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With a few simple additions to your gear and some careful planning, it's not as hard as many anglers think to enjoy fishing at night.

There are three key aspects to safe and successful night fishing:

1. Organisation ' During the course of a day's fishing, your equipment tends to get strewn around the place. At night, this simply won't work. You have to get organised and make sure that everything you may need to re-bait or re-tackle is kept tidily in the bivvy.

It can get very dark away from the streetlights, so you'll need to remember a small pocket torch, but nothing so bright that it's going to put off other anglers.

2. Safety ' When it's dark, you're tired and you're near deep water, it pays to be tidy. You should make sure there is nothing sticking out that you can trip over or get caught on. Make sure you can see the water's edge, or at least know just where it is.

Try to fish with a friend, or at least make sure someone knows where you are. It's a good idea to take a mobile phone with you, too, so that you can call for help should you need it.

3. Comfort ' Being comfortable is the key to a successful trip. Wearing a T-shirt and shorts is fine in the day, but when you're sitting for hours at night when the temperature drops, you'll get extremely cold if you don't have warm clothes on and a number of layers.

You need boots rather than trainers for night fishing and a spare pair of socks is a good idea. They don't take up much room and you will be glad of them if your feet get wet. It's always worth wearing a hat, too, since we lose a large amount of body heat through our head. Plenty of food and hot drinks are obviously essential items on a night fishing trip.