Fishing Perth After Dark

Some anglers are lucky enough to have flexible working hours. Pick and choose their rostered days, Wet a line when the weather is fine. But for most of us it’s the 9 to 5 work week followed by terrible weekend weather and packed boat ramps. There is a way around all this. Fishing after dark.

The hours around sunset and just after dark can be some of the most productive times to fish. Not only are the fish biting, you get the advantage of a boat ramp to yourself. Depsite popular belief winter brings some fantastic weather boating wise. If you can put up with the winter chill, the low winds and low swell that come with winter provide perfect fishing conditions.

There are a few tips that make for a safe and successful night fishing session. The point I want to emphasise most is safety first. Yes, it sounds cliché but do not attempt to go night fishing unless you are 100% confident in your boating skills.

It does not take much to get qualified with enough skills to be able to safely fish after dark. Infact most skippers that have completed the RST course should possess the skills to venture into the night. So if you are at all unsure on your skills, its best sit a simple night course and brush up at one of your local RST providers.

Knowledge of Cardinal markers and Navigation lights is crucial when heading out to sea. There are fixed obstacles such as reef and rock standing in your way that are impossible to see. These obstacles are marked clearly by the DPI with navigation markers. These markers tell you what side to pass them on for a safe journey.

It’s not only the fixed obstacles you have to keep an eye out for. Cray pot floats are your next worst enemy as these are extremely hard to see. Your best bet is to have someone keeping a keen eye on whats in your path for the duration of the journey. GPS navigation systems will tell you the markers, reefs and other possible danger zones but cray pots are very unpredictable. Slow and steady wins the race for night fishing.

So after all that and you arrive at your destination in one piece, it is time to start fishing. Depending on what style of fishing you prefer, you will either anchor or drift. I personally prefer anchoring and getting a good burley trail going.

Burley trails work as good, if not better at night time and can attract a whole array of species. Ideally a mixture of chook/berley pellets, chopped up mulies and fish oil works the best. There is premade burley mixes such as Shorestrike, RJays and the ever popular “Spess’s Berley” but I prefer to make my own.
Keep the mulie pieces size down to a minimum. If the pieces are too big the berley will take too long to get to the bottom and fill up the fish you are trying to hook! Floating mulies out in a burley trail works amazingly well. The fish come up the trail nibbling on the small bits of berley and the minute they see a bigger bait they will smash it in no time at all.

While at anchor, you must always have a white light that is viewable from 360 degrees around the boat , so passers by can easily indentify a boat at anchor. Most off-the-shelf lights for this purpose are relatively dull but having a bright light not only makes it easy to spot you, it attracts fish too.

A bright spot like coming off the back of the boat is a major attractant for the likes of Squid, Baitfish such as yellowtail, snook etc and occasionally sharks. A bright light also has the added advantage of making it a lot easier to re-bait etc. LED Decklights will help you avoid treading on baits or worse, hooks.

Headlamps are also a handy feature that I would not go night fishing with out and you can pick up a basic one from Bunnings or Tacklestores for about twenty bucks. If you want to keep all your digits, a good set of long nosed pliers doesn’t go astray either as the sharks do like to come out to play at night.

Suprisingly enough Softplastics DO work at night. Fish have amazing eye sight even once the sun has gone down. I would still suggest anchor and burley as the best technique, but once the fish are around the plastics will do the damage. Try the 110mm or 140mm Squidgy Flickbaits in Pilly colour, 5” Gulp Jerk Shads or 5”Snapback Jerkbaits.

If drift fishing is more your thing then there is a few tricks that will give you that added advantage. Adding a few lumo beads just above your hook can add that bit extra brightness to get a fishes attention. The B2 Lumo glow squids work similarly, these aren’t cheap but do glow a lot brighter than the cheap imitations.

There are a lot of gimmicks out there claiming to be the latest and greatest scents or bait enhancers, but there are two I have found work well for me. The first is old faithful Chumline, smells like a dogs breakfast but catches fish like no tomorrow. The second is Stimulate Ultrabite in a can. This triggers the fishes attacking reflex. I’ll admit I was sceptical at first but Stimulate does catch fish.

I do find that often after dark fish will bite very sporadically. They may be all on for an hour and then nothing the rest of the night. Best bet is to get out there with the last bit of sunlight and return in following your GPS track before your too tired. It is not uncommon to be back at the ramp by 9pm with dinner in the esky.

So if your finding it hard to get time to fish around the 9 till 5 week, night fishing is a great option. Providing you take all the right safety precautions and are well prepared, fishing after dark can reap some mighty fine rewards.

Good Fishing,
Josh.