Night Fisherman of All Seasons

For most, night fishing for trout is a seasonal pursuit. During the months of July and August especially, fly fisherman set out after dark convinced any given night could produce the biggest fish of their life. A smaller number of anglers though see night fishing differently. Regardless of season, if the conditions look even half decent, if there's any chance of catching even one trout of any size, we feel the pull. I have to go. A front approaches in January. On the night of the 11th, conditions align. At the ground, the air is still. Thousands of feet overhead, the clouds fly over at a blistering pace, lit up by a big bright moon. Up there it is not calm at all. A finger of unseasonably warm air reaches the northeast. The rivers are low enough, and though the water temperatures have not yet climbed out of the 30's, the low this night is in the mid 40's. I feel the pull.

I'd fished colder nights and come out on top, but this was slightly uncharted territory. I'd night fished for trout in January but never where I would be this night. My plan was clear none the less. There would be no fishing mice or poppers, or big streamers. Tightlining small streamers and nymphs was the plan. The fly I chose to start with, my all time favorite for nocturnal trout: a black bunny leech. Mousing may be all the rage, but give me a black leach any night and I will make something good happen. The black leech accounts for the largest trout of my life and hundreds more fish than I've caught on top. Tightlining at night poses its own challenges, but the rewards are high. Odd though it may seem, I've had far more violent and heart stopping takes on a tightlined leech than on a big rodent, which is typically pretty nonchalant. If you've ever seen a 20 inch brown take a hendrickson dun, you get the idea. It's often just like that when a brown eats a mouse.

When that heart stopping massive thump that buckles the rod comes in at 9:30 pm on January 11th in CT... well that's just awesome. Three hours and only the one take. I made the connection though.

You see, for me night fishing isn't about catching the biggest trout of my life. Perhaps it's too easy to say that seeing that it has already come to fruition, but I would have said the same thing before. Night fishing for trout is about challenging these fish on a different front. I want to know enough about their behavior and how conditions effect their feeding to be able to go out and catch a trout at any time of day or night any day of the year, or at least rule out the times when it isn't possible. That might mean I'm out there many nights getting cold and catching nothing. I'm okay with that. This is a game I adore.
Until next time.

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

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