Fishing pike at night

[4D7]

Just wondering if fishing for pike at night is any good, or is it a waste of time?

[snot rocket]

I have night fished several times, mostly for burbot (in winter) and Walleye (in summer) and have never caught a Pike in the Dark.

Obviously, fading, almost completely dark, sunset period can be awesome for Pike, but well after Dark, I don't think so.

[pdfish]

We caught a big one on the river last fall at about 11PM. Thought it was a sturgeon at first, but no, big ol' gator.

[Piker]

I think pike are mainly sight feeders and need some daylight. I suppose there are times at nite by having the bait or lure close enough you could catch them. I never have tho after trying a few times.

[Marlin07]

Spent three nights at Gull this weekend. Pike would hit well right before dark until about the time it was to dark to see anything, bourbot would star going at around 11:00 in the spot we were.

[donrock]

I know we fished alot last year at night for burbot and we caught jack at night. Usually one or two a night between 10pm and 3am. So it may not be worth your time. But they do bite. We did catch three one night and that was our best. That was with spoons and big pieces of meat for bait.

[jrs]

Jig a big spoon at night, the big pike often don't come shallow until well after dark. I've caught many big pike trying to target burbot down south, never caught a burbot until i moved further north. I know in the summer i've caught pike a few hours after dark as well, i'd say its worth a shot just about anywhere.

[4D7]

Sweet thanks for the tips everyone. Just a couple more questions, do you think a glow jig or hook would make an advantage and should i start deep then slowly move towards the shallow waters?

[nicemustang]

Bring a lite to charge the glow jig, didn't do that once. Camera flash works good for that too FYI.

[flaminjo]

never had any success fishing for Pike after dark never mind throughout the night, though some of the self proclaimed experts recommend it.

[Duster]

The last few times i have been out i have hooked into a few pike in the dark as well, all hours of the night. one at 2 am, 4am and 6 am, I think they just cruise around and if they bump into it then they will hit it.

[jjstar]

I actually saw a study on this. For some crazy reason the scientist completely blinded the pike to see if they could still feed. As long as the bait put out a descent vibration as in a wounded twitching fish, or came within a certain distance of the pike, they would feed as normal. These were completely blind fish. On that note, at night if you can get something which makes a lot of vibration and or sound they should hopefully chase the hook. The glow in the dark should help to after they home in on the noise.

[donrock]

Thats interesting about the blind pike. I know I've caught pike at night on a tip up. Hook was just sitting still and still got hit. Either way you can catch them in the dark. I'm no self proclaimed expert but it I know its not as good at night as during the day hours.