1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

 

Timing may just boil down to when the bait is most vulnerable

and or the bass have some type of an advantage over the prey which could increase the bass's chances of feeding successfully.

 

 

I see this a lot in my local river system. When the balls of shad are suspended in deeper water it’s tough to get bites but once that ball gets positioned  up on a shallow point, wind blown bank, creek mouth, etc the bass start devouring them. Did the bass push them in that spot purposefully or did they patiently just wait until it happened naturally? I don’t know. 

 

Very interesting discussion. The idea of a ‘bite window’ really resonates with me. Have I experienced it? Absolutely.  We’ve all had those moments—hours of nothing, then suddenly, every cast gets bit. It sure feels like a bite window has opened. But that raises some big questions:

- Was the window open only in my immediate area?

- Was it lake-wide?

- Was it happening on every nearby body of water?

- Was it truly a “mysterious window,” or did something specific, like a school of shad moving in, trigger the feeding?

 

Watching tournaments online you’ll hear commentators say, “The bite has slowed down,” as if a lake-wide switch got flipped. But when I’ve looked at actual catch data from those same tournaments, the numbers don’t always support that narrative. Yes, catch rates can vary by time of day, but they typically don’t show abrupt shifts.  We’re wired to see patterns, even when they aren’t there. Our brains want explanations—even if they’re not backed by evidence.

 

Research says that bass feed for only a small portion of the day.  Feeding activity increases at dawn and dusk.  Not all fish feed at the same time.  

 

I’m convinced bass are individuals. They adapt to their environment, and their feeding times and strategies reflect that. We often want to believe “they all do X,” but that’s not supported by the science.  They feed when they can be the most successful.  It can change from lake to lake and from location to location.  It can change as conditions change.  I don't think it's mysterious.  I don't think it can be tracked with an app on your phone.  One bass may feed regularly on crawfish at dawn in a certain place in its his home range.  Another fish may feed primarily on shad in open water because that's the best source of food in it's area.  These things affect when they will be the most successful at feeding.  I read one study showing that bass can see better than bluegill at certain light levels—and see worse than blue gill at other light levels. So if a bass targets bluegill, it likely feeds when it has a visual advantage.  

 

In some ways, bass aren’t so different from us.  Look at a restaurant parking lot—you’ll see obvious “feeding windows” there too. But those are tied to common schedules and routines. If a place gets busy at 3:15 p.m., it’s more likely because a nearby factory’s second shift just let out, not because of a blip on the Solunar table.

 

I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s thoughts.  It’s a fascinating topic, and I’ve thought about it for years.  I don’t claim to have all the answers. I’m always open to new evidence. But I try not to put too much faith in my own perceptions—or in others’—without data to back them up.  Bass are complex, adaptable, and far more interesting than we often give them credit for.

22 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

 

I’m convinced bass are individuals.  

 

Bass are complex, adaptable, and far more interesting than we often give them credit for.

 A good read! Thanks

 

But I wanted to pick out one thing you said. That you are convinced bass are individuals.

 

While I agree to a point, I see bass behavior as size specific.

 

About 40 years ago the FWC and biologists did a science project on bass behavior at different ages and sizes. They used radio transmitters and computers to track their movements around the clock.

 

One thing I have noticed is how most schooling bass are all around the same size and age. I think Glen Lau documentary on bass here in Florida called them wolf packs. But the larger bass tended to go it alone- the individual.

 

Feeding differs between bass age and size.

 

When schooling activity occurs the tendency of many fishermen is to instantly target the schooling action right through the center. But are we targeting smaller fish?

 

Sonar has shown us the bigger fish are also getting in on the feeding frenzy but in a different way hanging around the outside edges waiting for an injured baitfish to try and escape or hanging out underneath all the activity waiting for a similar opportunity below.

 

While the schoolies are fun, I now try and target those larger fish hanging out around the edges.

 

Bass may be individuals, but their security and feeding habits depend on their size and age from what I can tell- as well as environmental, but that is another subject or a dozen.

 

I'd say that once you can get it into your head that you're searching for active fish, you can have much more productive and efficient trips and you waste a lot less time messing with baits and stuff like that.

 

The key is knowing what kind of active fish you're looking for in the depth zones and areas that you're targeting and recognizing that certain windows don't close and certain windows are only open very briefly each day. 

 

In my opinion, when you're looking for largemouth bass that are active, the single most important determining factor in activating the food chain and creating these bite windows or frenzies, is current. 

 

 

Any sort of current? Whether it be wind or generation from dam or inflowing rain etc. Etc. 

 

Current is everything when looking for active fish that are active because they are feeding 😉👍🏼

11 minutes ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

Bass may be individuals, but their security and feeding habits depend on their size and age from what I can tell- as well as environmental, but that is another subject or a dozen.

Good point.  I absolutely agree size has a big impact on their behavior.  They go from being bait fish when they're young to being apex predators if they live long enough.  

 

My belief in the importance of seeing them as individuals comes mostly from tracking studies.  It seems like in every study they find a general trend in behavior but there's always a fish or two that completely buck the trend.  For example,  studies show that the majority of bass establish a home range but the same studies have found that some bass are nomads.  I don't know if they are just looking for a home or if they live their entire life that way but you see fish that the scientists have trouble tracking because they move all over the place.

Do you believe in life after love

Watch bass trac in Bassmaster elite events. Big bass are often caught in clusters, then nothing until the next spree. It happens repeatedly. 

29 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

In my opinion, when you're looking for largemouth bass that are active, the single most important determining factor in activating the food chain and creating these bite windows or frenzies, is current. 

 

Current is everything when looking for active fish that are active because they are feeding 😉👍🏼

 

Now we are getting into those environmental subjects. And Pat on this one I gotta disagree. I do agree current is a great feature of successful bass fishing, for me that is not the case most of the time.

 

I have come to realize in about 50 plus years of fishing, the environment has controlled me as well. What I mean is that for most of my life fishing in Florida, nearly all of it has been inshore and freshwater.

 

But one thing about my environment that is different than most other places in the country, and even in this state is that no matter where I fish, it is almost always shallow. And I mean 8 feet deep or less. I do not care for being out in the middle of large lakes and large wide rivers. I live a block from one now and won't ever fish it in this part of the state. I stopped back in 1982.

 

But my point is that for most of my fishing choices in small lakes and ponds and swamps, the water for the most part is dead still. Zero current.

 

Plenty of bass live in conditions like these and I can't tie their feeding cycles to current or the tide. Gotta be something else all together.

 

I'd like to point out that for me using sonar has proven just about useless. It might be great in 10 feet of water and deeper. But when I fish in extremely shallow waters sonar is of no use when there is less than 3 feet of water between me and the bottom.

 

When I fish the St. Johns river in central Florida it is quite often less than 24 inches deep. Salt flats same thing. A few feet deep at best. I got a nice hidden saltwater lake in central Florida not far from Haulover canal that is dishpan shallow and cut off from intracoastal at low tide. Absolutely no current in there when cut off and low water. Maybe wind driven water movement at best. But some places are graveyard silent way back in the woods.

 

A lot of my bass fishing is in shallow still waters. I've seen 'em school up in these places as well. Granted the schoolie activity is best in the St. Johns river. Could be higher numbers of fish more concentrated.

2 minutes ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

 

Now we are getting into those environmental subjects. And Pat on this one I gotta disagree. I do agree current is a great feature of successful bass fishing, for me that is not the case most of the time.

 

I have come to realize in about 50 plus years of fishing, the environment has controlled me as well. What I mean is that for most of my life fishing in Florida, nearly all of it has been inshore and freshwater.

 

But one thing about my environment that is different than most other places in the country, and even in this state is that no matter where I fish, it is almost always shallow. And I mean 8 feet deep or less. I do not care for being out in the middle of large lakes and large wide rivers. I live a block from one now and won't ever fish it in this part of the state. I stopped back in 1982.

 

But my point is that for most of my fishing choices in small lakes and ponds and swamps, the water for the most part is dead still. Zero current.

 

Plenty of bass live in conditions like these and I can't tie their feeding cycles to current or the tide. Gotta be something else all together.

 

I'd like to point out that for me using sonar has proven just about useless. It might be great in 10 feet of water and deeper. But when I fish in extremely shallow waters sonar is of no use. when there is less than 3 feet of water between me and the bottom.

 

When I fish the St. Johns river in central Florida it is quit often less than 24 inches deep. Salt flats same thing. A few feet deep at best. I got a nice hidden saltwater lake in central Florida not far from Haulover canal that is dishpan shallow and cut off from intracoastal at low tide. Absolutely no current in there when cut off and low water. Maybe wind driven water movement at best. But some places are graveyard silent way back in the woods.

 

A lot of my bass fishing is in shallow still waters. I've seen 'em school up in these places as well. Granted the schoolie activity is best in the St. Johns river. Could be higher numbers of fish more concentrated.

 

 

Not necessarily saying it controls the bass. Just saying it controls the food chain on the Lakes I fish.

 

I would argue also that current is not always visible or felt and it's all relative.  We're just talking about big bite windows on lakes where that happens right now I think. 

 

Those are definitely a thing and on the lakes where that matters a lot around here, current seems to activate the food chain which makes groups of bass easier to catch.

 

These bass of course do not exist in a vacuum.  They are bass that are subject to fishing pressure routinely and also are inactive most of the day.

 

I do not think that every largemouth bass on every Pond is going to behave the same because they react in real time to stimulation in their environments and adapt and on gizzard Shad fisheries with lots of fishing pressure, current is a pretty big deal.

8 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

studies show that the majority of bass establish a home range but the same studies have found that some bass are nomads.  I don't know if they are just looking for a home or if they live their entire life that way but you see fish that the scientists have trouble tracking because they move all over the place.

 

This brings up an interesting point. Bass do tend to find a home.

 

Researchers specifically tested bass for this very issue. They would catch bass at least 4 years old or older and remove them from where they were caught and transfer them across the lake to its furthest side and turn them loose to see what they would do.

 

Oddly enough, most of the bass returned to their preferred locations. I was surprised by this.

Yes, the bite window opens and closes and opens and closes....

Yes and no. Ive caught bass when it seems the bite has stopped completely. I'll get this one fish that bites out of nowhere and changes the whole day. 

 

The worst is crappie.  They will bite and then all of a sudden stop and be done for the rest of the day.

 

The one thing I dont believe in is that fish only bite first thing in the morning. I've fished several tournaments were we didn't get a bite until around 10am even though we started at 6-7am and end up with 5 fish by 3pm. 

It's one thing to have an 'activity period' in the early morning or late afternoon, it's expected to have fish be active, and I've maybe even planned what to use. When these periods happen, say mid-morning, on some days I may have found the bite to be a bit. . . . lacking. . . first thing in the morning. I might figure that I've chosen poorly in some way with either my location, bait, presentation, etc.. Then I switch up, when I've really just giving it my best during a predictable period of inactivity. And then, when the bite turns on, I've altered what or where and I really should have been more patient or plan my day more deliberately.

The short answer is yes. The longer answer is kind of. 

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

We’re wired to see patterns, even when they aren’t there. Our brains want explanations—even if they’re not backed by evidence.

This is very well said.

 

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

In my opinion, when you're looking for largemouth bass that are active, the single most important determining factor in activating the food chain and creating these bite windows or frenzies, is current. 

Very interesting. I've heard several pros say the same thing. I fish mostly natural lakes and bays in upstate NY, most of which don't really have much "current" besides whatever the wind is doing. I have noticed that fish "sometimes" stack up on the downwind side of things, but it hasn't seemed consistent enough that I'd call it a pattern. With that said, there's probably more current in my lakes than I think. 

 

50 minutes ago, FishTank said:

The one thing I dont believe in is that fish only bite first thing in the morning.

I agree with you. Bites can be had any time of day.

 

33 minutes ago, Susky River Rat said:

The short answer is yes. The longer answer is kind of. 

Ha. Indeed. 

On the lakes I fish there is literally a switch that will turn on the bite.  Unfortunately,  only the people at the dam have access to that switch.  I agree with what many have already said.  Current matters as much as anything.  

11 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

 Unfortunately,  only the people at the dam have access to that switch.

You could always find a bazooka....

 

If there's a bite window on Tonka, I've yet to find out when it is.

Current gets the plankton to moving, shad follow plankton, and bass follow shad.

2 hours ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

 

Feeding differs between bass age and size.

 

Sonar has shown us the bigger fish are also getting in on the feeding frenzy but in a different way hanging around the outside edges waiting for an injured baitfish to try and escape or hanging out underneath all the activity waiting for a similar opportunity below.

 

While the schoolies are fun, I now try and target those larger fish hanging out around the edges.

.

 

Numerous times when I’m chasing schoolies and catching dinks, I’ll switch up and throw a deep crank, large scrounger, heavier jighead minnow or a big flutter spoon below the frenzy and get rewarded with larger fish. 

 

 

51 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

  Current matters as much as anything.  

When shore fishing for smallies on Lake Michigan if the wind picks up or shifts the mouth to my marina will start a swirling and swift deep water current as it’s the only way for water to enter or leave. Catching very often picks up within the first minute and can last as short as a cast or two or for 10-15minutes. 
 

scott

10 minutes ago, softwateronly said:

the wind picks up or shifts the mouth to my marina will start a swirling and swift deep water current

We could start another thread about swirling water and smallmouth.  👌

I absolutely believe in bite windows! Personally, on my local water, bite windows aren't very important for most of the year. However, during the winter, bite windows, in my opinion, 100% determine your success. If you fish tidal water, bite windows also become very important and dependent on tides and moons. I also firmly believe that bite windows apply to many/most species; fresh and saltwater.

 

From my experience, bite windows can be tough to dial in on. For some species, or on certain water, bite windows can be noted based on weather, moon phase, tide, sunlight, wind, bug activity, etc.

 

One thing you mentioned was that the bite suddenly turned on, and simultaneously the mosquitos drove you out of there. It could be possible that there was some aquatic bug activity that the bait/panfish keyed in on, thus triggering bass activity. On one of my local lakes, when the panfish are sipping bugs, the bass generally will smash moving baits. So I began timing my outings for pre-dawn when the bugs were coming off and the panfish were eating them. Once the sun was up, the bugs are gone, and the bass are back into their lazy habits; jigs, t-rigs, and finesse baits. 

 

On another lake, when it gets HOT, I can pick some fish during the evening, but as soon as the lights go out it's a free-for-all for about an hour, then the bite dies again. 

 

For me, half the fun of fishing is finding success based off of observation, and experimenting!

On 7/9/2025 at 10:02 AM, Pat Brown said:

 

Not necessarily saying it controls the bass. Just saying it controls the food chain on the Lakes I fish.

 

I think @Pat Brown makes a really important point. In what way are gills, threadfin, gizzard, craws, etc likely to do similar things at similar times? 

-----------

My own experience is that bite windows are real, and the -minor- times on solunar matter more than the major. No idea on why the minors seem to be better, and it could all be in my head too. 

If I’m on the water, the bite window is ALWAYS open!

On 7/9/2025 at 5:03 AM, Team9nine said:

Bite windows - yes

 

Predictability - only vaguely. Wouldn’t it be great to know you don’t have to arrive at the lake until a specific time and then only fish for an hour and 37 minutes because you had the bite window so nailed down? 

Agreed.  Sort of a holy grail....but could possibly remove too much of the mystery/mystique 

 

 

 

On 7/9/2025 at 7:10 AM, Don Preller said:

i definitley believe in bite windows. you ever drive a ways and notice and notice there seems to be deer in every field at a certain time. drive the same road the next day and see nothing. there is definetly smething that drives fish and game to be active at certain times.

AND....I believe that there can be a lot of correlation between land animals, birds, and fish.  Can't explain why, but active bite seems to happen more frequently when there are active birds and mammals 

 

 

 

On 7/9/2025 at 11:33 AM, FishTank said:

The one thing I dont believe in is that fish only bite first thing in the morning. I've fished several tournaments were we didn't get a bite until around 10am even though we started at 6-7am and end up with 5 fish by 3pm. 

This one bugged me for long time.  I was convinced I had to be on the water at or shortly after sunrise.  Goes back 50+ years to my dad and grandpa.  But, I've only in recent years determined that my early wasn't really early enough.  By the time most tournaments start (often after 'safe light'), it is too late.  I now believe the good morning bite is generally the really late 'night-bite'.  An hour or two before sunrise can often be awesome, only to have things die down when it starts getting light.   Not always, but enough to lead me to believe it is a little predictable. 

...  except....variables like weather, cloud cover, baitfish spawns, etc can make above sound silly some days