Has it been your experience that in spring, when the sun disappears the bite does too?

[Ohioguy25]

It’s kind of crazy but that has been my experience, at least for river fishing. Water is in the 60s but as soon as the sun dips out they shut off like a light switch. Couldn’t get them to eat anything.

 

Why do you suppose this is? In colder months or when the water is still hovering in the upper 40s it makes perfect sense, but when the water has been hanging in the low-mid 60s for well over a week I don’t quite understand the science.

[Swamp Girl]

That's not my experience. The cloudier it is, the happier I am. My dream fishing weather would be a rainy, foggy night.

[Catt]

Not my experience either 

 

I start night fishing in April & continue until October or November. This year some nights I could have started in late February or early March.

[TnRiver46]

River smallies like a bright hot summer day, spring time is a total crap shoot for me. When they are spawning it can be terrible fishing 

[gimruis]

42 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

River smallies like a bright hot summer day

That is my experience too specifically referring to river dwelling smallmouth.

 

I never really targeted them in “spring” but when the cooler nights of fall showed up, the bite was not as good for me either. That transition usually occurred up here around Labor Day.

[A-Jay]

 

 

If there's going to be sun - there better be wind.

And if there is going to be heavy clouds, wind seems to play less of a roll.

Some trips a mix of everything through the day is the ticket.

Hoping tomorrow plays out like that.

😎

A-Jay

[Jeff Zurawski]

In clear water, my experience is the opposite.  The bite is usually a lot better when it's cloudy during midday and when the sun dips out in the evening. 

[Tim Kelly]

When I go to the clear grass lakes in Canada the bite always seems to shut off as the light begins to fade in the evening, just when I think it should start to get really good. This is summer time, I don't have spring trips to compare to. 

[Choporoz]

Are we talking about clouds rolling in, or dusk?  

[tunaman]

Due to the bass eyes’ rods and cones, there’s a transition period from dusk where their eyesight needs to adjust. Once they’ve adjusted, they will become active again as evidenced by results from many night tournaments in the summer.

[Ohioguy25]

3 hours ago, Choporoz said:

Are we talking about clouds rolling in, or dusk?  

Mid day cloud cover

19 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

That's not my experience. The cloudier it is, the happier I am. My dream fishing weather would be a rainy, foggy night.

This is 100% my experience in the summer, but not in the spring.

18 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

River smallies like a bright hot summer day, spring time is a total crap shoot for me. When they are spawning it can be terrible fishing 

I agree I will never understand the hype around spring fishing.

5 hours ago, Jeff Zurawski said:

In clear water, my experience is the opposite.  The bite is usually a lot better when it's cloudy during midday and when the sun dips out in the evening. 

That could very well be what is at play, water has been very stained and usually is in spring!

[Choporoz]

4 minutes ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Mid day cloud cover.

Appreciate the clarification.  I don't keep logs of any sort, so I'm going on my generally faulty recollections....but, I never noticed a seasonal difference.   My thinking has always been that a dramatic shift from sunny to overcast....or overcast to bright.... changes the fish activity. But no rules about one change being better than the other.   That is, the bite will noticeably improve or nearly shut off when sun comes out or disappears for extended period.  I wish the fish would give me a better answer, but if they are, I'm missing it.  I fully expect a change, but cannot predict which way it is going to go.

[TnRiver46]

12 minutes ago, Ohioguy25 said:

 

I agree I will never understand the hype around spring fishing

Spring is for white bass, stripers, or going up north where it’s still close to winter 😂 

 

we are seeing water temps getting above 65 and all of a sudden they are biting. My feeling is that when they are spawning (55-64) they are hard to catch. Above and below that temp range they bite like sharks 

[gimruis]

I think there seems to be some confusion as to what the OP is asking for here, specifically.  He's looking if others have noticed the bite shut down on a cloudy day as opposed to a sunny one as it specifically relates to smallmouth bass in a river during spring.  Not a lake.  Not in the summer.  Not on Mars.

 

My answer to that is yes.

[TnRiver46]

^ Thought police! (1984, Orwell)

[PaulVE64]

Your smallies moved.

 

They do that with a quickness.

[Susky River Rat]

River level seems to be the single most important thing this time of year for me on the river. 
 

Spring time is a mix of weather I don’t put my head into any of it generally 

[MickD]

We have noticed this on Lake St Clair, when a cloud covers the sun, fewer bites.  For smallies in lakes I always want some wind and lots of sun.

[MassBass]

I don't have an issue with your finding, could be many reasons, maybe smallmouth like to use vision to feed in current, or I think a factor could be that bigger predators come out to play at night, so the smallmouth is more timid; cats, sturgeon, stripers, and if your river is tidal you don't really know what else could come up, in the spring nights when all the migratory species are active in the river.