Winter morning fishing?

[Luna2406]

So is it worth getting out there at sunrise? During the rest of the year we all love getting there during that golden hour, but do bass bite as much during the winter morning? Or do they wait till the water worms up a little? These questions have been on my mind lately, what do you guys think?

[DoDFire]

They munch all day. Caught fish at 8 am this morning and departed the lake at 4 pm and they were still eating. I do like it better from noon till dark, they seem more active here on my H2O during that time but I have loaded the boat from daylight to lunch on several trips over the years.

[Dwight Hottle]

Go early one morning & find out. My experience with northern waters is that the fish become more active as the water warms from sunlight . A cloudy day will find you undecided unless you try early & not so early to determine which is best. Remember sunlight warms shallow water much quicker than deep water so each body of water will be different based on size & depth. 

[AnthonyBarnaoBASS]

Personally i believe that during the winter it is better to get out on the water in the middle portion of the day. First off sometimes it is just too cold to get out there just at sunrise. Secondly during the middle portion of the day the water temp. warms up a few degrees causing the fish to feed more actively. Although the bite may be tough during the winter, there is always an opportunity to hook into a once and a life time bass, and thats what keeps us fishing.

 

God Bless

 

[Fisher-O-men]

Even in So Cal the afternoon bite is better in the winter.

[Oregon Native]

This time of year I tend to not try and kill myself getting to the lake early even though I have at times for small tourneys.  I fish all winter and catch fish at all times of the day.  It's like almost any other time and that is finding them and what they want.  This time of year I just usually not there at "0 dawn thirty" due to the fact there's not many people at the ramps and so I just take it easy and enjoy the peace.

Tight Lines

[wytstang]

I fished yesterday and really didn't catch anything until 1pm (arrived at 9am), so today I am already up (4am) so I probably go in about an hour so see if anything bites. If I get nothing and really don't see much activity in the early am I won't go any earlier then noon from this point on. But I won't know until I try, that and the piping hot cup of joe and gas station breakfast are apart of the fun :).

[frogflogger]

I always believed winter fishing was best during midday but the bass at my local lake are shallow and munching at daybreak on a 29 degree morning. Decades down the bass fishing road I am still learning.

["hamma"]

   During past winters that I was able to fish ponds that have yet to ice over, I was living "north" of Boston and would have to travel through town to get to Cape Cods open lakes. The best time to do so was from anytime after midnight up til about 5:30 am. After that? the morning rush is hell to deal with, especially while towing a boat. So I would navigate my way through Boston before 5:30, and stop at a coffee shop near the only 2 bridges to get on Cape Cod about when the sun was rising over the horizon. Putting me at the ramps just after sunrise. 

  Some days? it was well worth doing so as the bite was on and bass agreeable to a fun morning. Other days I regretted the commute as they were slightly agreeable and would usually wake up around noon.

Seeing as you dont live to far south of me, Im sure that if you can find lakes without ice, you may experience the same.

 Figures that now I live "south" of Boston, I dont have the option of just going fishing when I want anymore. If I did? Id be fishing right now,...lol

[roadwarrior]

10 AM - 2 PM

 

[grampa1114]

Totally agree with Roadwarrior (doesn't always happen). Being retired you get to miss the morning traffic, you're on the water for the noon traffic and then you're home before the evening traffic. There's a lot of shallow, warm water at midday on Lake Moultrie. Life is good.

[TnRiver46]

Depends on where I am. Norris lake temp is slow to fluctuate so those smallies still love dawn and dusk. And shade. Norris and cherokee lake smallmouth will be on shady banks no matter how cold it is. Fishing flowing rivers/reservoirs I like to fish sunny shallow water mid day. Opposite tactics on deep tributary reservoirs that don't flow much 

[bagofdonuts]

For some reason down here they shut off a 4pm from now till mid spring. I don't know if its the angle of the sun or what but its like a light switch. i'm with the 10-2 crowd.

[Catt]

Toledo Bend early pre-spawn

Daylight Mid-February, cold, overcast, drizzling, northwest wind

Shallow water point with timber & grass

#820 Red Chrome Rat-L-Trap

 

Result 12 lb 8 oz bass

[wytstang]

Here's what I learned

At 5am in 39* weather your testicles migrate to your throat to stay warm, burrrrrrr

Zero bites the entire morning, I threw everything that normally works. Sized up, sized down, went slow, went fast, then finally after 6 hours with no bites this morning I went home.

[the reel ess]

It seems to me when the water's really cold, my best bet is during mid-day. That might just be because I don't want to go out and fish in sub-freezing temps. I want to fish after lunch, during the warmest part of the day.

 

The last time the Classic was on Lake Hartwell, SC one of the days started in single digit temps. The anglers were held until the sun was up to let it warm a little before they blasted off. Some of them were miffed because they had been catching a limit early. They were getting an early morning shallow bite despite freezing temps. I believe that was February and that can mean big bass are feeding up for spawn. The later pattern was a football head jig on deep, rocky points and humps.

[kickerfish1]

Winter morning fishing for me would consist of watching fishing shows!

[WRB]

I hate cold windy rain in the morning but the bass don't seem to mind at all. You need to be on the water when the bass are active, each lake and seasonal period is different. Fish when you have opportunity. The surface water temps may change a little, the core water column doesn't warm up quickly and takes a week of warm weather to warm up a few degrees.

Tom

 

[Spankey]

I'll be out in the am with you. Fly rodding but not for Mr. Smallie or Mr. Greenjeans. I switch gears a little during the winter. Suppose to be 30 Deg. @ 7-8 am, but that's not really too bad. I could be a lot colder here in Penna. 

[DoDFire]

7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Depends on where I am. Norris lake temp is slow to fluctuate so those smallies still love dawn and dusk. And shade. Norris and cherokee lake smallmouth will be on shady banks no matter how cold it is. Fishing flowing rivers/reservoirs I like to fish sunny shallow water mid day. Opposite tactics on deep tributary reservoirs that don't flow much 

Best day I ever had for "big" smallmouth was on Norris lake, it never got above 16° with a surface temp of 45°. I put 24 smallmouth in the boat and most were in the 4 pound range. I was actually in the water before the sun came up (stupid or obsessed, not sure) I caught fish from daylight till an hour before dark.It's funny you mention the shade because 90℅ of the fish I caught that day were on the bluff walls where the sun never hits this time if year.It was cold but the smallmouth fish'n was hot in my opinion. I haven't had a day like that since on Norris, but I sure hope it happens again.

[Catt]

I've won winter tournaments fishing at daylight on the back side of a point with tall pine trees, in the shade, in the coldest water around. Once the sun warmed the water the bite stopped!

[JRammit]

Down here the water belongs to duck hunters from sunrise til about 9:30 when they pack it up

 

Last few years I was one of them... But this year I'll be fishing all winter cause I lost my dog and I'm just not in the mood to hunt without her 

 

Winter fishing has me scratching my head, and I love it... I can't catch anything, so I can't wait to get out there again next week and try something different 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

4 minutes ago, 5965derek said:

I'm still in the crowd that hasn't unlocked winter fishing. I won't lie, I hate fishing in cold weather so I'm sure that affects my knowledge of doing so. From what I have done successfully in cold water I'd say early afternoon til sundown is the best. I've had a couple of killer trips throwing an a rig in 42 degree water and had a cple decent days on jerkbait. This thread has me thinking I need to try some more cold water fishing!

Keep trying it, i would way rather fish in winter than in summer. 

[Oregon Native]

12 hours ago, DoDFire said:

Best day I ever had for "big" smallmouth was on Norris lake, it never got above 16° with a surface temp of 45°. I put 24 smallmouth in the boat and most were in the 4 pound range. I was actually in the water before the sun came up (stupid or obsessed, not sure) I caught fish from daylight till an hour before dark.It's funny you mention the shade because 90℅ of the fish I caught that day were on the bluff walls where the sun never hits this time if year.It was cold but the smallmouth fish'n was hot in my opinion. I haven't had a day like that since on Norris, but I sure hope it happens again.

Two years ago there about's I had a day with my son on Norris with 20 smallies over 18 inchs....Weather was cold cold cold and foggy.  Had several other days that year that were almost as good but now I find myself fishing a bit closer to home.  Trying to get better on the Hill.

Tight Lines

[everythingthatswims]

On clear water lakes it can definitely still be a morning bite.

 

I prefer the evening in the winter over any other time, for me personally I just do best then. The way I see it is that the lake has had time to warm up and has reached its warmest point and now offers the bass low light to chase their prey in. In the summer it's the opposite (morning) because the water has reached its coolest point and now gives the bass a low light opportunity.