02 Feb

What is the Best Time of Day to Fish for Bass? Top 10 Proven Tips

Anglers are always coming up with special items to use, ways to present baits, and various other highly specific rituals for how they fish. Some folks like to spray all their soft-plastic lures with homemade scents that are heavily garlic scented. Others swear up and down that spraying everything with WD-40 will somehow catch fish, and it really just poisons the fishery. One thing that fishermen get into a lot of arguments over is the best time to go fishing, though.

Some of those rituals and quirky fishing habits are rooted in reality, and some fall flat. That includes the theories on when it’s the best time to start fishing for the big one. You’ll hear advice ranging from getting out there before the sun rises all the way to recommending that you bake in the midday sun. Some of it is legitimate, and some of it is just downright bogus.

Today, we want to dispel the time-related myths and give you a definitive answer to when you should get out on the water and start chucking lures.

Does Time Matter at All?

You might be wondering if the time of the day matters at all. After all, you’ll find triumphant stories of bass fishermen catching massive fish at midnight just as often as you do your traditional stories of early morning blowups on topwater poppers.

Well, it does matter.

You can realistically catch bass at just about any time of the day. They don’t really sleep, and even when they’re not particularly hungry, they’re aggressive enough to make reaction strikes. The problem is that the fishing just isn’t as good as it is during certain times. Just because you can catch a fish at any time with enough effort doesn’t mean you’re going to have a thrilling fishing trip with back-to-back catches whenever you want. That’s where the time of the day comes in.

Today, we want to dispel the time-related myths and give you a definitive answer to when you should get out on the water and start chucking lures.

Does Time Matter at All?

Well, it does matter.

Bass are more active during several periods, and then there are other factors to consider that might ramp up their activity in a predictable manner. We’re going to look at all these factors and eventually determine what the best time to fish is MOST of the time. This will make sense as we move along.

The General Times Bass are the Most Active

Bass have two periods when they are almost certain to be feeding during prime fishing season.

First, a great time to hit the water is during the early morning. When we say early, we mean right as the sun is starting to come up on the horizon and the dew is sitting on the grass. This is for a few reasons.

First, the prime fishing season tends to be fairly hot. The early morning is the coolest part of the day without being absolutely frigid. Since bass are cold-blooded animals, they prefer to get the majority of their daily activities accomplished when the water is warm but not so warm that they’re overheating.

This also tends to be when a lot of prey is active. Schools of bait fish are moving around for the same reason bass are, insects are all over the water during this period, and it’s basically a giant happy hour for the bass.

This is why topwater bass fishing lures are so effective in the morning, also. They replicate the bugs, frogs, and feeding bait fish that disturb the water’s surface every morning, and they tend to trick bass far more effectively in the morning than they do during any other part of the day.

Bass are also extremely active at night most of the time. Again, they’re cold-blooded. They can’t exert too much energy when it’s extremely hot, or they’ll quickly reach temperatures that aren’t safe for them. Also, the bugs are out in mass. This gives the bass some topwater food to munch on, and it ensures that the bait fish are active, too.

The long stretch of time between early morning and dusk is the period you mostly want to avoid. Yes, you can catch fish during this period, but they’re typically relaxing and trying to stay cool. This is the time of day when it’s the hottest, and with a few exceptions, your fishing experience will slow down to a crawl. This is why you’ll usually find midday fishermen hopelessly chucking lures around with very few bites. They should have gotten up early or stayed up late if they wanted fast-paced fishing.

We’ll talk more about these two optimal periods later on. First, let’s go over some of the other factors you’ll have to consider.

Factors that Affect Our Recommended Times

There are three main factors that will affect your ability to catch fish during our recommended times, and one of them can actually turn slow midday fishing into an exciting day of back-to-back catches. Here are all three of them and how they affect your fishing experience.

1: Season

You’ll notice our recommendations had a lot to do with the temperature. Well, the temperature for each time of the day changes dramatically with every season. In the winter, the warmest part of the day is the middle of the day, and that’s when the bass are going to come out to eat because they’re lethargic the rest of the time.

So, keep this in mind as you plan your trips. We’re trying to find the time of day that is best ON AVERAGE, but factors like this create brief situations where the opposite of average is generally best.

When we finally determine the best time to fish, assume we’re talking about the peak fishing season right before the summer months get extremely hot.

2: Rain

Rain will change the way fish behave every single time. It basically jumpstarts their activity and sends them into a frenzy during peak fishing season.

Notably, they become much more active before and after an intense rainstorm. This is because the barometric pressure drops, and the pond goes wild. Baitfish start schooling everywhere to find safety, the bass notice the activity, bugs come out to get a meal before they have to take shelter, and the bass take advantage of it. Again, this can make the midday slow period a fishing extravaganza.

Likewise, if it’s actually pouring in the middle of the night, or if it’s raining in the morning, the fishing can be slow despite the time.

3: Pressure

With this one, we’re not talking about barometric pressure. We mean the “pressure” exerted by other fishermen. The abundance of food and temperature aren’t the only reasons morning and night tend to be the best times to fish.

The average casual fisherman doesn’t tend to wake up early to get on the water, and fishing isn’t their top priority. They have to wake up late on the weekend, get breakfast, and some coffee, do a bunch of other nonsense, and not get out to the water until noon or later. When they all hit the water at the same time, they scare the fish off. They put too much pressure on the fish to bite, and the already lethargic fish start to get wise to all the weird worms and fish-like things bobbing around in the water.

The same is true for nighttime. The average fisherman isn’t staying out late. They’re getting home before dark to escape the mosquitos, get a good dinner, and relax. When you go fishing at night, you’ll likely be the only person on the water the majority of the time. If you’re not, the “competition” will likely just be a handful of catfish anglers, and they don’t want to disrupt your experience any more than you want to disrupt their fun.

This is a huge factor, and when taken into consideration with the other possible factors, it gives a massive benefit to night fishing. Don’t get us wrong. There’s not a lot of pressure in the morning, either. Although, you’ll likely see a decent number of other fishermen and still have to compete for spots.

Morning VS Night Fishing: Which One is Best?

By now, you should at least understand that the best time to fish for bass comes down to two possibilities. You’ve got the early morning hours, and you’ve got the later parts of the night.

Under prime fishing conditions, which one of these periods is the absolute best time to fish, though?

Well, they both share a number of benefits. They’re both periods when bait fish and bugs are plentiful, the temperature is far cooler than it is at midday, and the bass are extremely active.

There are really only two key differences to think about.

First, there's visibility. This is more of a problem for you than it is for the bass. It is difficult to see at night, and unless you’re properly equipped, it can actually be dangerous. Even if you pack lights, you can still run into things, or you might scare fish in the area by shining lights all over the water. During the morning, that’s not a problem. You can safely navigate the water or banks, and you don’t need to bring along any lights that can scare the fish.

Then, you have to consider the pressure from other fishermen. At night, there is almost never going to be any pressure. Most serious anglers still have lives to worry about that force them to get back home, and the casual fishermen definitely aren’t sitting around until 10 at night. You will basically have the water to yourself during a prime fishing period. On the other hand, most serious fishermen know to get out to the water earlier than usual. You won’t have to worry about the casuals too often, but there will still be people on the water, and you will still have those situations where your favorite spot is taken by the time you get there.

Weighing the pros and cons, we have to give the win to night fishing. It has almost all the same benefits as morning fishing, but it has the bonus of scaring off the vast majority of anglers, allowing you to get any spot you want whenever you want 99% of the time. You can truly take advantage of all the activity taking place at night.

That doesn’t mean you should skip past early morning fishing, though. You’ll get more visibility, and there are still fewer anglers on the water.

Also, keep in mind that this is only true during peak fishing season. When the temperature drops, night fishing can be entirely dead. You won’t catch a single thing at night in the dead of winter, and you might as well go home.

Tips for Morning and Night Fishing

You get a slight edge if you fish at night, but the tips we can offer are the same for both morning and night fishing.

First, we recommend at least trying a popper, topwater frog, or similar topwater lure. During both these periods, topwater lures will mimic the insects and creatures that bass are actively targeting on the surface, and they tend to explode on these lures in ways they just don’t during any other period. It’s a real treat to see a bass splash out from the depths with its gills flared.

Secondly, you should try to take advantage of any visible prey in the area. If fish are schooling, rig a Texas-rigged fluke and bounce it around like a wounded baitfish. The bass are already hunting the healthy ones, and they won’t be able to resist one that looks like a wounded meal.

Finally, know your location well. Every fishing spot has unique underwater structures, water layouts, baitfish species, top spots, and more. You want to fully understand the body of water you’re fishing on to ensure that you’re hitting all the prime fishing spots during peak fishing periods. This will maximize your chances of making back-to-back catches, and you’ll have a better chance at nabbing a record-breaking fish.

You can do that with the BassForecast. BassForecast is an easy-to-use fishing app that provides in-depth information and up-to-date weather readouts for almost every body of water in the United States.