How to conquer the darkness!

1. Mark your lines
If you’re fishing to specific marks, you should mark your line(s) regardless of whether it’s light or dark. But once you have found the spot you are fishing to, clip-up and you can either mark your line using tape, pole elastic or a marker pen, or use Distance Sticks and count the number of wraps. This means that if you catch a fish in the night you can either cast out – obviously away from your baited area – find your marker and then clip the line into the line clip or simply unwrap around your Distance Sticks until you find the marker. As long as your direction is good, you’ll be on the spot every time.

Fox's Swim Mapper app is an awesome tool for logging spots and features

2. Far bank marker
And talking of direction – when you pick your spot, line it up with a big feature on the far horizon, such as a tree or pylon. This means when you have clipped up at night you know what to aim for.

3. Clip up the spod rod
One of the biggest mistakes anglers make when night fishing is not keeping the bait going in. If you caught one in the daytime, what’s the first thing you’d do after casting back out? That’s it: you’d bait up. So do the same at night! Using your Distance Sticks again, note down how many wraps it is to each spot and then should you get a nighttime bite you can quickly get the spod rod clipped up and some fresh bait back out on the spot. Trust us when we say this is a really devastating tactic.

4. Head torch
You will definitely need one of these! Without doubt one of the most important bits of kit when on the bank at night. It leaves your hands free for tying rigs, playing fish and unhooking carp. BUT! Don’t have it on too much just before you’re about to cast as you’ll lose your night vision.

5. Spare batteries are a must
Whilst you’ll be a battery power pack to keep your smartphone charged up, you’ll need plenty of standard batteries for your head torches – and yes, that is plural, because two is better than one if one starts to play up.

6. Net float and extras
To be honest, a net float makes netting a carp a lot easier, day or night. It stops it from sinking which can helps with maneuvering. But add in a small amount of light and the netting procedure is as easy as you can make it. On some spreader blocks there’s a slot for an isotope, but for extra light, tape a mag torch to the pole facing the net. This can be a huge edge when it comes to netting a carp in the middle of the night.

7. Backleads really help
Without wanting to state the obvious – but we will(!) – the biggest problem at night is not really being able to see anything – especially lines. One fear many anglers have is the carp crossing their other line(s), so overcome this issue by slip on little backleads and this will keep the line lower in the water and reduce the chances of getting ‘wiped out’.

8. Bivvy Positioning
It’s a minor thing, but if you can, try and angle your bivvy so that when your bedchair is placed inside you can see the rods from your pillow. This means you know exactly what rod is rattling off before getting out of the bag!

9. Positioning of the head torch
During the daytime, keep your head torch around the ratchet of your bedchair to stop you losing it. At night keep it around your neck so you can quickly put it on in the event of a take. A small head torch such as Fox’s Halo 200 is brilliant; it’s bright, light and you won’t even know you’re sleeping with it around your neck.

10. Clothes and shoes
In all the excitement of the buzzer screaming and the LEDs lighing up, nine times out of ten you’ll bolt out of the sleeping bag, miss your shoes and then run down to your rods in just your socks, meaning you have wet and cold feet for the rest of the trip. Avoid this by having your shoes positioned in front of the bed, and to assist in getting them on your feet, try any one of the new Chunk footwear shoes which feature the clever Fold and Fix tongues. As the name suggests, the tongue is held back so your feet just glide in and you get zero wet/cold feet when the buzzer rips into action!

11. Pre-tied rigs
Actually – make that pre-organise everything. From tying up spare rigs during the daytime and making PVA bags to pre-tying on your pop-ups. It’ll save you loads of time – and more importantly, hassle. The key to successfully fishing at night is to be orgainsed and prepared – get all of these 11 points correct and you’re halfway there – not you just need to get your location, rigs and baiting bang-on!

And talking of Fox's awesome new Chunk Footwear collection, here's a quick video to tell you about all the other benefits they offer...