Many nocturnal species
At night, the different species of fish encountered are often different from those found during the day. Most of the fishing will focus on fish such as wolffish, redfish and barracuda. Indeed, these veritable predators take advantage of the night to hunt close to shore. For rockfishing enthusiasts, scorpion fish come out of their hiding places when night falls to feed before daylight returns.
The night and its specificities
Fishing at night with lures from the shore allows you to target predatory fish that take advantage of the darkness to come close to shore. For successful night sessions, you must not leave without targeting a specific species of fish. In fact, the lures used to catch wolffish are different from those used to catch barracuda or redfish.
Diving hard lures from 5 to 10 cm, or soft lures from 2 to 4 inches, will be regularly used for the specific search for wolffish and redfish. For barracudas, don't be afraid to use much larger hard lures, from 15 to 20 cm, as barracudas are cannibals and are not afraid to attack large lures.
Before frantically casting noisy or flashy lures, which are of course effective at night, start by prospecting with natural-coloured, silent lures, especially if the fish are right in front of you.
Itinerant fishing
At night, too, it's important to move around, as it's the angler who has to get to the fish, not the other way round. That's why you need to choose spots that are easy to access, such as beaches, dykes or harbour entrances. Illuminated spots tend to attract forage fish, which leads predators to move closer.
Discretion is the order of the day, even at night - and especially at night! Indeed, the nocturnal atmosphere on the seashore is usually calm, with little human activity. This is why fish will be on the alert, and at the slightest human movement, or untimely lighting of the water, they will stop feeding. Fishing at night is no easier, and if you're in the presence of hunting fish, it's still important to place your lure delicately in the right spot while remaining discreet.
Finally, like day, night, you must start by prospecting the edges before attempting to fish far from the shore.
