Understanding Time of Day Impact on Bass

Bass will eat all day but some suggest bass are often activity feeding at dawn and dusk. Some suggest larger bass feed opportunistically midday especially in bright conditions. Tournaments show fish being caught all day with frequency and size varying based on many other factors, often weather conditions, time of year and the lake.

Why is understanding Time of Day Impact on Bass Important?

It is important to understanding time of day impact on bass to:   

  • Look for Shade: If looking to fish shade, some suggest eastern shorelines in the morning, docks during the day, and western shorelines in the afternoon. This would also include cover such as large rocks and wood.
  • Lure Selection: Some suggest targeting actively feeding bass including a focus on surface contact lures.
Understanding Time of Day Impact on Bass
  • Dawn: Some suggest bass are actively feeding in the morning due to lack of feeding during the night, in other words, they are hungry. Other potential factors include:
    • Brightness: Some suggest because there is sufficient brightness to find forage as bass can see further plus there is no direct sunlight to which they tend to avoid.
    • Forage Activity: For the same reasons, forage is more active in the morning. For example: increased insect activity in the morning plus any that have landed on the surface during the night are now easily identifiable. 
    • Cooler Water: During the summer, some suggest the slight cooling of the water will increase bass activity. 
    • Shad Spawn: Bass are active during the shad spawn which ends when there is full brightness.
  • Mid-Day: Some suggest bass can see forage the best during the brightest part of the day and thus bass may not be actively fishing as they can see the furthest to ambush forage. In other words, bass are most likely to opportunistically feed during the day due to brightness and the resulting visibility. Some also suggest bass are more predictable to find midday in bright conditions as just need to look for shadows, for example in grass clumps.
  • Dusk: Some suggest bases are actively feeding during dusk because they are feeding prior to the loss of light at night.
Additional Considerations
  • Moon Phase: Some suggest that bass are more active in the morning during a new moon as they will feed during the evening during a full moon. 
It's About the ALLURE™

High Visibility Lures

Low Visibility Lures

Surface Contact Lures
Some suggest top water lures are best at dusk and dawn.

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