Essential Tools for Night Fishing!
Now that we have our guide for Night Fishing (posted yesterday), we must discuss the tools we will need to actually go out there and do it!
A hat with LED lights on it:
This one may seem kind of ridiculous or unnecessary, but when you are out there in the darkness trying to set up your line or bait your hook, you will be darn glad that you don't have to also try and hold a flash light in your hands while you do it. I actually didn't even know these existed till my aunt got me one for Christmas. Thank you Aunt Donna! ;)
A fishing pole:
This one is not as necessary as you might think. I have gone with my brother before where he just tossed some line in with a hook and pulled in catfish after catfish. However, that is not likely to be the norm, so bring a pole. It doesn't have to be a spinning reel, a bait casting reel will work just fine. It can even be one of those gimmicky collapsible poles if you are short on space. Just stay away from the fly rod for this trip.
A bucket:
If you plan on keeping anything that you catch you will need something to put them in. However, the bucket's most useful feature comes in the use of it as a chair. You will thank me when you are sitting on the bank comfortably atop your bucket instead of getting the seat of your pants muddy and wet. Plus you can carry your tackle box in here as you walk which means it doesn't add an extra item for you to carry.
A tackle box:
You don't need a big tackle box like the one shown above, but you will need one to carry the essentials. You will need one that holds extra hooks, weights, bobbers, and potentially several different types of baits. If you are going to a new location it is important to bring a tackle box because you don't yet know what kind of bait the fish will be biting on and what fishing technique works best. You may have to experiment a bit by trying several different set ups.
A high powered flashlight:
The LED lights on your cap might not be enough. The flashlight comes in handy when walking out to the pond as well as walking back. You want to make sure you aren't stepping on any poisonous critters or holes that might be out there just waiting for you. Another use for the flashlight can be using it to spot fish in the water or keep an eye on your bobber. Most fish aren't spooked by lights in the water at night time, in fact some are even drawn to it. So, keeping that flashlight fixed on your bobber might be your secret weapon to increase your fish catching!
Bobbers with LED lights in them:
A flashlight becomes less essential if you are able to find some bobbers with LED lights in them. These are not an absolute necessity but they can make life much easier for you when trying to spot your bobber out there in the sea of darkness. It can also help with attracting fish as mentioned above. If the light itself does not attract them, the light will attract bugs, which in turn attract the fish. The ones shown in the picture above are not the LED kind as I consider these the least essential item on the list, if you have the other items you don't need LED bobbers, but they sure could be a help!
Bait:
As mentioned yesterday, there is no finer bait when fishing golf course ponds than hot dogs. It might sound kind of ridiculous but it really does work. Catfish, bass, and carp all love them. When I used to see someone on the shore using hot dogs I thought to myself that they didn't know what they were doing and must be amateurs. However, now that I have tried it as bait, it turns out they knew a heck of a lot more than I was giving them credit for originally. The next time you are fishing anywhere, day or night, try hot dogs and see what you think.
Conclusion:
All of these things are absolute essentials to help you catch the most fish and have the most fun while you are out there on the golf course night fishing. Most of these things are also necessary if you night fish somewhere besides the golf course as well. You might just want to add a couple things if you go somewhere besides the golf course (like a firearm to protect you from predators).
Besides the very basic fishing essentials, like a pole and bait, I really can't state how much having a hat with an LED light on it makes life so much more enjoyable. I can't tell you how many times I accidentally hooked myself by trying to hold a flashlight in one hand while putting the bait on the hook with my other hand.
Plus I can't tell you how many times my girlfriend has commented on how studly I like strutting around with my LED hat... that should be enough of a strong selling point right there alone. Just get one, they are worth it. :)
Have fun out there and live well my friends!
Image Sources:
All images were taken from http://www.cabelas.com/home.jsp except for the hotdog picture, which is linked at the bottom.
http://truecouponing.com/2014/08/walmart-oscar-mayer-beef-hot-dogs-1-48/
Follow: @jrcornel
By now I'm very curious: Do you feed your garden with the fishes you catch? Good looking post as always, namaste :)
Haha! Good question! But no I do not... I generally throw back anything that I catch. That way it can get bigger for when I catch it the next time ;)
I think the hats are over rated. I use headlamps so I can adjust the angle of the light without having keep moving my head to get it in the right spot. Also some of the hats are made to where you can't replace the batteries. But for standard use the hat is not that bad. The cabelas hat you describe is kind of expensive. They sell alot cheaper hats with lights.
The LEDs in those hats are well positioned and very bright. I haven't had to turn my hat once to see something. The light emitted is almost exactly what my field of vision is. I was impressed. The one I got cost $19.99, not bad at all considering most name brand hats cost around that without the lights! Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts :)