Are Bass Not Going To Be Active Midday In 100 Degree Weather (Small Pond)? 2024
Coosa reply :
Went fishing yesterday at this decent sized pond (roughly 4,000 sq. ft). It's a clean pond (light-greenish clear color), but it was hot as hades out there 100 degrees. The bass are in there, but with an hour and a half of fishing, only 1 was caught.
Is it unlikely for bass to be active in these conditions?
logan9209 reply :
Inactive? Yes. Uncatchable? No. You have to treat it like winter. Locating them will be a little harder. Usually, not always, they will be deeper. The trick is to get them to react out of instinct rather than hunger. That's the part I haven't really mastered yet. Mainly because I've been staying in from 10am till around 8pm. I just can't take the triple digit heat like I used to.
sean_steiner reply :
your best bet is to fish at night, after the sun has been down for a few hours.
Grizzn N Bassin reply :
IF you find some cover throw a frog over it. You will probably get 1 or 2 strikes but thats it soo make sure you get the hook set or they won't touch it again
AK-Jax86 reply :
I've notice that lately the fishing has slowed down when it is extremely hot out. I usually fish around the end of the day but still haven't been catching them like I use to in my backyard pond
logan9209 reply :
The last few days it's been in the low 100's till around 9pm -10pm, and the bite has tremendously slowed because of it. It's been hot so long, I think the bass have readjusted their routes and times and failed to send me a memo.
Nitrofreak reply :
On 7/2/2012 at 11:22 PM, logan9209 said:Inactive? Yes. Uncatchable? No. You have to treat it like winter. Locating them will be a little harder. Usually, not always, they will be deeper. The trick is to get them to react out of instinct rather than hunger. That's the part I haven't really mastered yet. Mainly because I've been staying in from 10am till around 8pm. I just can't take the triple digit heat like I used to.
Nice !!!
Slow way down, the pond or lake may not have the o2 level and cooler water it needs to keep the fish active enough for every other one to bite, so the fish become a little more dosile and won't expend the energy to grab a meal, it's tough to be out there in the heat of the day, even tougher to fish and hold your mentality together long enough to get the fish to react to a bait.
sean_steiner reply :
On 7/3/2012 at 12:49 AM, AK-NJ1986 said:I've notice that lately the fishing has slowed down when it is extremely hot out. I usually fish around the end of the day but still haven't been catching them like I use to in my backyard pond
try night. they have to eat sometime, and I discovered a while back that during the heat of summer they all come out at night close to shore, including the big females.
Broke bass fisherman reply :
I've been having luck dropping senkos, and other weightless plastics on top of their heads. They will strike but only if I put it on top of them. That said I haven't had luck with spinners, frogs, or anything that I can't literally put on top of them. Bite is hard but I did manage 8 in the midday sun a couple days ago.
AK-Jax86 reply :
On 7/4/2012 at 4:04 AM, sean_steiner said:try night. they have to eat sometime, and I discovered a while back that during the heat of summer they all come out at night close to shore, including the big females.
I am going out to fish at 11 hopefully you are right
gar-tracker reply :
Iv caught fish at high noon in the middle of August on top water, there's no rules etched in stone.
Actually the 9 1/2 on the left I'm holding was caught on a toad in 90+ degree weather.
However as a rule of thumb I would look for some deeper water holes in the pond or some hydrila to flip.
Wayne P. reply :
On 7/2/2012 at 9:22 PM, Coosa said:Went fishing yesterday at this decent sized pond (roughly 4,000 sq. ft). It's a clean pond (light-greenish clear color), but it was hot as hades out there 100 degrees. The bass are in there, but with an hour and a half of fishing, only 1 was caught.
Is it unlikely for bass to be active in these conditions?
4,000 square feet is "decent sized"? That is less than 1/3 the size of an Olympic swimming pool.
Are your other fishing spots mud holes?
mikey5string reply :
Ive posted this video before but its worth a watch.
Bass feed when they can see the best, during the hours with the most light. Thats from 10-2ish. They ambush their prey from cover/structure. They dont need low light to hunt.
In the video, the guy mentions that if you ask someone what time of day it was when they caught their biggest bass, the answer is frequently from 10-4. The time when popular beliefs are that fishing is slow. The fishermen might be slow and uncomfortable but that dosent mean the fish are. It is dramatically cooler just a few feet down in the water. Look for areas with shade or shallows that have quick access to deep water. Dont be afraid to throw a top water either. Some of the best TW fishing I have is midday...
Watch this:
mikey5string reply :
and for our own survey, what time of day was your PB caught?
I only just ordered a scale so Im going by estimate but my best fish were caught at around 4pm and around 7pm. BUT the majority of my total fish caught were caught between 10-4.
Dave P reply :
I caught my biggest one on August the 3rd at 1.30 in the afternoon on a spinnerbait in 4-5 feet of water.
KingMidas reply :
On 7/2/2012 at 11:22 PM, logan9209 said:Inactive? Yes. Uncatchable? No. You have to treat it like winter. Locating them will be a little harder. Usually, not always, they will be deeper. The trick is to get them to react out of instinct rather than hunger.
I have found the same to be true at a small pond I fish regularly. I have had luck with some weightless ribbon tail worms and other smaller profile plastics. Being weightless allows the bait to hover and float more than sink. I slowed down a lot this past week and that seemed to help as well. One other thing I have found is that throwing a carolina rigged creature bait works around dusk. I don't know, but I think that the bass in my pond are more actively feeding around then and they seem to prefer the meatier profile of a creature/buggy craw to the thinner ribbon tail i would be using earlier in the day.
thehooligan reply :
My pb was caught at 9 at night under a dock, second best was caught in the 5-7pm range. Ive always done better at night, but i did lose a 6lber in the afternoon a few weeks ago.
PABASS reply :
On 7/5/2012 at 1:32 AM, mikey5string said:and for our own survey, what time of day was your PB caught?
I only just ordered a scale so Im going by estimate but my best fish were caught at around 4pm and around 7pm. BUT the majority of my total fish caught were caught between 10-4.
My PB was many years ago when I was 16 in Florida at 9:30PM using left over peeled shrimp, believe it or not. Also hooked into an Alligator and the largest bluegill I have ever caught as well..
I remember it like it was yesterday, shrimp I thought I don't understand I am going to catch on this, beggars cant be chooser and to my surprise it worked.
BassAssassin726 reply :
When its super hot out I like to go to coves in rivers during low tide. The fish will be very tight to cover, and log or stump will hold fish. But also remember, BIG FISH FEED MID DAY!
Grizzn N Bassin reply :
got my bigin around 6 pm on a jig! im about to go fishing with my gf its 95 out steaming
Broke bass fisherman reply :
Mine was in late July about 2:00 PM, but I was in Canada at the time so the water was colder than what we typically think about.
WRB reply :
While I respect Hannon's view point on mid day big bass feeding activity, keep in mind where he is located and how he fishes. The majority of bass anglers fish for northern strain largemouth bass in man made reservoirs that are deep structured lakes.
Bass are bass, except they are not bass; they are sunfish. Smallmouth bass have different feeding habits than largemouth and northern largemouth have different location preference and prey preferences than Florida strain largemouth.
Most bass anglers will catch their PB during the spawn period and sight fishing is far better during mid day sun than another time. It's also true that bass see better during good light conditions and this isn't to a lure anglers advantage.
I, like most bass anglers, prefer to fish with lures, not live bait. Low light and darkness helps me to catch bigger bass. Yes, I have caught big bass during the mid day period, however far more during low light conditions. My 5 top giant bass were all caught during the day....in cloudy or light rain conditions. During the summer my average bass size goes up when fishing at night . Summer night tournament weights are nearly double compared to day tournament weights.
Yes bass are sight feeders, however they are easier to catch on lures during low light periods.
Tom
Baub reply :
Great topic,I was at a pond today and it was shallow.Here in the Atlanta area we are in a 90 degree plus week.
ChasingBass reply :
I'd say try fishing in the morning! Start at about six, and stop when you get uncomfortable. I have had the most luck this summer fishing a senko or Yum Dinger wacky-rigged style. I find that kind of action in deep water drop offs gets killer hits!
brushhoggin reply :
i agree with the above post. early morning. ideally i like to start throwing at 5:15 in the summer. the water has had all night to lose some heat! this is when i have caught my biggest.
mikey5string reply :
WRB. I understand DH's logic but like you do best early or around dusk. For the last few weeks I have been doing very well with topwater stuff around dusk until about an hour after sunset. Mostly frogs but black buzzbaits also work very well. If there are pads in the lake, throw a frog on them around dusk. Twitch it a few times. If that doesnt work go home because there arent any bass in that lake ; )
KY Outdoorsman reply :
hey man, the way i think of it is this. fish r jus like humans, when its hot they wanna stay cool when its cooler theyre more active. i have the same issue because i live in eastern kentucky and weve seen triple digit temps for about a week and a half straight but not getting off subject in this heat these fish r going to seek deeper water bc its cooler for them. the good part is they have to eat sometime. try using maybe a texas rig brush hog and work in along the bottom or even a crank bait which ever you like and good luck!!
Louisiangler reply :
Heat will generally make Bass more inactive much like humans. It's logical, the prefer a certain temperature just like we do, the closer to the preferred temperature the more active, the further away the less active. When it gets hot like that I break out te night fishing gear. I have had very good results just waiting them out til the bats start to fly about. And don't think that you need some "special" color for them to see your bait. Nope, it's all about 1) proximity 2) presentation and 3) speed. If its close enough to them they will pretty much tag it regardless of what it is. That's why I like a good Texas rig for that type of fishing, something I can cover a lot of water with but at a slow pace. You can literally drag it right across their face, and if you do, 8 times out of 10 you will get a strike. Presentation is also important, at night Bass tend to rove about more but not a great distances. If you get a bite in one area stay there even if you don't get nothing for the next 20 casts. If you are patient you will get a strike because Bass tend to follow the same pattern of behavior. If he was there earlier he will be back, either him or another. Speed is the last component. At night a slower speed can work to find where they are holding to. After that is determined a higher speed bait can be used to work the up- a crank or a swim bait.
405z06 reply :
Nobody knows the answer to this. Fish are completely unpredictable. We think we understand a little about them, we want to understand, but we realy don't. Think back to your prior fishing experiences. I have been fishing in April after a viscous cold front where the air temp dropped 30 degrees and it was sleeting. The next day the fish were in 2 inches of water and we caught one every other cast it seemed.
Same lake a few years later in May on a Sunday: Fish were ON. It was one of those day were you catch so many fish it actually gets boring. The next day, with the same temp, same skies, same barometer, same everything, and you couldn't buy a bite.
The poster on the 1st page suggests that big fish feed during daylight hours and most big bass are caught at a certain time. On the other hand, a famous study tracking big bass in Texas found the exact opposite: "Hope also learned that big bass feed predominantly at night, 12 months a year. "Every fish over 7 pounds is a nocturnal feeder,” Hope said. “They may feed periodically during the day. But they do most of their feeding at night, usually in two-hour intervals. They feed for a while and then rest for a while.”
http://www.flwoutdoors.com/fishing-articles/tech-tackle-reviews/143706/bass-that-go-beep/
My point isn't to say somebody is wrong, or somebody is right. The point is that we don't understand these fish .0001% as much as we think we do. Go fishing when you have the time and don't worry about the things you can't control like the weather.
jiggerpole reply :
I'm glad you posted that video. I have been observing bass in a 45 acre and 120 acre lake for years that has threadfin shad stocked in it. The bass feed the best on the shad when it's the hottest part of the day. Between 12 - 4.00. I believe that all the shad are balled up at this time of day in the creek channel and the bass are just waiting for them to get close to an ambush point for the attack! The war doesn't last very long most of the time but trying to catch these bass at that time is not that easy. They can really tell the difference between your lure and the shad. You almost have to get a reaction strike from a feeding bass. Most lures just don't fool them consistantly.
EddieC1981 reply :
Up here in New England it's been hot in the mid 80's -90's. But we haven't got a lot of rain so the ponds I fish are lower than normal. I've fished a few times in the am and mostly after work (5:45-8:30 normally) but I've been getting them casting straight out into the open water and then some by pads or logs near the shore. SLOW is how I've been working them and I've only been using plastic worms (if it ain't broke, don't fix it) But I have been getting steady numbers of at least 2-4 an evening. While I"m trying newer ponds, stick with what you know works at your particular location.
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