Originally Posted by anthropic
For the Optimal folks, I have a question that so far nobody seems to have investigated. I hear different opinions from smart people, not agreement.

Here's the question: What is the impact of night feeding? I've been told this helps cut down on bird stealing food (geese are bad about this) and birds eating the fish that show up for feed (herons in particular). BG supposedly feed the same at night as during the day.

I've also been told that LMB have a vision advantage over BG when it's dark, so the BG are more reluctant to come out & feed at night.

What are your thoughts? Have you folks ever done any trials on night feeding?

I can tell you from ice fishing at night that BG do little feeding after the sun sets. Ask anyone that crappie fishes how many BG they catch at night vs how many they catch during the day. They might feed when there is a full moon out and there is some light. I've Bass fished at night, typically with a black jitterbug and it works, but in shallow water. You need something that makes noise or sets up vibrations so the fish can find the lure with its lateral line.