Bass Midday Troubles

[mames19]

im having trouble catching bass during the day, the mornings and evenings are fine. any tips on what to use and what depths to fish at? im in mn

[J Francho]

That's kind of a loaded question, since it depends on where and what you're fishing, and what location. That said, I often find midday fishing slow. But if I go back and look at the time stamps on the pictures of my top 10 catches, 9 of them are from between 10 AM and 2 PM. Go figure.

You should take a spin around our articles section, and learn about seasonal patterns. Bass don't just get up and leave the area from one minute to the next, their movements are often somewhat slow and predictable, so if your on bass in the morning, chances are you're on them in midday as well. You just need to adjust to their activity level and preferences.

[Gangley]

Agreed. Most of my larger larger fish were caught during midday between 12 and 2. The fishing is slower, but the end result can be a lot nicer. Now that it's basically summer weather here in Houston (90's) I generally slow things down a bit mid day and go to large worms and jigs. Once the pads start to get thick, I will toss frogs in them hoping to pull out a nice bass hiding from the mid day sun. Like mentioned above, most everything depends on where you are at and what type of waters you are fishing. Most of the water I fish is shallow by a lot of people's standards, so the fish become very structure oriented and seek cover (as opposed to depth) to get a way from the heat. Tell us a little more about where you are fishing and maybe we can be of some additional assistance.

[agssebvtsece]

As mentioned this is a loaded question. A lot will come into play (weather, season, structure, etc..) Midday try the just outside the weedlines. There are usually a few bass waiting to pounce on something from the weeds.

[Wayne P.]

I catch the most and largest during mid-day.

[WRB]

Your question isn't that complex to answer. Bass are far more active in low light periods then bright over head sunlight, the majority of the time. It's a lot easier to catch active bass then bass that are not active. So lets consider the mid day bass are less active and may not chase down your lure to strike it.

Deeper water and shady cover are places the bass go to for sancturary and to rest.

You need to locate these areas and fish slowly with lures that stay in front of or near the bass for a longer time. Soft plastics are ideal.

The drop shot, split shot, Carolina rig and Texas rigged soft plastics are good presentations to use during the mid day.

Tom

[RoLo]

I'm having trouble catching bass during the day, the mornings and evenings are fine.

Stop fishing in the mornings and evenings

[Fat-G]

Same here Francho, I've caught a lot of my biggest fish midday.

[Chris]

Your shallow fish will position themselves tighter to cover and deeper in cover during afternoon hours. You will find that the fish you where catching on the outside edge of the cover will be now in the cover. What changes this is wind, current, fishing pressure, and boat wakes. If your fishing and you find that the area is muddied up or sloshed around and if it gets bad enough those fish will move off and suspend in open water. Fish that where on points and bluffs lay downs standing timber will position deeper (using depth as a form of cover) or suspend out from these areas. Structure that gives a road map to deeper water bass might just follow it out to the deeper water or when they suspend they tend to hang at the same depth because of comfort but using the drop in depth as a reference point as they suspend out away from the shallow water. The real question to ask is why do the bass move from where I am fishing and where do they go and why? They move simply because of comfort zone. High sun means the bass feels more open to predators so they seek cover, shade, or depth. If the shallow cover stinks because of the waves making it dirty or fishermen flogging the water they either go deeper or suspend. (plain c they get into cover where most anglers won't throw) If the water heats up or oxygen levels drop bass move because of comfort. Also bass will go where the food moves to which is something else to consider.

[mames19]

thanks guys. i guess ill try to move out a bit, and fish the edge of the weed lines, slowly! hopefully it turns some results

[Crestliner2008]

O.K....here's my take on this situation. First off, bass are sight feeders and feed more readily during the daylight hours than not. This is a fact. This is why your largest catch seems to always be around the mid day hours. Larger specimens don't want to expend a lot of energy to eat and become more ambush feeders than their smaller brethren and use their superior sight capabilities during the lightest part of the day.

That being said, the reason you normally catch more bass during the low light periods is, in reality, because this affords you an opportunity to make more mistakes without detection! The fish won't pick up on those errors as readily in the dawn & dusk hours, being the visual animals that they are. It's not that they are any more or less active (feeding) throughout the day.

The activity levels (feeding instincts) are regulated more by the weather conditions, than the light conditions. Of course, there are always exceptions to every perceived rule we anglers dream up, but this theory parallels with majority consensus of the top professionals in our sport.

The original question is hard to answer, based on the lack of information, but these guide lines may help.

[WRB]

Sight fisherman catch big bass during mid day because spawners are easier to see with the sun over head. Ounce the bass go to feeding and not bed protection, low light hours are far more productive for lure for big bass.

The reason is obvious, low light gives the angler an advantage.

Don't over think this and slow down your presentations during the mid day.

Tom

[J Francho]

Tom,. ALL of my big fish are well post spawn. None were sight fished. I don't think its as simple as you say.