Multi-Species Night Fishing: Shallow Water Echotails

By: Justin Blanchar

       As late spring and early summer approaches many game fish slide up shallow in the evenings feeding on spawning panfish. We have recently found  Echotails to be quite  amazingly effective for night fishing. Bass, pike, walleye, and muskies are easily able to track the vibration like a heat seeking missile. Deciding what lure to use can often times be a challenge of its own when fishing in the dark. Then, throw in the challenge  of midsummer weed growth. The Echotail® blade bait is just the ticketfor covering water under dark skies with success. 

          When shallower depths (3-8 feet of water)  are the desired target,  be sure to connect your snap to the 4th or 5th hole back.  These holes will not only allow the Echotail® to naturally be retrieved higher in the water column, but they will also allow and for a better feel of vibration.  Back hole attachment also allows the blade to be retrieved at a slower speed and still maintain it's vibration. While night fishing, it's important to become more in tuned with our sense of touch, as it allows us to know exactly what's happening on the end of our line.  During the day light hours, we naturally combine our sense of sight  and touch to  process information and often times  rely more heavily on our sight.  When we have the the sun to give us the upper-hand, it's easier to pinpoint casts into areas that are not weeded up  on the surface allowing for a higher percentage of clean retrieves. Under dark skies, blind cast are the norm.  Relying on our feel dictates whether we have made a good cast or not.  When night fishing with Echotails, the only way we can detect that our bait is fouled up is whether we can feel vibration or not. This is a very cut and dry distinction.   If the vibration can no longer be felt in the handle of  the rod,  it should be known that the blade is either fouled or better yet,  a  fish has attacked... Set the hook!   
           

The Technique:
     

      We have found the  Small (1/2 oz) & the Regular (1 oz) Echotail® to be the best sizes of multi-species night fishing.    They are easy to manage while retrieving with medium action tackle. The hard vibration while pulled from the back holes combined with  a 3" Kalin's Grub Tail teaser is irresistible to fish.   The key to a successful shallow retrieve is to use short cast (no further than 40-50 ft).   Summer time weed growth often presents with floaters especially after a long weekend of recreational boaters.  This is very common on the lakes we target in and around the Madison Chain of lakes.  Long, dive bomb cast are useless if the lure is fouled before it's even halfway to he boat.  While casting, we also like to position our rod tips in an upward position.  This helps to aid the Echotail to ride hire in the water column thus allowing  us to manipulate the Echotail above weed growth  .  Sometime we will use a straight retrieve while other times we will use short upward pumps while reeling until we feel the lure break the surface. As soon as the  blade surfaces, immediately allow the blade to flutter down for a second or two with a pause, then pump the rod again and repeat.  The feel of  vibration will allow to perfect this cadence. The reel-pump-pause-reel-pump-pause technique created a very unpredictable action that fish can't resist.