That's one thing I like about bass fishing: they like shade, I like shade! Roland Martin says "bass don't have eyelids!", so there ya go they don't like it bright. I fish accordingly.

 

I night fished off my Dad's dock last summer and caught one 1st or 2nd cast. T-rigged YUM Dinger. Such a trip. "Everyone at BR says throw what you'd throw during the day so here goes" Was about 1 am. About 3 pounds. Just let it drop.

 

Next night I brought my pliers and a light! De-hooking is no fun without at least a light! Learned that fast.

 

One thing I don't always like is that I can't always see my lure. A few years ago I sidearm cast 90 degrees to my left and over the neighbors metal dock roof. Didn't even know it til I heard a 'tink' to my left. How the heck...? I was a rookie but pretty good during the day haha.

 

But that's a safe, easy to reach dock in my Dad's back yard. Some of the scenarios you guys described with giant bugs and monsters, maybe not so much. I'd try it though with ya.

12 hours ago, schplurg said:

Roland Martin says "bass don't have eyelids!", so there ya go they don't like it bright. I fish accordingly.

eyelids are to keep your eyes moist, a bass underwater will always have moist eyes?. Bass are what some million years evolved, if they needed eyelids i think they would have them by now?.

It has more to do with the suns heat penatrating the water from what i have heard. Anyone else have an opinion on this?

29 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

eyelids are to keep your eyes moist, a bass underwater will always have moist eyes?. Bass are what some million years evolved, if they needed eyelids i think they would have them by now?.

It has more to do with the suns heat penatrating the water from what i have heard. Anyone else have an opinion on this?

Momma said alligators are ornery because they got all them teeth and no toothbrush 

Metabolism is related to water temp right?  Hot water means they got to eat, feed em. 

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Momma said alligators are ornery because they got all them teeth and no toothbrush 

 

alligators get no respect, gettin all shot up on swamp people tv

 

Well, these came out of high 80’s - low 90’s water temps Sunday.  River fish and the only difference from cooler water temps were that they were on shady banks or behind large rocks.  To tell the truth, I expected them to be deeper but they weren’t. 

spotted bass disclaimer here:

 

it appears that my brush pile fish are now scattered, chasing bait no doubt. this doesn’t usually occur until around mid/late August. no noticeable thermocline yet, but here we are nonetheless. i’ll get back out there on Friday and see what i can find out, if anything. the quest continues 

Bass have a higher metabolism when the water is warmer so they will feed more often but you have to look for them to catch them. You might have to fish heavy aquatic vegetation, near shaded areas, or at nighttime.

22 hours ago, throttleplate said:

 

alligators get no respect, gettin all shot up on swamp people tv

 

You will respect my authority! 

On 5/29/2021 at 8:38 PM, RenzokukenFisher said:

Have you all noticed any patterns in fish behavior when a heatwave comes around? Cold fronts often seem like a focus of attention but what about heatwaves.

They do their same behaviors just more to a extreme, easier to catch imo

I'm an early riser and much prefer fishing early morning vs night fishing plus I refuse to drink on my boat so that also eliminates night fishing. 

 

My PB came on a hot August afternoon, blue bird skies.

I’m casting a line at 5:30 am or sooner. Up on the trailer at 8:30 am during current conditions. 

My favorite times to fish are the Dog Days of Summer & the Dead of Winter.

 

My preference is night fishing but I've caught a couple during daylight.

 

Y'all are correct bass love shade but let me remind y'all it ain't gotta be matted, or huge lily pad fields. A single stump, log, laydown, or small clump of vegetation will hold Hawgs.

Here in South Florida looks like Bass completely shut down with the heat, they are hard to catch nowadays, and they stopped biting any kind of worm, got 2 on a Rat L Trap trying for peacock and that was it for the day

Where I live the thermocline is not that deep during the summer . Often its around 15 foot . Then the baitfish will often accumulate a few feet shallower , There are usually bass to be caught at that depth . Then just going down the bank and fishing visible targets work too . I have  had a lot of success in the hot months . I dont even attempt it now days . The sun is too much for me . Night fishing is good but I want a bright high moon at dusk . Thats when I have the best results .

I've noticed not so much the action that changes, but the size and quality of fish. Cooler temps i normally see the bigger fish in my area. But dog days if summer i see a lot more of the scrappy smaller ones.

The bass have been biting well for me this whole year in South Florida, in fact I often catch bass as bycatch while fishing for other species. People like to complain about how hot it is, how much it has rain, none of that matters if you put enough time on the water to learn what these fish want. Social media makes it easier to learn about bass fishing but it will never compare to learning on the water.

Disclaimer...90% of my fishing is on a river.

 

I'm another one who doesn't fish at night. I don't really like to do anything at night. Many times I have gone out night fishing or night hunting and I just don't like it for a lot of reasons...from bugs to not being able to see. LOL

 

My fishing is the best in midsummer. The river is usually a shallow one way trip by midsummer so you fish a spot when you get to it. I can't say whether it's because of the time of day or that I just get to the good spots at noon but noon seems to be the magic hour. Shallow river brown bass can be in a real feeding frenzy in fast water during the middle of the day.

 

The water is high for this time of year and my son and I got out pretty early on Sunday. The high water let me motor up river so I started on one of the better stretches. Like always it was slow and picked up later in the day.

 

I'm usually fishing with my wife and we rarely get on the water before 8 or 9 am but we catch plenty of fish.

1 hour ago, MGF said:

Disclaimer...90% of my fishing is on a river.

 

I'm another one who doesn't fish at night. I don't really like to do anything at night. Many times I have gone out night fishing or night hunting and I just don't like it for a lot of reasons...from bugs to not being able to see. LOL

 

My fishing is the best in midsummer. The river is usually a shallow one way trip by midsummer so you fish a spot when you get to it. I can't say whether it's because of the time of day or that I just get to the good spots at noon but noon seems to be the magic hour. Shallow river brown bass can be in a real feeding frenzy in fast water during the middle of the day.

 

The water is high for this time of year and my son and I got out pretty early on Sunday. The high water let me motor up river so I started on one of the better stretches. Like always it was slow and picked up later in the day.

 

I'm usually fishing with my wife and we rarely get on the water before 8 or 9 am but we catch plenty of fish.

River smallies indeed love to eat a big lunch at noon 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

River smallies indeed love to eat a big lunch at noon 

 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

 

3 hours ago, MGF said:

My fishing is the best in midsummer.

My brown bass fishing in a river is also best in July-August when the temps are at their peak.  The fish are aggressive and I know where to catch them too.

 

The problem here this year is extremely low water levels.  Like historically low.  Its the worst drought since 1988 and there is no relief in sight.  Combined with endless sun and heat and humidity its made for a pretty miserable summer so far.

Heck as hot as it’s been in mid-Atlantic so far and it is not August yet. I’m getting bit and putting fish in the boat. Could use some rain. I’m not looking for flash floods though. A nice crisp 55 deg. morning would be nice. 

A cool mist coming off 69 degree water makes the hot evenings feel a lot better 

 

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

My brown bass fishing in a river is also best in July-August when the temps are at their peak.  The fish are aggressive and I know where to catch them too.

 

The problem here this year is extremely low water levels.  Like historically low.  Its the worst drought since 1988 and there is no relief in sight.  Combined with endless sun and heat and humidity its made for a pretty miserable summer so far.

We have the opposite issue this year. We've had a bunch of rain lately and the water is way up. In the spring when the water is supposed to be high it was way low. Go figure.

Seeing as their metabolism is tied directly to water temperature, it stands to argue they need eat more in warmer water, assuming all other conditions are good.  In other words, they gotta eat sometime, and a lot.  For me that means a few things - fishing at night or dawn and dusk when bass are at an advantage.  Another thing is to go bigger with bait profile.  I do have a tendency to look deeper than usual whenever it too hot, or too windy, or a cold front blows through.  Those deep fish don't seem to be as bothered by changes above the water line.  Going deep and going big is relative to your water, and it has worked well for me.  As far as time of day, most of my biggest bass have come mid day.