Evening fishing vs. Dawn fishing.

[jimmyjoe]

I didn't know that oxygen levels in water decrease over night in lakes! I've preferred to fish just before dark rather than at dawn.  Now I know why.

 

https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/manage/overview-of-florida-waters/water-quality/dissolved-oxygen/

 

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/fa002

 

 

 

 

[Fishlegs]

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[jimmyjoe]

   I came across these as I was trying to learn something about the DO level below thermoclines.  

   I also had an interesting conversation with a DNR fisheries biologist about pH and oxygen buffer capacities.  ? ? ?              jj

[Fishlegs]

That sounds like an upper level limnology paper, my friend.

[PressuredFishing]

1 hour ago, jimmyjoe said:

I didn't know that oxygen levels in water decrease over night in lakes! I've preferred to fish just before dark rather than at dawn.  Now I know why.

 

https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/manage/overview-of-florida-waters/water-quality/dissolved-oxygen/

 

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/fa002

 

 

 

 

This is not a one size fits all and it's not cut and dry, but spring-fall (usually) reaction bite morning and non moving lures later in the day, but this can change

[padon]

i prefer evening but thats mostly because im lazy.

[MN Fisher]

29 minutes ago, Fishlegs said:

That sounds like an upper level limnology paper, my friend.

Mid-level...I did a paper much like that for my sophomore year limnology class.

[Bluebasser86]

Fishing is almost always tougher in evenings for me than it is in the mornings. 

[GRiver]

Very interesting article, thank you for sharing that.

I never really fished for large mouth in the evening until recently, I have noticed them being more active in the evening. My last two Pb were caught about an hour before dark. 
But, I do love fishing at first light, it’s cooler, for one here in Fl. Watching the sun rising , the orange-pink color the horizon changes too as the day starts. A hot cup of coffee in the cup holder, and a egg and cheese biscuit in the seat. That I’m taking bites of in between cast.  
That my friends, to me anyway, is a great way to start the morning! 

[TnRiver46]

I rarely get to fish in the morning. Work is always getting in the way 

[T-Billy]

Bass in the morning, bucks in the afternoon.

[gim]

I would say that my fishing is about half and half morning vs evening.  If I can take a day off or go on the weekend I go in the morning but during the week I usually go in the evening after work.  Haven't noticed that fishing is better one way or the other.  The weather when I'm fishing generally plays a much bigger role.

[jimmyjoe]

   On a side note:

 

   One of the lakes close to here (Lake Geode in Iowa) was drained 4 years ago. Grass and brush grew high and dense in the basin. It re-filled just this year, but because of budget restrictions, they couldn't remove the vegetation.

   This is the lake I mentioned before, that gave me problems understanding how the fish react to  thermoclines. Re-stocking begins 22 October. Because both of the papers referenced above mention the added oxygen-depletion capabilities of decaying plant life, I expect the first year to be especially rough on fish.

   We might have a fish kill in our future. We'll see.                    jj

  

  

  

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

   On a side note:

 

   One of the lakes close to here (Lake Geode in Iowa) was drained 4 years ago. Grass and brush grew high and dense in the basin. It re-filled just this year, but because of budget restrictions, they couldn't remove the vegetation.

   This is the lake I mentioned before, that gave me problems understanding how the fish react to  thermoclines. Re-stocking begins 22 October. Because both of the papers referenced above mention the added oxygen-depletion capabilities of decaying plant life, I expect the first year to be especially rough on fish.

   We might have a fish kill in our future. We'll see.                    jj

  

  

  

They have done that to a lake near me twice and both times it was way better with all the trees and bushes in it upon refill

[gunsinger]

I'm predominantly a morning fisherman.  I don't typically catch much when i go in the evening.  I've got a fishing buddy who absolutely scores in the evening.  I can be in the same boat with him, throwing the same lure and get skunked while he's catching one every other cast in the evening.  

 

It's all about confidence.

[Bankc]

For me, it depends on the time of year.  If it's hot out, mornings are better.  Give the water the full night to cool off.  In the colder times of the year, the evenings are better.  Give the water more time to warm up.  There's not a ton of vegetation in most lakes near me, so their effects on D.O. aren't as strong here.  Plus the constant high winds do a good job of mixing the water.  

 

In the middle of August, the only time I can catch fish (mostly) is from an hour before sunup up up till about two hours after sunup.  And that's fine with me, as it's usually about 20° cooler at sunup than it is at sundown.  In the middle of February, it's the opposite.  Get to the lake around 4:00 p.m and fish till the sun goes down.  You can do more, but you're mostly just wasting your time (outside of those rare days).  

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, Bankc said:

For me, it depends on the time of year.  If it's hot out, mornings are better.  Give the water the full night to cool off.  In the colder times of the year, the evenings are better.  Give the water more time to warm up.  There's not a ton of vegetation in most lakes near me, so their effects on D.O. aren't as strong here.  Plus the constant high winds do a good job of mixing the water.  

 

In the middle of August, the only time I can catch fish (mostly) is from an hour before sunup up up till about two hours after sunup.  And that's fine with me, as it's usually about 20° cooler at sunup than it is at sundown.  In the middle of February, it's the opposite.  Get to the lake around 4:00 p.m and fish till the sun goes down.  You can do more, but you're mostly just wasting your time (outside of those rare days).  

In some parts of the country if you go fishing at 4 PM in February and fish until dark that only gives you about 30 minutes

[Bankc]

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

In some parts of the country if you go fishing at 4 PM in February and fish until dark that only gives you about 30 minutes

Around here, in February, we've got until about 6:30 before it's too dark.  Still only two and half hours.  Not a lot of time.  But that's the best time, in my experience, if you're wanting to maximize your time on the water.  Still, I do prefer to get there a bit earlier.  I'd rather not catch fish on the water than not catch fish at home.  

[Catt]

IDK!

 

Evenings during winter & pre-spawn/spawn can be awesome!

 

Most of the rest of the year I'm fishing from 1 hour before dark thirty until daylight. 

[Team9nine]

This is more prone to affect ponds and smaller bodies of water, as well as hypereutrophic waters. Also sections of larger waters where vegetation is overly abundant. It’s why you frequently hear of “summer kills” in these smaller waters.

 

If you dig a little, you’ll also find it the reason why Ned does all his Midwest Finesse fishing in the middle of the day, usually between 11-3:00. 

 

Personally, I never go fishing in the mornings any more. Did it for 25 years when I tourney fished, but everything now days is Noon until dark hours. Never was a morning person, and now that I’m retired, I can finally operate on MY schedule.

[Tennessee Boy]

Hitting the water at 3:00AM to give myself time to get dialed in and in position for the prime 7:00AM sunrise is not very appealing.  

 

Hitting the water at 3:00PM to give myself time to get dialed in and in position for the prime 7:00PM sunset works much better for me.

[A-Jay]

14 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Hitting the water at 3:00AM to give myself time to get dialed in and in position for the prime 7:00AM sunrise is not very appealing.  

 

Hitting the water at 3:00PM to give myself time to get dialed in and in position for the prime 7:00PM sunset works much better for me.

 That First part is the very essence of my existence.

The last part is how I roll when the Honey Do List takes more than one day to complete.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

[TnRiver46]

I should add that in Tennessee we don’t have any lakes so the oxygen thing matters none. When they turn on the dams is far more important 

[Jig Man]

Either crepuscular period can be very good.  However, around here from mid June to mid October you might sweat to death before it cools down in the evening.

[MN Fisher]

8 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

Either crepuscular period can be very good.  However, around here from mid June to mid October you might sweat to death before it cools down in the evening.

My, what big words you use.

 

(wonder how many people are gonna have to look that up).