Bassin' USA - Bass Fishing Forum Archives

Scott,
You are very fortunate to live in a great state with an abudance of big fish. You live where big fish are the rule, not the exception. For us up-North it's much more difficult to catch a true lunker. Our lakes just don;t support very many big fish and I believe those big fish have to be selective in their feeding times to compete for food. Thanks for the comments, wish I were there!Johnnie Crain

My personal experience with large bass seems to relate more to season and location than anything. Spring time is best when the sun is high, during the summer the early and late hours prove to be better. My largest fish caught in Nebraska was during the spring at about 2 pm. My largest fish (just over 10 lbs.) was caught at 6:30 am. in mid August out of a private Nevada lake. The high temp. that day was 105 degrees.

Speaking of large bass, I must tell you this story. In 1994, I was a state finalist for the Big Bass World Championship. On the final day of the tournament I was paired with the New Mexico State champion Steve Estrada. He qualified for the finals by catching the current state record largemouth (15-13) for New Mexico, from the bank. Steve is a great fisherman with both the spinning reel and a baitcaster, but, the trully amazing thing was he fished the spinning reel on a baitcasting rod. He told me the reason for this was he found a spinning reel in the trash when he was young and placed it on the baitcasting rod not knowing it was wrong. He learned to fish this way as he grew up, reeling backwards while the spinning reel was upside down. I think he could fish better with that set-up than I could with any of my baitcasters. Was something to watch. I guess this shows us that no matter who you are or how you fish, that trophy could come along at any time.

Mike,
I too have seen anglers fish spinning reels upside down and backward. What ever works for them is best, it does look funny though. I guess when the days high temp. would be 105 fishing early or late would be best. I think the hottest day I ever fished was 104, bright sun, no wind and all I took to drink was hot coffee. Still caught fish all day, but had to do some deep crankin'. Thanks for the reply. Johnnie

Johnnie, this is a great question. I totally 100% agree with Bren about the mid Day period from 10am to about 2pm being the peak period for big fish action. Obviously spawning time and full moons might change things up. But generally I feel that this time of day is tops. I offer several reasons......1- Although a bass is equipped with senses that allow it to catch prey during lowlight times, sight is perhaps the most important factor for feeding, making mid day an obvious advantage period.
2-While smaller bass may be more active in early and later periods, big bass need to eat more......they feed when ever the urge presents itself( not to say they are reckless). They may also feed more heavily during this period while other fish do not....thus decreasing competition for them. Maybe forage species have less pressure during this time and become easier to catch with less effort. I've taken a very large number of fish over 5lbs within the last 12 or so years and an extraordinary amount have come from this time period....too many to dismiss it as coincidence. I think Doug Hannon wrote a piece about this period of day as being the one he prefers for big fish.

Craig,

I also remember reading that from Doug Hannon. Here is some food for thought...

During the heat of the day, big bass move into heavy cover (this relates to shallow bass). People often speculate that because bass don't have eyelids, they are sensitive to light. Bob Underwood wrote a book called "Lunker" in which aside from 1,000's of hours of underwater filming, he also had tests preformed on bass by different specialists. One of which was a dissecting of the eye of a bass along with light test on living bass. Their conclusion was that bass are “not” as sensitive to light as many people believe.

So why do they move into the shade in the heat of the day, and why are they caught so often at this time of day? Here’s my theory:

Keep in mind that a big bass wants to eat one big meal and exert as little energy as possible to get it. Most of the time eating a big meal is what kills a big fish. How many times have you seen or heard of a big bass dead with a 1 lb fish stuck in its throat?

Baitfish are most vulnerable in open water. All species of fish use structure and cover as a means of protection from predators. Sunfish and Crappie are often found hiding and feeding around cover and structure. Shallow water usually offers the most cover on a body of water, or at least the most “visible” cover. This makes the shallow water areas easier for the novice and intermediate angler to connect with a big bass. Why? Let’s look at it from an ecological standpoint. The smaller baitfish are there for protection and to feed on microorganisms that grow on the submerged cover. The larger Crappie, Sunfish and small bass are there to feed on the smaller baitfish, but they also are able to hide in the cover if a predator moves in to feed. The big Bass waits until the sun is high in the sky to move in because this provides the most shade. Shade is the key because it helps to hide the fat sow while it waits for an easy target to swim by. The shade serves two purposes. One, is to conceal the Bass from it’s prey. Two, is to conceal the bass from larger predators who are also nearby and looking to make a meal of the big bass.

Since most fishermen hit the shallow cover “all day”, most anglers connect with their biggest bass during the times when the bigger bass move into the shallow cover to take advantage of the shade and cover.

This same type of scenario is played out on many different areas of the lake and at many depths.

BC

Excellent point Bren, no doubt that bass utilize shade as an ambush point and for concealment to protect themselves from larger predators. It is easier for a bass to see what is going on around it while shaded than it is for a bait fish to see the bass in the shade. I also feel that bass are not light sensative as many people speculate. That being said, a bass is a sunfish.

I know I have already put in my 2 cents but I wanted to look at one theary I dont think we have touched on yet.

What about what we as anglers do as the day goes on? Big bass, ( in my part of the world we consider a bass over 5 lbs a big bass )do not move as much or as fast and normally are very selective in what they eat. Meaning in most cases they will not use more energy to catch prey then they may gain from eating it.
We as anglers tend to start the morning off targeting smaller more aggresive bass, usually to fill a limit. As the day goes on we slow down our presentations for different reasons;
1. We need a bigger bite ( kicker fish )
2. We need any bite ( tough day, inactive bass )
3. We just plain are getting tired, or possibly more patient as the hours go by.

What I am getting at is this. The reason we might catch a higher percentage of larger bass during the mid day may be because we are slowing down or going to a larger bait and slowing down and in turn giving larger bass a more appealing target.

As Brendan pointed out bass move to heavy cover as the day goes on, ( probably for security or shade. ) Shade will bring down the water temperature slightly, and I'm sure this is also a factor.
But as bass move to heavier cover we as anglers must slow down and fish this cover thoroughly, which in most cases is by using a slow moving bait, ( jig or worm ).

This was harder than I thought to pull from my thick head and put into words, I hope I expressed my opinion in a way you can understand. Simply put, we may be a bigger factor in getting those bigger bites than we think.

Best Fishing Times
There have been numerous books, articles, and charts, ECT. Published on this great mystery of bass fishing. A lot of the authors of these publications go through great lengths explaining how difficult it is to determine these times. It is really quiet simple to determine these times for your self with a little inside information. River and salt-water publications go through great lengths explaining how difficult it is to determine tidal movements. The reality is that these best times and tidal movements are related to the moon’s phases.
People in animal husbandry, farming, hunting, and fishing has used the moons phases for centuries. One of the oldest publications giving this information is the "Poor Richard’s Almanac". The moon’s phases are divided into four quarters, two of which are your minor times, and two of which are your major times.
The times for the major periods are as follows
An hour and a half prior the moon reaching its apex
An hour and a half prior to the moon reaching its perigee
The major periods are the first quarter new moon and the third quarter full moon.
The gravitational pull of the sun and moon is three times greater on the new moon than the full moon. At the time of the new moon the earth has the moon and the sun in a straight line pulling together. This first quarter, dark night phase differs from the third quarter full moon phase when the earth moves between the moon and the sun. The new moon dark night is only difficult on the angler because you must rely on your sense of feel when working your bait. If you want to really learn how to fish baits that require a lot of feel like worms or jigs try nights.
The times for the minor periods of these moon phases are as follows
An hour and a half prior to the raising of the moon on the horizon.
An hour and a half prior to the setting of the moon.
Now take into consideration the above listed times you end up with 3 hrs. of major time periods and 3 hrs. of minor times periods. This does not take into account weather, seasons, or your ability to locate fish!

It all depands on what type I am going after If I am going after smallies I would have to say here in Wisconsin, It is early spring time during the day. During the fall anytime during the day. Now if you are talkin about large mouths it is from 5pm - 8:30pm during the summer time using a bass rat over the slop.