Dusk Or Dawn? 2024

BassinNCstyle reply :

Which is your favorite time to fish?

Tuckahoe Joe reply :

My vote is for dawn. There's less people on the water (at least on the lakes I fish). Especially if you go on a weekday. If I go at sunrise on a Monday, I rarely see anybody else.

Loop_Dad reply :

Dawn. Something magical about fishing as it gets brighter.

AJMichigan reply :

10000% Dusk here. Have never had as good of results fishing in the morning as I have had at night.

Fishing Rhino reply :

Dawn, when there's enough light to get around, but not enough light to tie a knot without using a light. It's usually the coolest, and quietest part of the day. Recently, the fish have been very active early, and slow down a bit around eight o'clock in the morning.

Revival reply :

Definitely Dawn. Here in Vegas, during Dusk, its still can be very hot. I like getting there early and like to pick the areas I fish before anyone gets there. Waking up at 4am, getting to the pond by 5am makes me feel like I already accomplished something. Waking up is half the battle.

aceman387 reply :

I am a dawn person also.I take my days off during the week to avoid the masses and clusters of shore line bucket people.I fish from a kayak and i almost always have the lakes to myself. It's doesn't get any more relaxing than that.

Bankbeater reply :

Dawn. A lot of the weekend warriors are not out yet.

RaleighBass reply :

I prefer the evenings. I do catch in the mornings but I have caught most of the larger fish in the evenings.

MichBassMan reply :

I strongly prefer Dawn because of the quiet peacefulness and watching the new day beginning. That being said, I find Dusk fishing more productive.

bluezed reply :

If I can get up early, I prefer Dawn. Fewer people, especially on weekends. And especially when you are primarily fishing from the bank.

MCS reply :

Dawn, the sunrise is awesome to see I find like Rhino said that 15-30 minute window of enough but not enough light that really gets some of them big ones fired up.

AK-Jax86 reply :

Dusk for me is when I get my bigger ones, especially when I throw on that top water Ribbit frog.

Felix77 reply :

Dawn - only because I like the idea of 1st crack at the fish at my spots. At dusk my spots might have been used and abused by then.

38 Super Fan reply :

Dusk...dawn comes way before I'm getting out of bed.

Fish Chris reply :

You can look at the responses here, and see exactly why I'd prefer to fish dusk, than dawn.... because the majority always think they have to race to the lake before the first light. 10 dawn to 5 dusk in this thread so far.

One of my biggest secrets to success, is to do everything differently than the crowd, if they zig, I zag.

Besides all of this, it doesn't matter when I start, I still fish until its dark regardless. So I might fish from dawn to dusk, or from 10am until dusk > but never fish from dawn until noon, or something wimpy like that

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To be totally honest though, if I could only fish 4 hours, I'd fish 10 am until 2 pm WAAAY before I'd fish either dawn, or dusk ! As I've caught the majority of my biggest fish right in the middle of the day. I call the hour from noon to 1pm, the magic hour, and always plan to be on my best spot during this time. Dawn and dusk are more for numbers of smaller fish... and who really cares about those ?

Peace,

Fish

Crestliner2008 reply :

I'm a morning person by nature. Worked in manufacturing for over 40 years and was always the first one to open the shop in the morning. Old habits die hard I suspect, so my internal clock has me rousting about at 4:30 am every morning. If I'm going fishing, I'll probably be awake about an hour earlier than that!

The real question here is "why" is either dawn or dusk "preferred" at all? The answer is that most fishermen do not have to be as "careful" (in their presentation/boat control) at times of low lighting on the water. Mistakes are covered up more easily and the fish has less of a chance to figure you out. I believe it was Doug Hannon who first posed this hypothesis. His conviction was that the biggest bass are usually caught between 10 am & 2 pm. BUT....you have to do it RIGHT in order to be successful at that time period.

bigbill reply :

Fishing from shore in the evening the place gets beat up really good I see some throwing saltwater weights and rigs. Plus I find the bass are mainly between 1 1/2# to possibly 6# in the evenings. If it's quiet. In the early AM like at 3:30am till around 9am. It's better fishing for the bigger gals. My PB was caught at 5am as the sky started to light up 3' from shore. Plus I like the peace and quiet. It's me enjoying nature. It just gives me time to think.

Smallmouth Hunter reply :

Dawn! I love hearing the loud splash noise on my topwater, but not being able to see it. Its so exciting.

Ratherbfishing reply :

In the Spring and fall, my fav lake doesn't seem to "turn on" until very late morning or early afternoon anyway. So, based on that, I'd say neither. Most of the lakes I prefer to go to are at least 1.5 hours away so I really have to get up at "Oh 2 early in the morning" if if I'm going to be there at dawn. And I hate getting up early. I feel like my nerves are hooked up to a 9 volt battery when I get up too early. So, if I had to choose between those two options, I'd say Dusk.

Mccallister25 reply :

I like dawn. I actually enjoy waking up early and seeing the sun come up. I like the thrill and mystery of what you may catch that morning. I like me and my buddies being the only people at the spot we choose.

Fish Chris reply :

Quote
I believe it was Doug Hannon who first posed this hypothesis. His conviction was that the biggest bass are usually caught between 10 am & 2 pm. BUT....you have to do it RIGHT in order to be successful at that time period.

I'm not sure if he was the very first to come up with this, but he certainly believed this... and so do I.

Of course I didn't "follow" him, nor anyone else, to this conclusion. I always have to learn things the hard way, through personal experience. But ending up at the same conclusion as the late, great, Doug Hannon is not a bad thing at all

One other very cool thing about starting at 10 or 11am, is that only a couple hours later, the early morning crowd is starting to get tired and wimp out. Usually by 2 pm, 90+% of the crowd is gone, and I have the entire lake to myself for 4 or 5 more hours < Which is almost even better than catching fish ! I swear I'd trade half of my bites for a lake to myself ! ....well, at least the "smaller" bites LOL

Nothing worse than fishing a lake that is being all chopped up.... often by bass fishermen in high per bass boats, that spend more time flying around at 60mph, than they do fishing.

Fish

Renesis07 reply :

To be fair, I haven't fish much at Dawn to compare. However so far this season my favorite time to fish is right around 745. Get out to the spots and get a couple on plastics to get 'warmed up', then around 815 that sun starts dropping and the splashes start. I usually work a buzzbait on the shores until 930-10 (30-45 minutes past sundown) and will nail them the entire time. Buzzbait fishing has been my best luck this season. I just need to catch something of size already!

Bassfishing375 reply :

I prefer fishing at dusk, there really isn't any reason. It is just I rarely fish in the morning, because I always over sleep.

I should try waking up sooner.

dday07 reply :

Dawn goes good to worse into daytime dusk goes good to better at nite

aquaholic reply :

dawn if i can get up. night time is when all the crazies come out.

Wayne P. reply :

I agree with Fish Chris. I catch the most and biggest in the 10AM to 2PM period

WRB reply :

It depends on the seasonal periods, not going to get on the water early during the cold water periods and prefer fishing at night during the mid summer. Most of the public water in SoCal opens 1/2 hour after sunrise, so dawn is spent waiting for the lake to open. The same lakes close 1/2 hour before sundown, so the boat is on the trailer at dusk.

Anglers targeting big bass on beds love to fish at noon with the sun over and no shadows for better sight fishing. I haven't found any preferred time slot where big bass are more active, it depends on what the baitfish are or crawdads are doing on the lakes I fish. Crawdads being low light critters, my best jig bites have been during those time periods or light rain periods that tend being out them out. Baitfish like shad hide in cover during low light periods and are more active mid day with the sun raising up the phytoplankton that activates baitfish, the bass follow.

Jigs, low light, swimbaits bright light, everything else anytime.

Just get out on the water and let the bass decide which time they prefer to play.

Tom

SPEEDBEAD. reply :

I prefer mid day into night.

VtGr0wn reply :

dawn.... i have been getting alot of bites before 7am. no traffic on the way to the lake and also it seems a bit cooler in the am.... nothing wrong with dusk i just like getting out extra early

FrogFreak reply :

Well starting in mid June, I get up early fish until 1pm or so, then go hang out with the wife, get some lunch, play cards or whatever and I go out again around 6pm until dark. I like both times but I suppose I have to give a slight nod to dawn because of the beauty. I will say that up north where I fish, I don't worry about fishing early until around the middle of June. Early in the summer, I fish from about 10am until my arm falls off.

BrianSnat reply :

I like them both, but usually I fish dusk because it's after work. Though many people fish before work, I just don't enjoy fishing when I know I have a time limit because I have to be somewhere. I need to get over that, because I usually wake up at 5 am and I could get in an easy two hours, shower and be in work by 9.

stratoliner92 reply :

Before dawn unless Winter

KansasAngler reply :

Dusk! Tho I do believe dawn is more peaceful. But for me my favorite time to fish is an early fall evening when the weather is nice and crisp

Bassguytom reply :

I like to fish at dawn and be home by 11:00 am and spend time with the wife and kids that aren't with me. It keeps everyone happy and keeps me on the water. That works for me just fine.

Muzzy8124 reply :

Dawn by far is the best

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