"Dear, could I go fishing tonight? I've got this crazy urge to go out in pitch darkness, stand out in 50-degree water to my waist and cast into utter darkness for trout . . . that I think are biting? I've heard it can be fun. Oh yeah. . . I have to buy a small light to help me see to tie tiny flies to my line. It's not dangerous, I promise!"

I can't guess what a reply might be to this request. One could be, "Are you crazy!! You've had some way-out trips before, but this takes the cake!!" or "Yeah, right. You think I'm going to buy that fishing story?! You're going out with the boys, aren't you?" or "Sure, honey. Whatever you want to do is fine with me!" A, B, C or none of the above.

It does sound unusual to fly fish in the dark, but part, if not most, of fly fishing is feel, and that's exactly what we're doing when we're casting, retrieving and setting the hook on a strike at night. It's all done by touch.

Before you make a night trip, be sure to go in during the light of day and get acquainted with the water, shore line and holes before attempting the trip at night. Even though the water isn't deep in most places, there are places the edges drop off where water will go over your waders. Water in the waders is bad, especially if fishing is good, and you have to go because you're about to die of hypothermia.

Conditions?? I have caught fish under a bright moon -- even during a lightning storm at night, but generally it's slow under those conditions. Dark or rainy nights are the best for me. The trout seem to be more at ease under those conditions.

If the water is running, don't wade out past your calves. Current can be tricky enough during the day! Never fish by yourself unless you're very familiar with the area, are experienced at night fishing, and have a cell phone rigged to call for help with one button push.

When during the night?? That changes. But there are definitely better times than others, periods when the trout are aggressive and times they are not. These periods come in 30-minute segments every two hours, or the fish may be feed for two hours and lay off for one. The point is, stick with it -- they'll feed sometime through the night.

What to use?? Flies from small nymphs to big woolies, sculpin and muddler patterns are generally the ticket. Although this is a big range, the selection depends on light, wind and water conditions. It also depends on how aggressive the trout are feeding on any given night.

• Use nymphs as small as #14's and as big as #8's. Use them under a strike indicator if there's enough light, or use a glow indicator. Also try dead drifting them in current. Generally the strike is strong enough that you won't have a problem feeling it. Work them upstream in slow current. I use a finger roll retrieve, slow and steady.
• Strip woolies, wooly buggers and streamers with sizes from #12's to #4's in black, olive, brown, gray, white or purple. Mix in some flash or any other attractor for effect. Throw in any direction, upstream, across, or downstream, but my favorite is down at a 45-degree angle, letting the fly swing below me as I strip. Try all kinds of retrieves -- slow, fast, choppy, stop-n-go, slow or add a fast twitch at the end of each strip.
• Use sculpin, muddlers and big, ugly stuff- from #8 to #1/0 because the sky is the limit on size. There will be some browns up there in the fall that'll be accustomed to eating 10-inch rainbows. Same direction . . . same retrieves . . . but hold on!! And bring a big rod!! Fish muddlers generally on the surface. You'll find both rainbows and browns tend to explode on surface flies.

It might be to your advantage to hire a guide to show you how to fish at night for the first couple of trips. But be prepared to stay up most of the night; trips may start as late as 10 p.m. or start as early as 3 a.m., depending on water flows and moonlight. The guide will tell you what the best times will be on the date you want to fish. The brown spawn will last until Thanksgiving.

Things to bring for a night fishing trip:

• Warm jacket either with a hood or with a good, warm hat separate from the jacket. Standing in cool water will tend to make you cold.
• Hip boots or chest waders.
• Small pen light for tying on flies in the darkness. You don't want a big light for several reasons -- bulkiness and scaring the trout are good starters.
• Net, preferably one you attach to your vest in the back to keep it out of your way when you're fishing.
• Hook sharpener.
• Camera with a flash.
• Fingerless, fleece gloves.