My PB was caught at high noon in 2 feet of wTer, on a sunny day.

I have said this for years. When I tell my clients that they can expect the better fish from 10am to 2pm they usually think I have a screw loose. I am not sure of the science of this theory but over the years I have been on the water....I am a believer that the bigger fish will feed around midday.

Just curious, is this just bass or does the same go for the snakeheads and peacocks I see you catching in some of your videos?

Big fish need HEAT & light to see & catch those smaller fish. Low sun angles penetrate far back under boats & docks. Vertical sun rays hide him even at the edge of a dock.

I guess I need to tell that to all the big bass I've caught at night!

Strange...I have had the exact opposite experience of most on here. I haven't caught any DD bass, but all of my "bigger" fish have all been 2 hours before dusk or between 9:30am and noon. From 1-5pm I usually have very little luck. This coming season I'm going to approach things a little differently and see if I can replicate this 10am-2pm theory. If it's true, then I can fish confidently all day long!

Within the 10 am to 4 pm framework that I mentioned early-on,

the Noon to 4 pm time-slot has been the 'best-of-the-best' for trophy fish (fresh & salt)

Though I know this to be the case, I can only speculate as to why.

 

Roger

 

Cuz they feed at midday ? just guessin´ !

Cuz they feed at midday?  just guessin!

 

Hmmph, never occurred to me,

you might have something there 

Catt

 

I am in N Y. Cool all summer compared to the Good Ole Boys in Lake Charles, La.  A pocket of shallow back water might reach 85 on a very hot day.

 

So your bass do the night shift. The LM have big laterial lines for sensing baitfish & crawdads

Big bass usually feed the day before I go or the day after. If I go in the morning they bite in the afternoon. If I go in the afternoon they feed in the morning. If I go all day they feed at night and if I go at night they feed in the day. My only solution is to go fishing 24/7.

Big fish need HEAT & light to see & catch those smaller fish. Low sun angles penetrate far back under boats & docks. Vertical sun rays hide him even at the edge of a dock.

Where in this does it say NY?

As I understand what is wrote it is all bass

I catch more big bass at night simply cause I fish more at night!

Just curious, is this just bass or does the same go for the snakeheads and peacocks I see you catching in some of your videos?

The season has a lot to do with it.  I can catch peacocks at first light in the warmer months, now I do much better catching them mid day.

 

As far as bass goes my biggest are usually from 12-2 pm because that's when I fish for them.  I don't do near as much bass fishing dawn or sunset.

 

In saltwater peak times can be all over the map.  Target species, incoming or outgoing tide, tide change relative to sunrise and sunset, baitfish, inshore or offshore fishing, wind direction, flat or heavier seas, ground swells or waves (there is a difference), can't just pick a time.  Pre dawn is a great time for snook, but jacks generally don't appear until the sun comes up.  Many fish school according to size, 1 day the jacks can be 1# a piece, the next day they can be 30# each, day after no fish at all.  There is very little control as to the size of the fish in the area you are fishing.

I have caught big bass in the morning, the afternoon, and at night. I cant remember catching any at dusk. If I had to cherry pick a time it would be low light conditions, mid day. Stormy afternoon.

Yep. Caught  both of my 8+ ladies around 12:30 PM.

 

There is a story one of the pros tells of  him fishing with another pro in a tournament. Don't hold me to it but I think it is a Jimmy Houston or VanDam story.

 

Do not recall the name of the guy he was with at the time. Anyone out there who knows the story please correct the names and any mistakes I include.

 

They blast off and the boater starts to fish while the nonboater just sits there and watches. When asked why he is not fishing the nonboater says that he is waiting for the right time.

 

After the noon hour, the nonboater tells the boater to go to a specific spot in the lake. When they get to the spot the nonboater stands up, takes one of his rods, and looks at his watch.

 

At an exact time he casts out and wham, lands a bass. He does this five casts in a row, catching bass that are larger than the ones the boater has caught.

 

Within five minutes he has his five bass limit with very nice size largemouths.

 

He then proceeds to sit back down and relax.

 

Asked what just happened, the nonboater explained that on that lake the bass go nuts for a half hour around 12:30 to 1:00 o'clock at that specific place.  So why waste his time trying to catch them when he knows he can go to that spot at the appointed time and nail them right and left?

 

This was the first time I ever knew that the bass will feed in the daylight hours and not just at dawn or dusk.

 

I will try to find the story on YouTube and share it with you if I can find it.

 

Happy New Year!

When we / you talk about schools of fish ??  That statement is very true.

When we / you talk about schools of fish ?? That statement is very true.

my mistake I thought we were talking big bass not schoolies!

In the Saint Lawrence River There are schools of Largemouths & schools of smallies.  I leave the bass under the docks & boats & in boat houses for the Pro tournaments to catch.

 

Deep lakes in N J also have schools of large mouths in open water. The first time I saw the 5 fish limit being dragged back to the boat launch I waved him down & asked. He said he regularly maxed out with the biggies. They only fed on the open water bait fish & would drive them to a raised mound in the center of the lake.  We talked & he lalmost had tears when I told him about the big seaweed clump suspended With smaller clumps around it.  He later taught me about deep water schools of large mouths.

In the Saint Lawrence River There are schools of Largemouths & schools of smallies. I leave the bass under the docks & boats & in boat houses for the Pro tournaments to catch.

Deep lakes in N J also have schools of large mouths in open water. The first time I saw the 5 fish limit being dragged back to the boat launch I waved him down & asked. He said he regularly maxed out with the biggies. They only fed on the open water bait fish & would drive them to a raised mound in the center of the lake. We talked & he lalmost had tears when I told him about the big seaweed clump suspended With smaller clumps around it. He later taught me about deep water schools of large mouths.

So ya talking what 4-5 pound bass & I'm talking 8-10 pound bass.

The largest I have seen in a boat is a 6 in open water schools. The biggies are always under docks, boathouses & boats.  Or backed into reeds.

 

No way northern waters grow them as fast and big as down south.

Big fish need HEAT & light to see & catch those smaller fish.

This is where I disagree

Big bass do not need heat nor light to catch prey regardless of which state they live in!

My 3 biggest fish have been caught at 6:30 am, noon & 3:00 pm.

 

Conditions were clear, cloudy & party cloudy (corresponding to the above times).

 

Barometer was steady, dropping & rising (again in order with the above times).

 

Months were August, October & November.

 

So should I conclude that fishing at night or in the Spring is a waste of time if you are fishing for big ones? 

If all the big fish fisherman sleep in when do you think the big fish will be caught ?

Al Linder always said " the fish don 't start biting until I get there"

I have been sitting on school then all of a sudden mid-day they turn on and I whack them, I believe that

We have a back bay that was designed for L M.  They are all over the area. Several different docks, weeds, dark organic mud bottom, reeds, Branches. Loads of Emerald Shiners there with other bait fish.

 

The largemouths  sit sideways to the early mourning sunlight. Pike smallie sunnies.  Heck everything is just sunning. Until high noon. Then everyone disappears & you can catch fish on every cast for about 2 hours. Then it is all the survivors sunning under the docks again. No attacking each other. 

I have caught almost all of my big bass from 10:00 to 2:00