend at the end of the cast. This allows you to bring the fly in perpendicular to the current. Retrieve it just below the surface.
I used to also fish lighted docks from my boat. That was before Steve and I got heavy into kayak fishing. One day he came up with the idea for a portable lighted dock that could be towed by our yaks.
The portable dock worked out OK, but a newer concept is working out even better — easier to make and easier to tow. And you don’t need a large SUV or truck to carry it around.
First, get a used or cheap mini sit-on-top yak. A good supply of used ones can be found at beaches where they rent them out during summer. A battery inside a milk crate will sit in the center of the yak. Off the milk crate, make an extension arm of either wood or PVC pipe to hold the light. Finally, you need two long and narrow PVC pipes that will fit through scupper holes to anchor the yak.
Once you’ve anchored your “dock,” then paddle back several yards beyond the perimeter of the lighted water, and anchor your boat there. A lot of times, we’ll catch trout on just outside the edge of the lighted water.
The best place I’ve found to anchor the dock is near dropoffs in bayous or canals that have good tidal flow.
Yakkers need to remember to have a single light source on their vessels that can be seen for two miles, and in coastal waters, to follow Coast Guard requirements.
I am haunted by lights over water. Give this a try, and you’ll be too.
