Things That Go Bump While Fishing At Night
Nighttime is the right time for fishing this time of year, but things that go bump can be scary – or funny. Often they are scary when it happens but you can laugh when thinking back about them.
For many years I ran bank hooks, trotlines and jugs at Clarks Hill. One night while idling across Germany Creek at about 1:00 AM there was a little fog rising off the water and it was a little spooky. I was using a spotlight to find my way and suddenly something loomed up out of the water out in the middle of the lake.
It was only about 100 feet from the boat and I knew nothing was supposed to be there. I didn’t slam the gas wide open and spin the wheel the opposite direction like I first wanted to, at least until I got a good look at it.
The long, skinny thing lay low in the water but one end raised up and crooked, like a neck and head. It was at least 30 feet long. I was sure I had found the Clark’s Hill “Nessie.” After catching my breath and slowing my heart beat, I realized it was a log with a big branch on it. It had drifted out into the middle of the lake since the last time I had gone out to check hooks.
One night I made the mistake of going out and tying limb hooks after dark. There was an old willow snag hanging over the water and I eased up to it and grabbed a limb to tie the hook. Something seemed strange and I shined the light on one of the biggest wasp nests I had ever seen, hanging on the snag about a foot from my hand. Thank goodness wasps don’t fly at night!
Frog gigging always puts you in interesting situations. One time Bobby, Harold and I were in a pond a mile or so from my house looking for fat frogs. Bobby was paddling, Harold was in the front with the gig and I was in the middle of the boat holding spotlight.
We eased the front of the boat under a willow tree going after a huge bullfrog. I grabbed a limb to steady the boat and then looked at it. A snake was on the limb just inches from my hand. We backed out very quickly! I have often wondered why the snake didn’t drop off the limb. It would have landed on Harold’s back.
Looks like I would have learned about willow trees in the dark. The poor snake stayed there long enough for us to go home and get a .410 and send it to snaky heaven.
Pulling in trotlines and feeling something moving on it is always a thrill, but I got more than I bargained for one night. I felt a little tugging out near the middle and I thought it was a small catfish. As the drop line came out of the water I realized it was not a cat, but a snake that had eaten the minnow. I dropped it fast and waited an hour to come back, knowing the snake would have drowned by then.
When I pulled up the line ready to get rid of a dead snake I got another shock. There was a smaller snake, not on the hook, staying right with the dead one. I don’t know if it was a young one staying with mommy but, thanks to a paddle, it joined her at the bottom of the lake.
There is nothing quite as exciting as a snake, but one night while out gigging we went across a shallow sandbar and found a different thrill. The paddle dragging on the sand must have scared a bluegill that jumped out of the water and landed in my lap. I almost swapped place with it but managed to stay in the boat.
Bats can make things interesting, too. They don’t really bother me although I had heard tales all my life of them getting tangled in your hair and biting you. When one suddenly darts out of the dark inches from your face, it really makes you think hard about those old tales.
I have also set the hook many times when fishing a plastic worm in the dark when a bat swoops so close to my line it feels like a bass thumping it. That gets very frustrating.
Give night fishing a try this summer. You are almost guaranteed to get some kind of thrill, and you might even catch some fish.