Green fishing lights for fall bass

The transition from summer to fall can be a difficult time of year to fish. Between the lakes starting their fall swings and the start of college football, many people are starting to give up and turn their focus elsewhere. Although the fishing can be tough, there are a few bites that start to heat up as the fish transition into their fall tendencies. One of my favorite things to do this time of year is night fish.

Night fishing, especially around green lights, can be great during the transition from summer to fall. When the fish start moving shallower with the colder nights, these lights actually start to heat up. This can be a great way to catch a large number of quality fish once you understand why fish prefer the green light, how to find them, and how to catch them.

What are green lights?

Green lights are submerged lights often found around docks, marinas or large yachts that are sunk for the purpose of attracting fish. These lights can be found in almost any body of water throughout the country. They are common in both fresh and salt water, and attract fish of all types. There are many different types of lights that attract fish, such as pendant lights or spotlights, but they are rarely submerged underwater. By flooding the light, it allows fish to locate it from a greater distance, often resulting in a larger aggregation of fish.

Why do fish like green lights?

There are several reasons why bass are attracted to these lights. The first is that it congregates bait fish. The green light has a high lumen output of up to 130 per LED at a wavelength of 520nm. Many different species of baitfish and insects have these wavelengths in their color vision spectrum along with their green light receptors around 530 micrometers. This specific colored light causes baitfish with these photoreceptors to be attracted to this type of light, eventually causing the bass to follow close behind.

The longer a light is left in one place, the more bass will discover the light, causing them to return more frequently to feed. This is one of the most important features when looking for a productive green light. If the light has been around for a while and is turned on every night, there is a good chance there are quality bass using that light to feed.

How to find green lights

Locating these green lights is often the most difficult part of night fishing. The actual lights are usually fairly small, and almost impossible to spot during the day. This means you have to search the lake at night to find them. My favorite way to locate these lights is to go to populated bays that have a lot of docks. Then I will slowly walk around these pockets until I notice a light.

Although these lights turn off during the night, they can sometimes be difficult to see depending on where they are placed. If there is a large group of documents that look like they might contain a light, it is important to investigate further. Many of these producing lights are located off the beaten track where most hunters will not find them, so it is important to check closely when searching for these great spots at night.

How to catch green lights

You can catch fish from green lights using a large number of different baits. However, there is a general three-step approach I like to use when fishing these lights. I like to use a variety of three different baits when fishing light bass. These baits include a large swimbait or glide bait, a fluke or jerkbait, and a fine-style worm.

When you first approach a light, it is important to keep your distance so as not to disturb the light. I will then look for any fish I can clearly see wandering around the light. The first cast is almost always with a large swimbait or glide bait. I will cast this bait to the fish and slowly work it through the core of the light. This will call in some of the biggest fish in the area and is often your best bet for landing a big bite on the green light.

After making a few casts with the glide bait, I will then switch to a chance bait or jerkbait depending on the amount of cover. This lure is great for generating reaction strikes from fish that want to chase the bait, but are not large enough to eat a slip bait. This is what I catch the majority of fish with when fishing these sleek lights.

Once the fish start to move away from the reaction bait, you can then switch to a fine-style worm. I like to throw this worm around the outside edges of lights allowing it to soak in front of the fish’s face for an extended period of time. This is a great way to generate a few extra bites after catching some fish on the light.

Using direct sonar

Live sonar can be another useful tool when fishing these lights. This is especially true around deep green lights. Live sonar gives you the ability to know exactly how many fish are living in each light. This can be crucial to determining how long you should hunt at each location. It also allows you to cast bait to specific fish making you more efficient. There is often a “sweet spot” on the majority of green lights. Live sonar can show you exactly where that is by highlighting where the majority of fish are sitting on the light. This technique can greatly increase your efficiency and success rate when fishing this type of cover.

Run the pattern

Running a pattern is another great way to catch a good amount of fish when fishing these lights. There are a number of different things you can design for when fishing this type of cover, but my favorites are depth and lure preference. I like to start by knowing what depth these bass prefer over light. I will then hit all the lights in this preferred depth range first before moving on to the shallower or deeper lights. This can be a great way to quickly get rid of a large amount of biting fish.

I also like the design of the lure when fishing these types of lights. If you notice large gizzards swimming around the light, that’s a good sign that a bass might want a slide bait or large swimbait. However, if you notice a lot of smaller lures, it’s a good sign that they may want something more finesse like a small lure or jerkbait. Once you know what bait the bass prefer, you can change the spin of the bait to match the hole. This is a great way to quickly increase your success rate when hunting green lights.

Green lights can be a great way to catch lots of quality bass throughout the summer and fall. Night fishing is not only a great way to catch fish, but it is a very easy way to get kids or anyone else involved in fishing. Seeing a bass illuminated with green light inhale your bait is a feeling that’s hard to forget, and is sure to keep you coming back for more. By understanding how to find, fish and pattern green lights, you are sure to have some productive nights on the water this fall season.