In Part 1 on Night Fishing I wrote about my introduction to trout fishing at night. In this article I want cover some of the things I have learned since, about this fascinating aspect of our sport.

Many people who fish at night concentrate their efforts around lake edges where rivers and streams enter the lake (the 'rip'). There is a good reason for this. It is much easier than fishing on a river in the black of night. Fish seem to congregate around stream and river mouths. In the warmer months they come in to feast on smelt or other baitfish that swarm in the shallows near these mouths.

In winter, spawning trout congregate before making their dash up the river, for a spot of naughty bits in the gravel.

Most fishermen who fish river and stream mouths make a beeline for the centre of the rip, cast out and retrieve up the rip. Many catch fish using this method, but it is my observation that the fishermen who catch the most, and biggest fish, do not fish in the main rip where the river enters the lake.

In the diagram hereabouts I have attempted to illustrate the dynamics of a typical rip. The diagram is not to scale, but designed to show how most rips develop, and the prime positions to fish.

The first point to note about a typical rip is that almost invariably a rip will after flowing into the lake, bend and travel along the lake shore. Sometimes, especially after high on-shore winds, the rip may run very close to the shore. It is in any situation the wind direction that determines the direction of the rip once it has entered the lake. The wind will build currents in a lake, and it is these currents that push against the rip and govern its direction.

At some point the rip usually turns back towards the shore and forms an eddy that meets up with the main rip. Where this eddy turns back on the main flow may be only fifty to one hundred metres down the shore, but it can be up to and over 500 metres.

There is an easy way to find these currents. In Taupo a handful of small pumice pebbles thrown onto the rip in daylight will go with flow and reveal the main currents. Elsewhere a handful of dry leaves will do the trick.

Position 'A' is the prime spot. Trout tend to move and feed into the current. So feeding or moving fish make first contact with the rip down current from the mouth. It is also true that it is at this point that the most feed is concentrated. Current borne nymphs, insects, and smelt are held in the highest concentrations where the current turns.

Position 'B' is the next best prime spot. This is where the eddy rejoins the main rip, and is again a place where feed is concentrated. This position can be fished either by casting directly out into the current and retrieving straight back up-current, or casting as the line indicates, and allowing the fly to swing across the current, before retrieving up the edge of the current. Using this cross-current casting angle will be determined by how many people are in the rip. Casting across others lines is not on.

Position 'C' is good for a 'fan' casting strategy. If 12 o'clock is straight out into the lake, then start casting at 10 o'clock and work round to 3 o'clock. Using this method while walking along the shore can be very productive.

Positions 'D' is right on the edge of the main rip where the river or stream enters the lake. If conditions and other anglers allow, cast across the rip, wait till the fly swings out to the current edge, and then begin the retrieve.

But in the black of night, how do you find these spots? Usually you can't, unless you have done some reconnoitering when you can see. My practice is the wander down the shore in daylight to identify these spots and then make a marker; a scrape in the sand, a couple of sticks, a pile of rocks, etc. that will let me know where to wade when dark rolls in.

I have watched on many occasions fish working behind anglers who have waded out to over waist deep, and past the fish. I have caught fish behind the line-up of anglers.

The old trout fishing adage of fishing your feet first, may well have been invented for lake fishing at night. Very often fish will be moving and feeding in water not much deeper than knee-deep. This is especially true if the eddy is sweeping along the shore.

A lip is formed at many river and stream mouths by a build up of sand, small stones, etc. being pushed out by the river into the lake. Some river mouths, and the Waimarino (Taupo, NZ) is a good (or bad) example, the sand lip can be six or more metres deep. Just like any sand dune, if you stand near the edge, the sand will run away under your feet. There is nowhere to go but down.

Apart from the danger, standing near the lip edge is counter productive. Fish can be holding or feeding right up to the lip edge, and moving out there to cast will only move the fish.

The first set-up is a floating line, at least a 3 metre leader, to two flies.
The first something dark on a size 6 hook, usually made with a big black tuft of marabou as wing, and a fluoro yellow body and tail. Actually any dark fly will do as long as it has two or three strands of bright blue sparkling stuff in the tail.

Behind that fly I tie in a size 10 hook - dressed with two or three turns of aurora luminescent (glow) skirt, and a couple or three threads of something bright blue and shiny as a tuft of a tail. A size ten hook? Too small! No. I seem to get more hits, and more secure hook-ups. Mike at his Taupo Fly and Gun shop put me onto these small hooks and it has really made a big difference.

Retrieve this rig at a steady rate, but mix in a few twitches and pulls to add a bit of extra life. If the current is moving the fly line I will often let the line drift around and occasionally give the flies a twitch or two.

It is important to retrieve the fly to the point where just the leader is out from the rod. Fish can hit anytime right up to the rod. But how do you know when to stop retrieving before you pull the leader onto the rod? Before you go out, pull the line out through the rod and with a metre of line out from the tip, dab two or three bumps of Twink typing corrector, or a glob of knot glue, onto the line down near the reel. In the dark these bumps are easy to pick up as you retrieve.

The second tactic I use, is to fish a luminescent Booby fly, on a fast sinking shooting head.
The booby is tied on a size ten, long-shank hook. The Boobies are made from black foam - the body three or so turns of luminescent material (green when glowing) - and a black marabou tail with some bright blue sparkly stuff (blue if you have it). Use a less than 1m (3')leader. I often use just .5m (18").

Cast it out let it settle on the bottom, then give it a couple of pulls - less than half a metre - let it settle again, then repeat.

On flat calm nights when fish can be heard working but you cannot get a touch using the methods above, tie on a black luminescent booby, size ten, to a long leader, five metres or more, to a floating line. You can tie a small size ten luminescent fly off to the bend of the hook if you must.

Before casting out make sure the Booby's marabou tail is wet. Cast out, and let the fly settle on the surface, and if you are using a second fly, give this fly time to sink. Then give the line a slow around 20cm (10") pull, and let the fly settle again. The hits when they come using this method are savage. Be prepared to let out line quickly to avoid a leader break, or a hook pull.

Sometimes fishing right in the rip is the place to be, especially when fish are moving into the rivers or streams. My preference is to use a sink tip line or an intermediate line. A fast sinking line tends to settle on the bottom and reduce lateral movement of the flies. If the rip current is not strong try a floating line with a long leader.

If fish are being taken way out in the rip, there is a lazy way to catch fish. Cast out, then let out some more line to ensure that the fly sinks. Then retrieve for 4 or 5 metres, stop retrieving and let the line drift back out in the current, and retrieve again for 4 or 5 metres. This way your flies will spend the maximum time where the fish are.

Night fishing is often an acquired taste. Many simply cannot handle the general disorientation that occurs in the dark. But the more you fish at night the less the disorientation.

Once you have experienced the sudden weight on the line somewhere out there in the dark, that first slashing run, followed by a large splash as the fish takes to the air, you will be as hooked as the fish.