Beat the eagles and osprey

In San Diego County, night-fishing is usually not available until summer catfish season; most lakes close at sunset. But trout, largemouth bass and channel and blue catfish feed at night. The fish can cruise the shallows unseen by golden eagles, bald eagles, and osprey.

The stocked trout for our winter fisheries excite the big pre-spawn bass that feed on them, so as the trout cruise the edges acclimating to their new home, the large bass will ambush the smaller fish to twelve inches or so from the deeper water adjacent to the shallows. Catfish love trout, too, and though trout is illegal to use for bait, shiners, chicken liver, mackerel work. For trout, the best bait for night fishing is usually Berkley PowerBait, Velveeta cheese, or canned corn. Terminal tackle should be simple at night; a common setup is an egg weight with a swivel above a leader and proper hook for the bait – commonly known as the Carolina rig. Line size should be around six-pound test for trout and 10-pound test or so for bass or catfish.

I have found while fishing on lakes that do not close at sunset (Lake Mead) less moon equals better night fishing as the lanterns on shore draw baitfish to the light while they would not be so attracted if the moon were full and bright. The last full moon event was help at Lake Jennings December 2nd. Lake Jennings is hosting a Full Moon Night Fishing this Saturday from 6am to 10pm on a night when the moon will be a sliver at 14 percent visible.