By Reed Montgomery

Times have changed, and so has "Nocturnal Bassin'."

The water exploded as the huge largemouth bass engulfed the black, battle-scarred jitterbug.
The ensuing battle was on and the excited young man dove for the landing net as he scrambled in the dark. Meanwhile, his Grandfather, who had endured many lengthy battles with these hard-fighting largemouth bass of the night, dove for the heart pills, hidden in his tackle box.
Such are the thrills of fishing for the giant bass that prowl at night. In those days - days when an aluminum boat, one rod and reel, and one old, metal tackle box, encrusted with multiple layers of paint and globs of melted plastic worms, were all a man needed to go fishing - times were simple.
These restless anglers who ventured out into the dark found preparation only took a few minutes. Water safety rules of that era were mostly left up to the angler.
There weren't mandatory outboard motor kill switches, life jackets for every occupant, running lights or charged fire extinguishers. Safety rules, were mostly unheard of and usually not strictly enforced.
There weren't even any bass tournaments back then! Times have changed. Today, successful night anglers must prepare. And getting ready for an entire night of fishing means more than just rigging many rods, instead of just one. According to today's rules every boat on Alabama lakes and rivers must have running lights "on all night."
This means, whether your navigating the lake, fishing on the main lake or far back up in some tributary, or even just anchored, you must have lights on fore and aft. (That's the front and back of the boat, for you first timers).
Why? You may ask. Like I said, times have changed. Gone are the days of just a few small boats puttering around in the dark. During summer, more than half of Alabama's anglers resort to night fishing, especially due to the intense daytime heat.
Added to the growing congestion is the growing list of popular bass tournaments, many are which are held after dark. Then there's the high-powered bass boats.
There's nothing wrong with the changes.
Disobeying Alabama's water safety rules is dangerous to you and to innocent bystanders.
That's why we have water safety rules.