Dawn Vs. Dusk

[cabullwinkle]

Hi my fellow west coasters,

I have come upon a weird situation and I wanted to know if anybody else was in the same boat.

I have only caught fish in the morning on crankbaits and nothing else.  My dawn fishing is not nearly as good as my dusk fishing.  Any reason for this?  I am a local Casitas fisherman.  This have anything to do with it also?  This is not just a fluke, this pattern has been a reoccurring one for about 2 years now.  Let me know what you think.

Thanks

[cabullwinkle]

I know people are looking at this thread. Say Something even if you are not a Casitas fisherman!  Anything will help. Give me a little huh?

[Hammer 4]

The lakes I go to kick you off at 6:30 pm at the latest, some as early as 4pm..so the "dusk" bite isn't a option for some of us. So..I have to say the Dawn bite is when I catch the best fish, although dawn would be 7am..when it gets light before 6am..lol Most lakes we catch fish through out the day, depending on which lake we fish.

[cabullwinkle]

Thanks Hammer4,

Is there anything that you can think of that would make it tougher for me? Fish filling up at night and not hungry?   I am a fellow shore fisherman.  Thanks for the post.

Bullwinkle

[roadwarrior]

The biggest fish will be caught between 10 AM and 2 PM, either

side of noon.

8-)

[cabullwinkle]

Roadwarrior,

What is the reasoning for this?

[J Francho]

I can't speak for RW, but if I look at the date/time stamps on my biggest fish from the past four years, 90% of them are from that midday period.

[roadwarrior]

Maybe is has something to do with maximum light penetration

in deep water. Perhaps this stimulates the baitfish and big bass

have learned to hunt during that time period.

I assure you, I'm not the only one that has observed this

phenomenon. Chris Fish makes it a point to be set up on

his best spots by 11:30. Raul is another that subscribes to

this theory, and there are many more BR members that do,

too.

8-)

[cabullwinkle]

That is great information.  I had always subscribed to the thought that bass hunted during lowlight hours because of the advantage over other fish.

[J Francho]

There is scientific evidence that bass are more efficient crepuscular hunters.  They have the ability to adjust from rods (lowlight, monochromatic vision) to rods (daylight, color vision) quicker than certain species of baitfish.  But in practice, I find while you may get quantity during these periods, the quality comes in the midday period.

Now, I personally think there are other influences there as well.  By midday, you usually have a good lock on the pattern, and I fish that time of day more frequently.  Another factor could be that I generally slow down, and fish a little deeper at midday, and I really think the bigger fish spend a great portion of the day there.

Now, as for my "other 10%" of big fish.  Well, my biggest fish last year came from about 8" of water, about an hour before sunset.  Go figure.

If you really want to catch fish, you simply need to be there fishing.  I don't worry about the time of day.

[roadwarrior]

That is great information. I had always subscribed to the thought that bass hunted during lowlight hours because of the advantage over other fish.

They are more likely to come up to feed in shallow water

during low light hours and that's where most guys fish.

Therefore, the logical observation based on personal

experience is that low light = best fishing. However, many

(most) of the biggest fish never visit shallow water except

to spawn. That's particularly true, it seems, in California's

deep, clear lakes.

Ya can't get big if you get caught and kept!

8-)

[cabullwinkle]

This begs to ask another question.  How deep are we generally talking about here, 12-15 ft?  30+?

[roadwarrior]

Never below the thermocline.

Usually on or near stucture or cover.

Usually near deeper water (escape).

8-)

[Hammer 4]

I say dawn, because usually by mid mroning, there are lots of boats flyin around on our already high pressured lakes. BTW, I only shore fish at city ponds, on the lakes we rent a boat, without a sonar, so I have to find the creek beds, and structure, as nobody will give any info where abouts they are..

From shore, I don't have access to deep water, add the fact there are 30 to 50 guys out there on a small pond all trying to do the same thing..catch fish, so it becomes a real challange. Early in the morning is when it's least crowded, so maybe that has something to do with it..? I'm just guessing.  I'd really like to move.. ;D

[Stan Wright]

I like that idea where more bass anglers fish shallow water and the fish are more active early and late in the shallows.

Glad I fish for peacock bass...  they like sunshine and warm shallow water.  We don't even think of geting on the lake before 8 or 8:30. Well after sunup.

Gentlemen fishermen???

;D

[J Francho]

This is just this past week, so we'll have to see how the rest of the year pans out.  I've caught TWO largemouth that better my last year's season's best, and the second biggest smallie of my life.  I'll include the timestamps from the image files.

2009-05-25 12:58:49

2009-05-25 10:38:09

2009-05-22 10:55:14

[roadwarrior]

Isn't it interesting how that 10:00 - 2:00 slot works out?

8-)

[J Francho]

Isn't it interesting how that 10:00 - 2:00 slot works out?

8-)

Absolutely.  A couple of things that I can add that I think directly affected my success.

The smallmouth was caught off a bed, that was tucked into the corner of where a dock met a break wall.  The bed was right next to a swim ladder.  The bed had the telltale "donut" look, with the eggs or wrigglers in the middle, and the female still there w/ the male.  It was on the west bank of the lake, and with the sun somewhat elevated, and to our backs, this time of day gave us the best view of the bed, and most importantly, our baits.  My partner had at least a dozen "pick and spits" of his pegged beaver, before I had a turn with a drop shot 4" Power Worm.  I use a darker worm, but I could still see it when I made a good cast, right in the zone.  More importantly, I could see the bright white flashy membranes of the fish's mouth when she took the bait.  The rest is history.  I would not have been able to detect the strike, or would have set the hook WAY too late had I fished there at dawn or dusk.

In the case of the other two fish, these were post spawn largemouth, near spawning flats, in big, heavy lay downs, and not feeding heavily.  The morning was VERY calm, no wind.  As the day progressed, and the sun got higher, warming the air, the winds picked up, creating quite a chop on the water.  I think this chop was key to hiding my presence, practically right over their heads!  I was able to put my bait squarely where I thought a fish might hold, and once bitten, able to extract those fish straight up through the wood.  Had it been calm, I would have had to approach those fish with a longer cast, perhaps not placing my bait in the best location, or not being able to get the fish out of the cover.

The other piece to the largemouth story is that those fish may have been cruising the spawning flats nearby, in the dawn or dusk time frames, and only "luck" would put my bait in front of them.  The midday sun drove them to their shelter to rest until it was time for them to go out and hunt again.

That my take, feel free to offer other opinions about it.  I'm just d**n proud of those fish.

[Dad_Golf_Fish]

Isn't it interesting how that 10:00 - 2:00 slot works out?

8-)

Yeah, but that was eastern time. Do we need to start three hours earlier for us left coast people?  ;D

[cabullwinkle]

Great Job on those fish J Francho.

[cabullwinkle]

I have a theory in progress regarding the applicability of this information to the lake I fish at.  Tomorrow starts the test period.  I will be sure to include all of the results with you guys here.

[Hammer 4]

You fishing Casitis..?

I don't think the 10-2 rule counts in so. cali...LOL

[cabullwinkle]

Yeah, Casitas is my local lake.  It can beat you up sometimes, but it can reward the crap out of you.  For me, I just have to approach it by concentrating on why I go fishing.

[Hammer 4]

I hear ya..been 25 yrs since I've been to Casitis...might have to plan a trip up there sometime..

[cabullwinkle]

It is a great big beautiful lake.  You should make your way up there.  If you want a fishing buddy, let me know before you go.