One of the biggest advantages to night fishing later in the year is the crowds are down to a minimum and you normally have free run of any of our local lakes. There's something to be said for being the first one to hit all of the key points on a lake in a single night. Also, water temperatures have begun to cool and the fish are normally found in shallow water. One of the problems with night fishing during the heat of summer is the fish spend most of the day in deep water and they may not move into shallow until the sun has been down for several hours. During periods of extremely hot weather, I have found they often don't make the move at all.

A perfect example of this is my last two trips to Lake Berryessa. Both days where well into triple digits and the evening lows barely dipped below the 70 degree mark. The bite started very late on both trips, between midnight and 1:00 am, and we had to fish 15 to 30 feet deep for the few fish we did manage to catch. By mid to late September, we normally find a much earlier bite at Berryessa and the fish tend to nose right into the bank in 2 to 10 feet of water.

Another benefit to fishing during the fall is the stable weather patterns we often experience at that time of year. During the past three years, our summer weather patterns have been anything but stable. Cold fronts seem to blow through northern California every three to four days, making difficult to pattern the fish for more than a couple days. In contrast, fish are generally much easier to pattern during the fall season and they also tend to feed much more aggressively as they prepare for the cold winter months.

Finally, the question remains just what is the best lake to target bass at night. Clear Lake is the obvious choice for most anglers because of the sheer numbers of trophy sized fish it produces. However, this can be a difficult lake because much of the shoreline is extremely shallow and some of the most productive spots to fish are unmarked, offshore rockpiles that only a handful of people know about.

If you're just getting started night fishing, Lake Amador is a great place to start. It is a relatively small lake and the most productive big fish spots tend to be the obvious points on the main body. Also, Lake Amador is nestled in the foothills and is one of the calmest lakes in the north state. Not to mention this lake has produced some of the largest fish in northern California during the past decade.

Another fantastic option is Lake Sonoma. This lake is absolutely loaded with fish in the 1 to 3 pound class and often produces larger fish running 5 to 8 pounds. Sonoma has a fair amount of night fishing pressure during the summer because local anglers have been forced to fish at night to avoid the tremendous daytime boat traffic. By late September, however, you will most likely have the lake to yourself.