Best Time To Fish 2024
roadwarrior reply :
The question is: When do you generally catch your biggest bass?
For me it's either side of noon, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM.
flyfisher reply :
to me it depends on the season. When it's cold i seem to do well mid day, 11-3 but warmer weather i seem to do well from about 6pm till midnight or so.
BrettD reply :
It varies alot for me but pond fishing its usually the first hour or so of daylight and the last hour of daylight. When fising at the the lake the first hour of light and then 12am-2pm lately with the colder nights we have been having.
SPEEDBEAD. reply :
Later in the day, say in a late spring/summer pattern from 3pm until just before dark then about an hour after dark when the fish have transitioned to nighttime feeding.
JellyMan reply :
Early morning till 10:30am afternoon till dark. Prime time.
slonezp reply :
On my home water, daybreak, between 12-2 during high skies, and during the crappiest of weather.
Hyrule Bass reply :
most of my luck has come between about 6pm - 10pm...
MarkH024 reply :
On my lake, I have the best success in the late afternoon to early evening. 3:00-8:00 pm. My PB was caught just before the sun was off the horizon.
Matthew Veillion reply :
3 of my top 5 fish out of ponds have been night fishing soft plastics slow
00 mod reply :
On 3/27/2013 at 9:29 PM, roadwarrior said:The question is: When do you generally catch your biggest bass?
When they bite! 
Jeff
J Francho reply :
That mid day bite is tough, but it's usually a good one. Bass are crepuscular feeders, meaning they are active at dawn and dusk. They aren't so much on the prowl often at midday, but the big ones are often settled into predictable locations, and will not pass on an opportunistic bite. If you have a lake with docks, especially docks close to strong weedlines and deeper water, then there will be fish under them on a sunny day. Same goes for flats with thick weed beds. Target holes in the weeds, or punching through the canopy, and you'll find success.
11justin22 reply :
Totally depends on the time of the year for me. Daylight, noonish, and afternoon to late afternoon all produce depending on the time of year. My pb came right at sunset, my pb before that one was right at noon. Go figure.
PABASS reply :
My PB came at dusk/dark. Largest fish of this season came around 1:30PM last weekend, 3# roughly.
SENKOSAM reply :
Depends on season, cloud cover/weather and water temp. Spring - anytime from 8-8p; fall - anytime after it's warm enough for me to be out there; summer - 10-3pm and one hour before to one hour after sunset.
wademaster1 reply :
Cold weather: Midday
Normal weather: The first and last couple hours of daylight each day
aharris reply :
Middle of the day...when you're least expecting it.
Hi Salenity reply :
Depends on the lake, I fish one lake that you may as well go home at 9am and come back for a couple hours before dark.
J Francho reply :
I bet that lake is deep and clear....
Snakehead Whisperer reply :
On the Potomac I usually get the biggest fish in the late morning (10-11am) or in the mid afternoon (3-4pm.) My PB Potomac bass was caught about 5:45am, however.
38 Super Fan reply :
Once it gets warm, within an hour of dusk, almost without exception. Better mid day in the cold months though.
AK-Jax86 reply :
This year it has been between 11am and 3pm last year I caught my bigger fish in the afternoon from 4:30 to sunset; and yes 4:30 I would go out in my backyard religiously at 4:30 and it always seemed like a 3lb would be waiting it was like clock work. So far this year I haven't caught anything of size in my usual back yard honey hole
streamwalker reply :
really anytime throughout the day for me.. depending on weather and locations.
senile1 reply :
My current PB was caught at approximately 11:30 AM. The one before that was caught between 4:00 and 4:30 PM and the temperature was 103 degrees outside. I have listed my results below.
- Late fall, winter, and early pre-spawn: In the late fall and Winter period here (water temperatures from 45 down to freezing) I catch bigger fish from 1:00 - 4:00 PM. In fact, I sometimes don't get a bite until afternoon when the sun has had time to warm things a bit. During early pre-spawn the afternoon time seems to be the best as well.
- Late pre-spawn through spawn: As the waters warm into the 50s and 60s I catch my bigger fish between 10:30 AM - 2:00 PM.
- Post-spawn: Not sure. The times for the big fish are quite variable for me.
- Summer: Same as post-spawn. I do catch more fish at dawn and dusk which might skew my thinking a bit, but for really large fish it seems variable. My previous personal best was the one caught at 4:30 PM on an extremely hot day.
- Fall: Bigger fish have been caught at dusk and dawn.
Avalonjohn44 reply :
My PB came at 11 in the morning mid summer, clear blue skies, no wind. Previous personal bests all came in the evening or late afternoon.
I guess long story short, is just fish whenever you can. We can plan and apply science and knowlege to every situation, but we can never control every variable. A big fish can decide to inhale your bait at any time. Clear morning, deep night. It doesn't matter. Maximizing time on the water (or on the bank...) is the key.
ww2farmer reply :
Anytime. I have caught big fish at first light, dusk, mid day, and just about anywhere in-between. Depends on a lot of conditions, weather, water, and season. I probably spend more time on the water in late afternoon till dark than any other time, so if any one time gets a slight edge, it would be that. But it's simply because I have more time on the water in those hours than the rest of the day.
Ratherbfishing reply :
Biggest bass? I'm afraid I don't catch enough really big bass to identify a strong trend. Most bass? In the spring, usually around 2 or 3 after the water's had a chance to warm up. In the summer months, usually early morning or late afternoon/evening.
Bankbeater reply :
I have caught them before the sun has risen, at noon, and at night.
Hyrule Bass reply :
also, some of my best fish, not just bass, have been caught at Smith Mtn Lake on saturday nights between 10pm-12am while listening to Dee Sniders House of Hair radio show...dont know why, but the fish must love that 80s hair metal lol
joetomlee reply :
On 3/28/2013 at 1:44 AM, aharris said:Middle of the day...when you're least expecting it.
I'm with you. I always hear people telling me morning and night time hours are best but I've personally had most success in the early afternoon. Strange thing that happens a lot to me is I seem to get bit a lot more when I am daydreaming. Totally not thinking about what I am doing at all. When I sit and concentrate on my presentation is when I get skunked.
wisconsin heat reply :
May-October is all i get 
BassThumb reply :
The high catch rates of bass often come at dawn and dusk -- that's no mystery -- but the big ones seem randomly spread out over the day. For me, the best fish of the year is often caught on days where I'm catching very few bass. It seems very random to me.
bassman31783 reply :
My two largest bass have come right at sunrise and right at sunset.
Although I will say that the largest bass I have ever hooked into was
right around 12 noon on a calm, insanely hot June day. That one still
hurts. Ha.
WRB reply :
First and foremost it is important to understand that adult size over 4 pounds have lived long enough to prey on critters they prefer to eat; high protein and easy to catch. It is also important to remember that largemouth bass are primarily sight feeders and this can lead some anglers to think that bass have eyes that work similar to ours....big mistake! LMB do not need good light penetration to see their prey, their prey needs good light penetration to see the predator! Low light gives the LMB a big advantage over prey and this is the time the biggest bass are active feeding.
When the sun is about 30 degrees above the horizon, morning and evening, the sunlight penetration starts to improve as the sun is higher above the horizon, where low light is no longer an advantage to LMB, prey can see the bass equally. This is one reason bass tend to use shadows during mid day and wave action to defuse light.
This doesn't mean the occasional mid day bite doesn't occur, it does when activity levels peak during that time period, just not often.
The only seasonal period that mid day big bass are caught in good numbers is during the spawn. The reason is noon time the sun is over head and light penetration is at it's maximum; good for the sight fisherman, bad for the bed bass, who will not abandon their spawning just because anglers are trying to catch them.
Every big bass over 15 lbs that I have been blessed to catch were caught in January, February and March, between sun rise and 10A, none after that time period. I have caught a lot 10 lb+ LMB throughout the day and night, very few at mid day.
Prime weather for me has been light rain between the hours of 7A to 10A, all 5 of the bass over 17 lbs (17.4, 17.4, 17.6, 18.6, 19.3) were caught under those conditions during that time period on jigs, none were bed fish to the best of my knowledge, due to the depth being 12' to 20' and were pre spawner's.
Tom
PS; when you read through this thread a few facts jump out, random PB bass caught mid day, general good catch rates of bass during low light periods, but few PB at that time, except my catches that have been consistant over decades.
Why? I believe most anglers fish at the wrong locations during low light periods and only fish deeper water where the big bass locate as a last resort instead of their first choice. This may be a result of tournament anglers who want 5 bass in the live well before trying to catch that kicker later. Active bass are easier to catch then inactive bass.
BassinB reply :
To me it has always seemed that the best times to catch a lot of fish are different than the best times to catch big fish. The big fish are big because they are different, even if just slightly.
iceman11 reply :
Right before the sun goes down. It sure seems like that is when the big ones come to play. Just my experiences
Grizzn N Bassin reply :
feeding right now in the past 4 days its be crazy the big girls turned on around 530pm-7 and alil in the am around 9am-10 am then the next to it was around 11-3.. but today I fished all day and was there at the right times I guess..well see about tomorrow!
but most of the time its 10-3 then 5ish to 7..ive caught some lunkers really early like 5am-7am.. and late at night on topwater during the summer 10pm-2am.. top water I like popers and jitters.. am spinner/ buzzers.. most of the time that's what I use during these times
ColdSVT reply :
the best time to fish is whenever my dad can go with me...which isnt nearly as much as I would like
tugsandpulls reply :
On 3/27/2013 at 9:55 PM, slonezp said:On my home water, daybreak, between 12-2 during high skies, and during the crappiest of weather.
x2 the crappiest weather i slay them
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