Pond seems hotter after 10:00 AM. Why?

[BrianMDTX]

I touched on this on my recent Latest Catch Pics post, but I’m looking for some serious feedback. 

 

95% of my fishing is a 2-3 acre pond in Texas (near Houston). It averages about 7’ deep throughout most of the pond, and drops off to 1’-2’ deep until less than a foot off the bank. About 1/3 of the bank is landscaped as a small park; the other 2/3 is surrounded by heavy tree growth right up to to the bank and out over the water. It is rain-fed, so no stream enters it (so no submerged channel structure) and the exit in case of high water is a drain topped by a concrete slab. 

 

This pond was hot in the early morning all last year except for September and was this year up until the first week of May. Since then it’s been a struggle for bites on any lure until at least 10:00 AM. That’s when the bass seem to start hitting baits. Whether overcast, partly cloudy/sunny or full sun with bluebird skies does not seem to make a difference. Which I find strange. Once the sun tops the trees the surface is pretty much in full sun, except for shade provided by limbs overhanging the water. But bites can be had there or in open spots with zero shade. Granted, the water is stained green and has duckweed floating in it in most spots, but I would think in a pond like this, early morning would be best and the bite would start to taper off after 10:00 or so. About the only bait that stays true to form is topwater. After the sun’s up and it hits 8:00 AM or so, topwater is dead until evening. 

 

Thoughts? 

[roadwarrior]

Best fishing 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM.

My theory is maximum light penetration. Stimulates the plant life ---> baitfish---> predators.

 

[dodgeguy]

Up here in the northeast the summer has been cold and all old rules no longer apply. Water temps are way colder than any normal year and it's changed everything. You need to look at what changed to cause this. Is the water less clear? Is the weather unusual ? Is the fishing actually worse ? 

[Ihateworms]

As alluded to above, ff it is weedy (and since weeds are net consumers of oxygen in lower light), the bait fish are getting energized when the plants are at full oxygen producing capacity.  I fish a lot of small shallow, and weedy waters in North Texas where you can catch them better during the day than lower light. 

[BrianMDTX]

53 minutes ago, Ihateworms said:

As alluded to above, ff it is weedy (and since weeds are net consumers of oxygen in lower light), the bait fish are getting energized when the plants are at full oxygen producing capacity.  I fish a lot of small shallow, and weedy waters in North Texas where you can catch them better during the day than lower light. 

As you and @roadwarrior have stated the same thing, I thinking this is the likely reason. In fact, it makes a ton of sense. 

 

1 hour ago, dodgeguy said:

Is the water less clear? Is the weather unusual ? Is the fishing actually worse ? 

 
IMO, the fishing is worse. I caught my last 5 lb bass in March and my last 3 lb bass in May. Everything since then has been superdinks, dinks and 1 to 1.5 lb’ers. As far as I can tell, the water clarity is the same as last year, although there was a heavier amount of duckweed last year than this year. Weather is essentially the same. We had some very heavy downpours in June but this started prior to that. 
 

This pond gets pressured, but mostly anglers fishing with live bait for panfish. I run into some bass anglers, but most are casual and never very successful. And it’s 100% C&R, so they aren’t being caught and removed. 
 

But, I now have a plan. I’ll hit the water at 9:30 AM and be ready to fish the midday. 

[Team9nine]

Guys above have nailed the reason. If you were to monitor and graph oxygen levels in a pond, what you'll see is they are at their lowest levels first thing in the morning, and their highest levels late in the day. This is due to the phytoplankton, plants and all other creatures in the pond being consumers of oxygen, and no oxygen gets produced at night since there is no sunlight to stimulate photosynthesis. Once the sun rises high enough, photosynthesis begins, and oxygen levels increase, sometimes to the point of being hyper-oxygenated in an extremely productive pond by late afternoon. This same phenomenon is also what is responsible for many summer fish kills. It's also why very cloudy days can also be poor for bass fishing in small bodies of water, because the oxygen levels don't get increased to the degree they do on sunny days. Low oxygen is stressful for all living creatures, and they typically respond by conserving energy and lowering activity levels until things improve.

[Koz]

I've always thought the great early morning fishing was an old wives' tale told by old guys looking to quickly get away from their old wives.

 

As others have stated, my best fishing has always come between 10 or 11 am and 2 pm.

[N Florida Mike]

Im not saying I disagree with the oxygen theory, but is Florida in the summer included in that? Because 10-5 here on a hot summer day is TOUGH. Daybreak until 10 can be pretty good …  

[Sphynx]

I tend to find that the evening bite is pretty solid, and is usually at least as good as an early morning bite, I think the biggest reason that you still hear that fish bite best in the early morning are because people spend the most time out fishing at that time because In late spring through early autumn it's more comfortable than the evening bite, I'll bet a lot of folks who insist steadfastly that you catch fish most productively early in the day would have a tough time remembering very many trips that do not qualify as early morning trips, kind of like guys who tell me that "they only bite x lure" and then can't tell me the last time they tried anything else...those same folks usually tend to get irritated when you outfish them too, for those who enjoy that sort of thing ?

[WRB]

Every lake or Black Bass ecosystem develops it’s own rhythm of activity time periods. Predators hunt prey when they have the advantage and prey is abundant.

Bass have big eyes for a reason to find prey during all types of light from bright to darkness. Bass evolved hunting in and around aquatic plants growth, all types of cover and structure.

I believe in low light periods give bass the advantage and tend to be active hunters during those time periods.

It’s true that green plants produce oxygen via photosynthesis during day light. It’s also a fact that under the canopy of aquatic plant mats the light is reduced along with the water temperature. Both higher DO level and lower light is attractive  to bass. 

The negative in a shallow water ecosystem like a pond the water temperature can rise above the threshold to hold DO.

The dead Aquatic plants and animals sink to the bottom and consume oxygen off setting the green plants producing oxygen. Without aeration the ecosystem crashes. 

The OP’s pond has a water source, probably spring water that cools and turns over the water column along with wind to help balance it.

Why are the bass active after 10A? My guess is the bass are also active after dusk and before dawn. Summer nights are usually good time to bass fish.

The 10A-2P time period isn’t good where I fish, it’s tough during the summer period.

Tom

[BrianMDTX]

Tom, I think you have more experience bass fishing in your left pinkie than I have in my whole body, now or ever. So I listen to what you have to say. Unfortunately I have not been able to fish this pond at night, either from the bank or my boat. I have fished in evenings until dusk, but not overnight. 

 

But...something tells me you may be spot on. They are likely feeding during the night, and early morning is not an active period until late morning/early afternoon. Fishing the bank at night I’d need my Thermocell for sure as the mosquitoes are atrocious. On the boat would probably be better. I have to check if that’s permissible. But I think to start I’m going to skip early morning and start at 10:00 AM. 

 

All: thanks for the advice. This site is a gem!

[ironbjorn]

3 hours ago, Koz said:

I've always thought the great early morning fishing was an old wives' tale told by old guys looking to quickly get away from their old wives.

 

As others have stated, my best fishing has always come between 10 or 11 am and 2 pm.

Yep, and the dead heat of the summer is best for me too, not spring or fall.

[WRB]

The OP figured out the only thing that matters; the right time at the right place with the right lures.

Don’t ponder the why take advantage of what you learned and catch bass.

Tom

[Kenny Yi]

I thought this post was about temperature, not fishing success, I was like "maybe its warmer in the water cuz of the sun??"

[PhishLI]

The majority of the most convenient places to fish that are nearest to my house are shallow 4-20 acre ponds with a mean depth between 3-4 feet. No boats are allowed in any of them, so my only edge is wading. One thing that's shared between all of them is that the night bite rules. This doesn't mean a fish cannot be caught during the day, but the day bite is brutal, regardless of when. The Bass are aware of Ospreys, Hawks, and Cormorants, and tend to hunker down and do not chase, or come up to the surface, but once the lights go out it's a different story. This doesn't mean there aren't active bite windows, and inactive bite windows at night, because there are. It's a constantly moving target that can easily be missed. The real difference here is that the bass feel safe to move and chase, so my odds go way up. There's a reason my posted catches on this site are nearly all shown in the dark. 

 

P.S. My only real answer to the mosquitoes here is heavy clothing. Even during the depths of summer I sometimes resort to wearing a wool hat to keep them from stinging my head and to keep them out of my ears, and a heavy sweat jacket. I'd rather sweat profusely than get lumped up.