time of day...

[ninja2010]

does it matter?

maybe i'm starting too late. when do you guys start wetting your lines?

i read of peeps hitting the water before daybreak and wait for the sun to peek through. is that ideal? first light? if so, why?

 

[JeannaJigs]

does it matter?

maybe i'm starting too late. when do you guys start wetting your lines?

i read of peeps hitting the water before daybreak and wait for the sun to peek through. is that ideal? first light? if so, why?

It's ideal in staking a claim for bank access, but nothing more. I've caught the majority of my fish in the afternoon, between 11-3 being the peak hours. Though some old men swear up and down they only bite at daybreak. (I think that's their way of clearing out the water for the afternoon, so they can fish it alone)

 

[Jacks Tackle]

It's ideal in staking a claim for bank access, but nothing more. I've caught the majority of my fish in the afternoon, between 11-3 being the peak hours. Though some old men swear up and down they only bite at daybreak. (I think that's their way of clearing out the water for the afternoon, so they can fish it alone)

Jeanna has it right!


Winter fish = 10 to 2

Summer Fish = any time

Sleep is too comfortable at first light.

 

[JeannaJigs]

Sleep is too comfortable at first light.

Heck yeah it is. Mornings are evil. PURE evil.

 

[ninja2010]

Sleep is too comfortable at first light.

:dance::dance::dance: i soooo agree!

so the 10-2, i gather has to do a bit with water temp? water takes several hours to warm up, and winter steels need some help to be more active?

 

[Mike123]

I've caught steelhead at all times of day.
They just move to different spots in daylight.
Has to do with how much cover they have and water clarity.
I agree when the water is real cold the sun can sometimes turn the bite on!

For chinook though... I usually always do better early and late... :think:

 

[Jacks Tackle]

Ya pretty much. Most of your warm sun breaks occur mid day.

I have hooked well over a dozen fish in the last 6 weeks by just waiting for a mid day sun break and going down to fish below my shop. The fish in my other current post was a second cast fish while going out on a sun break.

The sun breaks dont really warm up the water. but the suns rays will penetrate the water surface and kinda stir some activity. They also allow my spinners to flash alittle more with the brighter light.

 

[ninja2010]

i know nooks are very, very sensitive to sunlight exposure. so time of day actually plays a big part if it's not cloudy or rainy, i guess.

 

[JeannaJigs]

I forget what it's like to be targeting chinook...sigh. They're so dark and haggard by the time they make it this far, it's almost not worth it...but man they're fun....doubt they'll allow fishing on the mac for 'em this year. However yeah, I do find that they are not sun friendly fish, and really are most active at daybreak or dusk.

 

[metalmania]

Although I catch them at all hours from sun up to down I love hittin the water early and running a glow rig through some of the swifter water before daybreak. It's a great feeling to be in and out before the sun even hits the water. Mike your right time of day does affect where they hold up in the water. I often catch them in the morning when there holding in tailouts and then get into them again when they transiton into the deeper slower areas of a pool.

 

[GraphiteZen]

i read of peeps hitting the water before daybreak and wait for the sun to peek through. is that ideal?

It's not ideal if you're with me and a thin skin. I'm not the morning type...

 

[ninja2010]

well, i feel much better now... knowing that i'm not missing fish while i'm thinking of waking up early...

 

[GraphiteZen]

well, i feel much better now... knowing that i'm not missing fish while i'm thinking of waking up early...

haha that's good. I do the same thing.

 

[JeannaJigs]

I'm thinking of waking up early to go fish at daybreak on thursday hahaha. I probably won't. It's the first day off during the week since I don't know when. I did indeed ponder the whole idea though. That counts right?

 

[ninja2010]

yup!

 

[JeannaJigs]

Sweet. Good to hear it!

 

[OneMore]

Ive love it when time allows me to get to the river at 0dark:30, but it doesn't always happen. Theres something about watching the sun come up on a river/lake that just soothes the spirt. Now I also understand that if your not a morning person there is nothing more soothing than sleeping while the suns coming up. With all that said I think for the most part you can catch fish all day if you try.

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

Well said, you really can catch fish all day long! Chinook are easier to get into in the early hours, but they eat all day. Same with the rest of the fish in the rivers. Eloquently stated OneMore, very.

 

[youngbuck307]

well all this is good news to me kinda hard to get up early when your not off till like one in the morning and after that it takes me a while to lay down last night i layed down at 3 and was going to be up befor 7 but next thing you know im just sitting there thiking about fishing my alarm went off befor i evan went to sleep... how sad is that, well turnd it off and just went right befor work for a few hours

 

[Kodiak]

No kiding?

No kiding?

It's not ideal if you're with me and a thin skin. I'm not the morning type...

:lol: I'd have never guessed!!!

I base what I throw and when pretty much on water temp. 40 and under is pretty much bait time or a slow drift with corkies and yarn. I find my chances with hardware dramaticly increase with temps 42 and above. If i find a rare morning with warmer conditions early I will start fishing as soon as I'm legaly allowed and won't go home till my wife drags me off the water. In years like this one with low clear water and cold nights I've been doing most of my damage from 10:00 till dark. Chinook like it warmer, 54 beeing optimum for springers, and at 40 I'm going home.