A largemouth does not see well in the dark. The popular idea that it prowls the night the way a walleye does, eyes glinting, picking baitfish off by sight, is simply wrong. A bass hunts the dark by feel and sound far more than by sight. These characteristics alone should make planning for your night-fishing bass trip easier, and a little more clear.

This is a trip you plan for a specific stretch of weather: a sustained heat wave for your water. In the South and the lower Midwest that usually means daytime highs pushing 100 degrees and shallows into the upper 80s or low 90s. Farther north it takes less, and a run of 90-plus, calm days will tip a shallow pond into the same pattern. What matters is the heat wave relative to what your fish are used to, because that is when daytime shallow-water fishing falls apart and the fish, and you, are better off out there after dark.