What's the best time of the day to go fishing?

[ReelMN]

What's the best time of the day to go fishing?
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[TubeDude]

[cool]The best time to go fishing is whenever you can get away. Seriously, as I'm sure you realize, there are situations in which you will do better fishing during one part of the day, rather than another.

Much of the difference in effectiveness, of fishing during different time periods, is related to a combination of species, weather conditions, water temperatures, moon phases, available forage and a whole host of other excuses that we fishermen use to rationalize why we didn't catch anything.

Here are some generalizations that can apply to picking your best time to be on the water.

1. Walleyes are known for feeding more aggressively during darkness or low light conditions. Daybreak, dusk and nighttime are usually the best times to get serious about wallies. But, in colder water and when the water gets muddied from wind or runoff, you can often find active walleyes during the daytime too.

2. Crappies and white bass are also better pursued in low light conditions, but can sometimes bite all day...especially in murky water or when their forage species are available and vulnerable.

3. Rainbows can be taken all day and all night, as long as there is enough light to see your bait or lure. Big flies near the surface at night will sometimes take big ones. Browns are notorious for being night feeders. If you want the biggest browns, serve them big flies or lures after dark.

4. Yellow perch, although related to the mostly nocturnal walleye, seldom feed after dark. They often hit well at daybreak and at dusk, but seem to shut down when the sun sets. You can usually take them all day, when they are in a feeding mood.

5. Largemouth bass are more likely to hit after dark than smallmouths. Both will hit at any time during the day, but are usually more active in the early hours and just before dark. Nighttime fishing is often the only way you will score during the hottest months of summer...especially when there is a lot of watercraft action on the waters.

6. Catfish are commonly believed to be only night feeders. Actually, some of the best catfish fishing can be during the day...and on lures...when the waters you are fishing are clear enough to facilitate "sight feeding" on small fish, crawdads and other live prey. During the hot summer, however, you WILL catch more and bigger cats at night.

7. The deeper the water you are fishing, the less affected it will be by light conditions. Macks and other deep water dwellers will bite at night and during most of the day too.

8. The shallower the water, the better you will do by showing up at daybreak, or before. Skittish fish tend to move out to deeper water and sulk when the power squadrons take over in the warmer and brighter daytime hours.

9. During transition periods...spring and fall...you will often do better by fishing in the afternoon, after water temps have jumped a few degrees. During the summer, the early morning hours are sometimes better, because surface temps may drop a few degrees overnight.

10. During periods of full moon, many species will utilize the moonlight to feed unmolested by boat traffic, and then suspend and become inactive during the daylight hours. But, there are also many instances where large bass, brown trout and walleyes will smack your lures when fished during the darkest phases of the moon. Go figure

You asked a simple question. Sorry. There is not a simple answer.
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