Almost all of my bass fishing throughout my life has been in the afternoon or evening. Just the way it has always worked out. I am going to try my first tournament this week and was wondering if bait selection is different in the morning versus the evening? I fish plastic worms 85% of the time with great success, but I don't know if they are as effective in the morning and early afternoon.

Do you guys have a general schedule of what baits you throw and when during morning through afternoon fishing? Do the fish need to wake up or warm up before fishing certain baits?

Thanks to all.

to me it all depends on the conditions if i get out on the water around sunup then i usually like to hit them with a jitterbug or other topwater bait for a while then ill go to a crankbait when its a little lighter out then ill switch to a fluke or a spinnerbait because i know this isnt always true but it seems like i run into alot more schools of shad around 10 am then i do any other time during the day then i go to a plastic bait and then i fish whatever im having success on lol.....by the way thats just my dog days of summer bait pattern it all depends on the conditions

A guy that I fished with last year uses a "top to bottom" approach.  He starts out with a top water (buzz bait or spook type), then swithches to a spinner bait, then a shawllow crank, a medium crank and then a worm or jig as the day goes on.  Once he finds where the fish are located in the water column, he can refine what he is throwing until the conditions change.

From dawn to full sunup, various topwaters are a safe bet.When the sun finally tops out over the treeline,I go subsurface(Plastics,s-baits,c-baits).

I like topwater, shallow cranks, hard jerkbaits and Slug-Gos early. Shortly after sunrise (within an hour) I switch to soft plastics or a jig unless there is significant cloud cover. When it's dark and cloudy, surface or shallow lures can be effective all day.

For early am fishing, I use topwaters(conditions determine which one) or In the fall- I like to "wake" a spinnerbait(if its windy).