I have night fished the Islands area for about 60 years now and here are my thoughts to your questions. To begin with, yes it is one of the most productive methods of fishing you can use there now. Keep these thoughts in mind.

1. Find the shallowest water you can that is surrounded by deeper water for the fish to come up from.

2. When you pick your spot anchor, do not drift.

3. longer minnow type crank baits such as count down or floating Rapalas. work great. Keep your retrieves ultra slow.

4. Oraganize the boat before it gets dark so you know where things are. Don't move around too much with other guys casting around you, it gets dangerous with those big lures in the dark.

Places that come to mind are the south side of the rattles at Rattlesnake. again get in close about 5-6 feet of water, the reef west of North Bass on the hump about 5 feet deep. Close in on the north side of North Bass.

Usually just after dark in these areas you will encounter smallmouth then the walleyes. and as mentioned you will hear them on the surface. They will work very shallow water and on top feeding. I usually find the best fishing to start about and hour after dark. It is not uncommon to have a limit of fish in a half hour.

Oh and check your line and retie if need after every fish.

Keep two lights handy, one small one for working on you lure line etc. and a big one in case something bad happens and you need to see a guy in the water etc.

Hope this answers at least some of the questions, above all safety is more of a concern in the dark than on a bright sunny day.

TIN CAN