what time of day to fish for bass in winter

[flippinmaster]

What time should I go fishing in the morning mid-day or evening.

[directlink]

Whenever I can go with you ;D  That is a good question though.

[basser89]

A friend and I were out this morning from 7 til 11:30. Caught 15 between the two of us (my buddy caught the most). I did see one other guy that must of hit the "Honey Hole" of the day. He just sat there pulling one out after another, largemouth and smallies. I also will get out any chance I get. Logically speaking (  :  ), the water should be the warmest in the early afternoon til sundown so the bass SHOULD be more active then. Hope this helps!

[roadwarrior]

Midday has been the best for me, but I will fish when I can and all day if possible.

[Raul]

It is more important WHERE than when, look for rocks, preferably in the N-NW side of the lake where the water will be the warmest and where rocks trap the heat.

[basser89]

 Darn, darn, darn darn! I knew that Raul! Just forgot to add it.  

[5bass]

I've had the most luck in the winter months,from 7am-noon.Mostly fishing main channel points.

The best AND worst winter day I ever had was 3 years ago in February.Club tournament,air 30,water 39-41,snowing like crazy at blast-off.I idled straight across the main channel from the ramp,stopped on a point,started throwing a bucktail and proceeded to catch a 15-6 limit in 40 minutes.The frenzy started at 7:10 and ended just before 8am.That was the good part!The bad part was that I had to fish until 3pm and never got another bite the WHOLE DAY!

[roadwarrior]

fivebasslimit,

Man, that is really a tough story. I've had outings where all the fish were caught in a very short period of time, too. I guess you need to carry some swim baits in case that ever happens again. Then you can spend all day fishing for one bite, one monster.

The worst day I have ever had was on Bull Shoals a couple of years ago. I was with my dad and a friend of his. The weather was terrible and the guide gave us the option of staying in or going down on the White River to trout fish. The old guys wanted to fish the lake that day, so out we went. The first placed we stopped, a little before 8:00, I caught a two pound smallmouth on my first cast and got pretty jazzed. We didn't head in until around 4:00 and I never had another bite.

[Fishie]

When I went out the other day and got 5 it was pretty much a fish every 45 minutes. Seriously and I just fished the same point the whole time. Talk about being patient. Water temp was probably only 37 degrees or something. In the winter you got to know where the fish live. If you get a fish off a point chances are there are a lot of other fish in the area schooled but you need to be patient cause they are not hungry and wanting to bite. I think the best time of the day to fish in winter is about 10 to 3:30 earlier and the water isn't warmed up and later it's getting dark. I wonder if night fishing in the winter would be any good?

[5bass]

fivebasslimit,

Man, that is really a tough story. I've had outings where all the fish were caught in a very short period of time, too. I guess you need to carry some swim baits in case that ever happens again. Then you can spend all day fishing for one bite, one monster.

The worst day I have ever had was on Bull Shoals a couple of years ago. I was with my dad and a friend of his. The weather was terrible and the guide gave us the option of staying in or going down on the White River to trout fish. The old guys wanted to fish the lake that day, so out we went. The first placed we stopped, a little before 8:00, I caught a two pound smallmouth on my first cast and got pretty jazzed. We didn't head in until around 4:00 and I never had another bite.

Yeah throwing a big azz swimbait for a couple of hours would've kept me warm at least.LOL! But as sluggish as those fish were,I dont think they really had the energy to go chasing down a swimbait!LOL!

If that ever happens again (hopefully it wont) I will throw the swimbait just to see what happens.

[8srohleder]

where do you guys live? i cant catch any fish in this freakin kansas weather.

[Fishie]

The LOU if you know what I mean......

MO is where I am at.

[Panamoka_Bassin]

Yeah, for real, Long Island has been shut down for over a month now

Mebbe I need to take a fishin' vacation...Hmmm...

[Preston]

Winters ruff stuff, im just happy i can find a 60 degree day in the middle of winter every now and again. I love Tennessee.  ;D

[basswest1]

Normally in winter, early spring and late fall.........the best times to fish is around noon.........the fishing only gets better as the day gets warmer..............the opposite may be true for the warmer months (unless you know where to catch midday fish).

[RoLo]

Fish are cold-blooded creatures, so theoretically they are comfortable in all temperatures.

On the other hand, water temperature changes cause radical changes in the metabolism and disposition of fish. To tip the scales in his favor, the angler would ideally wait for a warming trend in winter. Therein he would opt for a sunny day that provides good solar gain. On the flipside of the coin, is a 'cold front' during the winter which typically sounds the death knell!

Time Of Day:

The best time of day (given a warm front and fair weather) is late afternoon. Meteorologically speaking (based on relative humidity), the greatest cumulative solar gain occurs around 3 pm.

[bixbybasspro]

Noon, the hottest part of the day, find some rocks or boatramps since they heat up the quickest.

[RoLo]

At 12 o'clock noon the sun is at its highest point in the sky. However, the temperature of soil, masonry and rocks continues to rise for several hours past high noon. The time required for solar gain to reach

peak temperatures is why a solar home (trombe wall) does not reach maximal temperatures until late afternoon. This lag in the daily solar peak is also manifested by the daily cycle of relative humidity.

The daily low in relative humidity coincides with the daily high in air temperature. Accordingly,

the mean daily high temperature (lowest RH) is attained in the neighborhood of 3 PM but varying. Inversely, the average daily low in temperature (highest RH) is reached in the neighborhood of 3 AM, but varying.  

[mcipinkie]

All of those analyses are fine, but the old rule still applies:

GO EARLY!  STAY LATE!

There's no substitute for time on the water.  Darn sure keyboard time won't cut it.

[Rattlinrogue]

In winter,I fish from mid morning to mid afternoon.As the sun heats up certain areas of the lake,I've been taught that bass activity should pick up.I know,I know it doesn't always work out that way.I would much prefer to fish my warm weather times 4:30 AM-until.I don't think I'd do very well from 4:30-8:30 AM,but who knows?

[RoLo]

The man asked the question, "what time of day to fish for bass in winter?"

I don't know of any way to answer his question without touching the keyboard.

If I were to type, "GO EARLY! STAY LATE!", I'd feel as though I insulted his intelligence

and I'd also feel that I failed to answer his question.

[Chris]

For me I always start around noon (10-12). I do this because around 2pm is the hottest part of the day and I am on the water to catch them. I also choose that time frame because the sun is high and the fish should be on the sunny side of objects and I like to flip so it goes hand in hand to the way I like to fish. This time frame has worked for me and I feel like I am hitting the lake about the time that the fish is the most active. If I find that I had a few warm days back to back or some mild tempertures at night then I go earlier because the bass might be more active because of warmer water temps. This time of the year 2 degrees is a big deal and can mean the difference in fishing for more active fish or sluggish fish. Bass are cold blooded so don't think that because its cold that you can't find active fish because you can. (Florida is different and bass in Florida shut down)