Summer All-Nighters: A Fishing Rite of Passage
by Jack Naves
Some memories never fade. A cool breeze. Waves lapping against the side of the boat. That river smell. The sound of the clicker going off.
I’ll never forget spending nights on the Sacramento River near Clarksburg with my dad back in the eighties. In search of striped bass, we’d anchor out on the flats and spend the night enjoying great food, watching wildlife, and waiting for that lunker to come along.
Those memories never fade; they are recalled anytime I am lucky enough to spend a night on the boat. Those opportunities are rare these days, but when they do happen, it takes me back to those nights on the river.
I recently had the chance to introduce a couple of kids to all-night fishing at New Melones Lake in Angel’s Camp. On back-to-back weekends, I hauled the boat up the hill packed with sleeping bags, lanterns, and enough propane to grill up some delectable delights. The first outing was on Friday, July 25, with my son Adam.
After launching the boat in the late afternoon sun, Adam and I trolled east in search of kokanee salmon. It started off slowly, but once we found the fish at 80-90 feet down, it was wide open. We limited out quickly on 15 to 17-inch footballs, incredible quality indeed! Next up, we ran to a cove on the west side of the lake and set up for all-night catfishing.
We enjoyed grilled hot dogs and chips while soaking chicken livers for catfish. As the sun disappeared over the hills, a noisy flock on Canada Geese swam by. I think they were trying to let us know that we were not at the catfish hotspot. Before it was totally dark, I ran east to a cove near the Glory Hole Marina and set anchor for the night.
I anchored in ten feet of water, hoping the wind would keep us straight. I forgot to bring my rear anchor, so the boat swayed in the northwest breeze throughout the evening. Adam had never caught a catfish, so he kept asking if we were really going to catch one. I assured him it was just a matter of time, but by 10:30 pm, we both had our bed rolls out and were getting sleepy.
There were a lot of false alarms, as the swaying boat was dragging our baits along the bottom, making Adam think we kept getting bites. Suddenly he motioned, “Is that a fish?”
I glanced up at his portside rod, figuring it was another false alarm. Under the dim glow of our lamps, I saw the rod tip stabbing towards the rear of the boat. “Yeah, grab it!” I uttered, and Adam sprang into action. ZZZZ – the fish was ripping line, and I coached him not to reel against the drag on the spinning reel to avoid line twist.
Adam was too excited to listen and instead cranked on the big handle as the fish darted deeper and the reel sang out in protest. I coached him to pump up and reel down, and eventually saw a golden flash in the water illuminated by my headlamp. The fish made several additional runs into the darkness until I was finally able to net it.
“It’s at least ten pounds” I remarked, while removing the 6/0 circle hook from the corner of its mouth. We took some quick photos and got a weight of just over thirteen pounds on the digital scale. “We’re gong to let the big ones go” I relayed to Adam, and quickly revived and released the big channel cat. It disappeared into the darkness from which it came.
We caught a total of five channel catfish and one white catfish. I kept a twenty-incher for the fryer and released the rest. Three of the fish were over ten pounds. It was a solid night’s work, and a great introduction to night fishing for Adam. We reeled in the lines and got a few hours of sleep before dawn.
First thing the next morning, we headed back to the kokanee grounds, rounding out limits in no time at all. Next, Adam wanted to fish for bass, so I ran above the bridge and started the next phase of our trip. The bass were not into our topwater offerings, but I was picking them off with a jig. Adam got into the action with a drop shot setup, landing both largemouth and spotted bass. We hit the road around 10:00 am with a fantastic trip under our belts.
The very next weekend, I had the opportunity to repeat the same script, this time with Rj Sanchez and his son Gino. Like Adam, Gino kept asking if we were really going to catch a catfish, and this time it was close to midnight when Gino’s rod finally went off. He landed a beautiful eight-pound channel cat and then followed suit with another good-sized whisker fish not long after.
It must have been close to three in the morning when Rj got in on the action, catching and releasing a chunky eleven-pound channel cat before finally getting some shuteye. My alarm was set for 5:00 am, and it came suddenly.
The next morning, we grinded on the kokanee grounds for our three limits by 10:00 am. It was a tough bite, but we found fish in open water between 55 and 65 feet deep that were more willing to bite than the bottom dwellers. It capped on another amazing adventure on the water.
Be it from the decks of a boat, or from the banks of the Mokelumne River, I’ve been lucky to have experienced some great overnight fishing trips. There is a calming vibe that takes over when the sun goes down on the water. Soaking in evenings with lines out is something I’ll never take for granted. Get out this summer if you have the chance. You won’t regret it.
