# Nighttime kayaking



## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Been wanting to get the kayak out after dark for quite a while now. Finally got it done tonight. Fished fostoria res 6. Got there around 9 this evening. Worked the shoreline casting a series 200 ripshad. Also had a rod rigged with a roadrunner and twister tail and a swimbait rod. The only bait that produced tonight was the ripshad. Wasn't a spectacular night but did have some action. Started with a 15" channel cat. A short while later a 8" crappie took my offering. I then let the wind push me into the rocks so I could parallel cast the shoreline. 3 casts later I feel a solid thump. After a short fight I land a nice 18" largemouth. After I released her I continued working the shoreline letting the wind push me along. A while later a have another strike. I got a solid hookset and after a short fight land a nice 17" saugeye. That was the last fish of the evening. I called it quits by 11:15. Was a fun evening. Sitting in a kayak beats the heck out of stumbling over the rocks in the dark. Will definitely be doing that again soon.


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## Bassthumb (Aug 22, 2008)

Excellent, I love fishing at night. I just cant get any production. Very peaceful and cool weather makes it nice.


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## odell daniel (Nov 5, 2015)

this time of year with the heat and water temps its like a light switch at dark, they come to life.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Tried it again last night. Never had a bite lol. Water temperature was up to 84 degrees.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Had a fun night tonight. Took the yak out to res 6 again. Actually found some hungry fish. Started off throwing a series 200 ripshad. Didn't take too long before I had a solid hit. After a nice fight and some acrobatic jumps I had the first fish of the evening in my hands. Gotta love those smallies. After releasing her unharmed I continued casting along the shoreline. Didn't take long before I caught the first catfish of the evening. As darkness approached I decided to switch to a stick bait. Over the next hour and a half I put 1 more catfish and 3 saugeyes in the cooler. Didn't get anything big. The saugeyes and cats were all 14 to 14 1/2". Made for a very enjoyable evening and a nice little mess of fillets. That was the best reservoir bite I've had in at least 2 months.


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

Awesome! Your reports are convincing me i need to get out in my kayak and give the walleye a try after dark during summer. I will have to get out very soon!


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

AtticaFish said:


> Awesome! Your reports are convincing me i need to get out in my kayak and give the walleye a try after dark during summer. I will have to get out very soon!


The saugeyes that I have been catching haven't been on shore. They've been probably 15 yards off the shoreline over 10 plus feet of water suspended.


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

Oh..... would have gone out with the mind set of beating the bank while avoiding the people set up catfishing. Thanks for the details. Are you spotting them on your fish finder? I have a flasher that i have taken along sometimes. That might be enough to at least see some marks and figure a starting point on depth. I sure don't have much experience with suspended 'eyes.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

AtticaFish said:


> Oh..... would have gone out with the mind set of beating the bank while avoiding the people set up catfishing. Thanks for the details. Are you spotting them on your fish finder? I have a flasher that i have taken along sometimes. That might be enough to at least see some marks and figure a starting point on depth. I sure don't have much experience with suspended 'eyes.


Ya I'm seeing lots of suspended fish on the fish finder in this area.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Hit it again tonight. Got 2 keeper saugeyes and 1 throwback. Also caught a keeper crappie and a 14" smallmouth. Missed several good bites. These fish are hungry it's just a matter of finding them.





















This is what I've been throwing. I've been casting the ripshad up until it gets dark then switching to the smithwick elite 8.


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## freshwaterexperience (May 23, 2014)

Awesome Erie !!! I gotta get over to res six after dark some time in the yak what all lights do you have on your rig?


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

I've got a small battery powered lantern that I set on the front deck. Also have a light clipped onto the bill of my hat.


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## freshwaterexperience (May 23, 2014)

Yeah some people go hard core and run the red and green lights along the sides of the kayak lol I don't fish enough at night to deck it out that much but they do look sweet!!!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Great thread! Way to beat the heat!


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## tmorrow (Feb 26, 2008)

ErieEye said:


> Had a fun night tonight. Took the yak out to res 6 again. Actually found some hungry fish. Started off throwing a series 200 ripshad. Didn't take too long before I had a solid hit. After a nice fight and some acrobatic jumps I had the first fish of the evening in my hands. Gotta love those smallies. After releasing her unharmed I continued casting along the shoreline. Didn't take long before I caught the first catfish of the evening. As darkness approached I decided to switch to a stick bait. Over the next hour and a half I put 1 more catfish and 3 saugeyes in the cooler. Didn't get anything big. The saugeyes and cats were all 14 to 14 1/2". Made for a very enjoyable evening and a nice little mess of fillets. That was the best reservoir bite I've had in at least 2 months.
> View attachment 216527
> View attachment 216528


I'm not a 100%, but I think the length limit on saugeye is 15".


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

There is no statewide size limit on saugeyes. Your online it woulda taken ya 2 seconds to check that.


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

There is a 'Site Specific' size limit of 15" on some lakes. http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/fishing/fishing-regulations/site-specific-regulations I knew that Findlay had the size limit, but wasn't sure about Fostoria. Without looking it up i would have guessed they did have the 15" saugeye limit because i knew they had the 9" crappie limit.


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## tmorrow (Feb 26, 2008)

Not trying to stir anything up Erie. I thought there was limit. Glad to have that bit of info because I have released quite a few. I usually have good luck trolling the stump area.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

tmorrow said:


> Not trying to stir anything up Erie. I thought there was limit. Glad to have that bit of info because I have released quite a few. I usually have good luck trolling the stump area.


Not a problem. Personally I won't keep any under 14". What has amazed me is how healthy these fish are. Nice and thick across the back and the stomach cavity on all of them has been loaded with fat. They're definitely eating good.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Was a slow one tonight. 2 13" saugeyes was all I could manage. Both came on a stick bait. The last one I caught I was able to watch the fish hit the bait. He hit it right next to the kayak right where my bow light shines into the water. Hoping to find some bigger fish one of these evenings.


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## sdkohio (Jul 26, 2008)

The last I checked, Fostoria # 6 had a 15" limit. That was the only Fostoria res with a limit.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Found a nice one tonight, 23 1/2". Also managed a 16" cat. The saugeye came on my clown colored smithwick elite 8. Another beautiful evening in the yak.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

sdkohio said:


> The last I checked, Fostoria # 6 had a 15" limit. That was the only Fostoria res with a limit.


Nun of fostorias reservoirs have ever had a minimum size limit on saugeyes.


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## sdkohio (Jul 26, 2008)

ErieEye said:


> Nun of fostorias reservoirs have ever had a minimum size limit on saugeyes.


My bad. Sorry, I would have bet just about anything that Veterans was on that list. I must have been looking at the crappie.


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

Wow, 23.5" is a good one!


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## Bassthumb (Aug 22, 2008)

Giant saugeye, nice fish!


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## tmorrow (Feb 26, 2008)

Talked to the GW at Findlay reservoir last friday, no length limit in Fostoria.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

The catfish were on fire yesterday. Got out an hour before dark. Put 4 in the cooler before sunset casting a ripshad. The bite somewhat died after dark. Did pick up 1 more catfish around 10 o'clock and lost a nice bass around that time. No saugeyes tonight. Before I quit I turned my head lamp on and slowly paddled along the shoreline. The only saugeye I saw was about 8" long. Did see several small bluegills and several nice sized catfish up along shore feeding in the rocks.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Got the kayak out this evening for a few hours. Unfortunately the saugeyes didn't want to play. Did however manage to catch a few fish. Got a 9" crappie a 15" channel cat and a 19" largemouth. Found out a bass that size can tow around a kayak pretty good.














lol


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Got into a few saugeyes tonight. Trouble is there was no size to em. 2 went 13 to 14". The biggest went 15. No bass or cats tonight. Water temperature was 82 to begin the evening and cooled off to 77 by the time I quit. Bring on the cooler temps. Getting seriously tired of the heat. Just glad there was a nice breeze tonight.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

They turned on last night. Caught 6 saugeyes. Lost a 16"er at the kayak. Had several other really good bites. It was one of those nights where they were hitting so hard they where knocking slack in the line. All of them came on a smithwick elite 8 in gold clown. They were right up along shore last night also which hasn't been the case this summer. Between the perfect weather and the bright moon you couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable evening to be in the kayak. Water temperature was down to 76.


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## tmorrow (Feb 26, 2008)

What was the water depth by the stumps? I haven't been over there in a few weeks. Probably head there or Findlay on Friday.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

I believe the depth in the stumps ranges from 6 to 7' right now with the water level being down.


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## tmorrow (Feb 26, 2008)

Was twice that this spring.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Can't be much more than a foot of water over top of some of those stumps.


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## Masterbaiter66 (Sep 3, 2016)

ErieEye said:


> Been wanting to get the kayak out after dark for quite a while now. Finally got it done tonight. Fished fostoria res 6. Got there around 9 this evening. Worked the shoreline casting a series 200 ripshad. Also had a rod rigged with a roadrunner and twister tail and a swimbait rod. The only bait that produced tonight was the ripshad. Wasn't a spectacular night but did have some action. Started with a 15" channel cat. A short while later a 8" crappie took my offering. I then let the wind push me into the rocks so I could parallel cast the shoreline. 3 casts later I feel a solid thump. After a short fight I land a nice 18" largemouth. After I released her I continued working the shoreline letting the wind push me along. A while later a have another strike. I got a solid hookset and after a short fight land a nice 17" saugeye. That was the last fish of the evening. I called it quits by 11:15. Was a fun evening. Sitting in a kayak beats the heck out of stumbling over the rocks in the dark. Will definitely be doing that again soon.
> View attachment 216173
> View attachment 216174


I have not taken my kayak out at night yet... Do you have lights on yours?


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Masterbaiter66 said:


> I have not taken my kayak out at night yet... Do you have lights on yours?


All I use is a small battery powered lantern I bought at lowes. I fasten it to the front deck. All you need to be leagal is a light that's visible 360*. I had it out again 2 nights ago but only caught 1 13" saugeye. I'm hoping this cool front gets the water cooled down and gets them biting.


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## tmorrow (Feb 26, 2008)

Went to Findlay this morning. 1 crappie 1 small walleye. Northeast wind had them with tight lips.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Got the kayak out again this evening. After 20 minutes of casting a berkley flicker shad I felt a hard strike. I thought I had a good size catfish on but to my surprise it turned out to be a 16 1/2" saugeye. Not a bad start. However I spent the next 2 hours casting without so much as a nibble. Tried various Stickbaits after it got dark to no success. I'm hoping they turn on these next couple nights ahead of the cold front coming in. Saw lots of bait fish where I was fishing along with quite a few larger fish suspended within them. Water temperature was 70 degrees when I started and dropped to 67 by the time I quit.


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## ErieEye (Jul 16, 2007)

Got 2 more tonight. Both plump 15"ers. They're definitely on a feed. One had what looked to be 3 white perch in its stomach. The other had 2 indistinguishable bait fish in it. Both fish were loaded with fat. Caught both at sundown. No bites after dark. A clown colored smithwick elite 8 is what they wanted tonight.


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

Nice job. You sure are giving me the itch................ i'm eating some walleye out of the freezer tonight so will have to replace them, oh darn. Either going to get out on Saturday to cast for eyes or may give another try at trapping/catching some craws closer to home.


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## WLAngler (Aug 29, 2010)

Walleye,Saugeye,& Sauger
Site Specific Waters: Acton • Alum Creek • Atwood • Berlin
• Buckeye • C.J. Brown • Caesar Creek
• Ferguson • Findlay No. 1 & No. 2 • Lake Milton
including the Mahoning River connecting Berlin
Lake and Lake Milton • Indian • Lake Snowden
• Metzger • Piedmont • Pleasant Hill • Rocky Fork
• Seneca • Tappan • West Branch Lakes

15 inches


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