Kayak Night Fishing Tips and Gear (The Complete Guide)
The best way to kayak fish at night is to target areas with lights like docks, bridges and lighted sea walls. The lights attract baitfish and shrimp which in turn attracts larger predators like snook, redfish, tarpon, snapper, grouper, flounder and speckled trout.
Fish act very differently at night than they do in the day. The chances of you catching your trophy fish of a lifetime increase significantly at night. You have an excellent chance of catching the fish of a lifetime kayak fishing at night.
In my opinion, the fish seem more relaxed, less spooky and will eat more readily than during the daylight hours. In this article I will talk about the kayak night fishing gear that you will need and give you night time fishing tips.
I am a kayak fishing guide on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the grass flats around South and Central Florida for more than 40 years. One of my favorite things to do is night fishing the dock lights in the Indian River Lagoon.
In the article below, I will teach you all of the tips and techniques to catch the various fish around Florida from your kayak at night.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below for snook fishing tips and techniques.
The best way to kayak fish at night is to target areas with lights like docks, bridges and lighted sea walls. The lights attract baitfish and shrimp which in turn attracts larger predators like snook, redfish, tarpon, snapper, grouper, flounder and speckled trout.
Fish act very differently at night than they do in the day. The chances of you catching your trophy fish of a lifetime increase significantly at night. You have an excellent chance of catching the fish of a lifetime kayak fishing at night.
In my opinion, the fish seem more relaxed, less spooky and will eat more readily than during the daylight hours. In this article I will talk about the kayak night fishing gear that you will need and give you night time fishing tips.
I am a kayak fishing guide on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the grass flats around South and Central Florida for more than 40 years. One of my favorite things to do is night fishing the dock lights in the Indian River Lagoon.
In the article below, I will teach you all of the tips and techniques to catch the various fish around Florida from your kayak at night.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below for snook fishing tips and techniques.
Kayak Night Fishing Tips--Gear
You will need a few things before you can go night fishing in your kayak. You will need a whistle and a life vest on your kayak day or night. At night you will need a white light that can be lit in time to prevent a collision with another boat. It can be a hand held lamp or any kind of torch that produces white light.
Some of the nicer kayaks that I have seen have water proof lights that go all around the front deck of the kayak that can be turned on to bait your lines or take a hook out of the fish that you catch. That is a nice touch. I have also seen some with the regular bow and stern lights mounted right into the hull.
That is how the cool guys do it. The cheap guys like me do it a little differently. I have a battery lantern that I use for camping and a head lamp with a head strap. That works just fine for me and my night time kayak fishing but some day I might step up and get a better lighting system.
I wrote another article that is all about the best kayak fishing accessories. You can read that article by clicking here.
You can rig up a very cheap 12 volt battery lighting system for around $100. You can get 4 waterproof LED lights with all of the wires for around $50. Then all that you need is a 12 volt battery to hook them up to. Walmart has some cheap ones for about $25.
So for $75 and a couple of hours of work you can have your kayak lighting system all set up. I got the amber lights because where I fish back in the mangroves and tidal creeks can be very buggy. The amber lights do not attract bugs like the white lights do.
Learn tips and tricks for catching redfish with lures in the video below.
Kayak Night Fishing Tips--Docks
Fishing the docks for snook and redfish at night is a blast. I think that the darkness adds a little bit of scary to the adventure because every time I reel a snook over to the boat I wonder if a bull shark is about to steal it from my hands. That has happened to me a couple of times in broad day light so it will probably happen to me eventually during one of my night kayak fishing trips.
Once it happened to me in Everglades National Park at the mouth of the Shark River. It was about a 6 feet long lemon shark that snatched a snook out of my hands. I was holding the snook by the lower jaw when it happened.
The second time was on the grass flats around Fort Pierce. I had been fighting a jack for about 3 or four minutes and as I got it to the boat a 5 feet long bull shark slammed it and the side of the kayak. Time to fish somewhere else or switch to shark fishing.
I wrote another article that is all about the best baits and lures for snook fishing. You can read that article by clicking here.
The best baits for kayak fishing the docks at night for snook and redfish are live pilchards, finger mullet or big shrimp. I like to anchor up current as far away as possible and let the bait drift into the shine of the lights from the darkness. If you present the bait correctly it is almost irresistible to the fish.
Another great night time bait is a pin fish but they are hard to control without a cork of some kind. Pin fish always swim straight down so it is hard to get them to swim to the dock lights without a cork and the tide. Visit the Pro Fishing Tips page to learn more about getting the right tackle to maximize your fishing fun.
The best lures at night are a white shad with a paddle tail and a red jig head. This is a great lure in the day time too. When I use lures I try to anchor down current and cast up current.
I try to cast as far past the light shine as I can and then work the bait from the darkness into the light. The snook and reds will usually be hiding in the shadows waiting for their prey to swim into the light.
Some dock owners are kind of funny about people fishing around their docks. You can fish around their docks and boats as long as you don't touch them. That is trespassing. You can paddle your kayak under them too without breaking any laws. Just don't touch anything.
I like to fish docks with larger boats moored to them. Those docks usually have a deeper cut next to them because the big boat propellers will dig out at trench in the sand and mud. Big trenches hold big fish!
The video below gives you tips on jigging for snook at night.
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Kayak Night Fishing Tips--Bridges
When I fish bridges at night it is most likely for monster snook. It seems like the really big snook get caught at night. In my opinion, you only need to bring one lure to fish the bridge lights. That lure is the flair hawk jig. In my opinion, the FLAIR HAWK JIG is the undisputed champion of the night time snook lures.
If you can learn how to properly present a flair hawk jig to the snook under the bridge lights you will catch many trophy snook. The key to kayak night fishing for these snook is to anchor down current and cast up current past the light shine as far as you can.
Then work the jig on the bottom or within a couple of feet from the bottom back to you at about the same speed as the tide. Repeat this process 5 or 6 times and move to another light.
If you have the time and the patience to methodically fish all of the bridge lights like this a monster snook is in your future.
Kayak Night Fishing Tips--Inlets and Deep Channels
Inlets and well lit deeper channels are great places to fish from your kayak at night. Big tarpon and big snook can be found around the deeper cuts on any waterway as long as there is plenty of current and bait around.
The key to catching the snook will be to get the bait down to them in the current. Again the flair hawk snook jigs will be your best bet for snook. You can also catch the tarpon with this lure but you will have to swim it in the middle and upper parts of the water column. That's usually where the tarpon will be hunting.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in detail inshore saltwater fishing. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Live bait will work very well for tarpon in this area. A free lined mullet or lady fish is an irresistible treat for a hungry tarpon. And if you sink a mullet or lady fish down to where the snook are they will gladly take your offer too.
Watch the video below and learn the best tips and techniques to catch speckled trout.
Conclusion:
Night fishing in a kayak is a blast. The key to finding fish at night is to focus on fishing the lighted areas where the bait fish and shrimp will congregate and attract larger predators. Big fish are easier to catch at night so if you are looking for your personal best fish, then try for them at night around some lights.
Hooking up with a monster fish at night is an amazing experience. The only problem with it is the other boats have a hard time seeing us kayak fishermen. So make sure to have lights to stop the boats from running you over. It happens more than you think.
If you are in the Treasure Coast of Florida book a kayak fishing trip with me. Snook, tarpon, spotted sea trout and redfish are our main target species. We don't do night trips but there are plenty of fish around in the day time too.
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