Nighttime catfishing is very popular and for good reason. I have caught the biggest catfish of my life at night.
But let’s be honest, it is a pain in the butt to fish during the night. Everything becomes much harder in the dark since you can’t see your surroundings.
So the question is, “Can you catch catfish during the day?”.
Yes, you can certainly catch lots of catfish during the day time. Catfish eat all day long.
In fact, during certain times of the year, catfishing during the day time is actually better than at night.
I primarily catfish during the day just because it is more convenient, easier, and still very effective.
The nighttime is usually thought of as the best time of day for catfishing. Specifically within 4-5 hours after sundown.
During the times of year when the water is warm, this tends to be true. The darkness gives the catfish cover and protection from predators, allowing them to move into shallow waters and search for food as they please.
The dark also allows them to sneak up on baitfish and prey. Catfish have an advantage over all other species during the dark because of their very sensitive whiskers that allow them to smell, feel, and hunt down prey.
Now, during the times of year that the water is cold, catfish will actually be more active during the daytime and you can have more success during the daytime.
In the cold water, catfish love warming up and getting energy from the bright sunlight.
Simply put, if the water is warm, the nighttime will be the best time of day for catfishing.
If the water is cold, the daytime, specifically the morning, will be the best time of day for catfishing.
Also Read: How to Catch Catfish in Winter in a Pond
It is a bit easier to catch catfish at night, assuming the water is relatively warm. This is simply because catfish are more active at night.
They swim around long distances in search food. The darkness gives them protection from predators such as birds, snakes, or bigger fish.
They also hunt more at night because they have an advantage over all other fish during the nighttime.
This advantage comes from their whiskers. These whiskers help the catfish feel and smell around the water allowing them to locate food without the food knowing they are coming.
Catfish will come up into very shallow water at night and cover lots of water. This makes it easy for catfish to find your bait and get caught.
Catching catfish in the daytime really isn’t much different from catching them at night.
There are a couple things that you should focus on and implement while daytime catfishing.
These are using smelly, stationary baits and moving around frequently to cover water and find the catfish.
In warm water conditions, catfish are a bit less active during the daytime. Try to stay away from live bait during the day because catfish don’t have the same advantage hunting down live prey as they do during the night.
So in the daytime, catfish will hone in on already dead, smelly, easy to eat food. Things like cut bait or chicken liver are great options for daytime catfishing.
Catfish don’t roam around much during the day. They pick a small, general area and stay there until it gets dark.
Since catfish don’t mover around much in the day, then you have to do the moving around in order to find them.
Fish one area for 15-20 minutes, then keep it moving. Move about 50-75 feet to the side after the 15-20 minutes.
I never catfish from a boat. So all the information I have laid out in this article is 100% applicable for bank fishing for catfish.
Fishing from a boat works, but I have found that I have the same or better success when catfishing from the bank.
The bank also makes it easier to lay out multiple rods and cover water.
Bank fishing for catfish during the day is the same as bank fishing for catfish during the night.
This is actually not really a conversation about daytime vs nighttime. But, it is popular for people to install LED or black lights onto their dock, posts, or artificial structure in an effort to try to attract fish to their dock or bait.
Now, I have never tested this out myself, but it is a very popular strategy amongst many pond owners and mangers.
So, yes light does attract catfish along with most other species of fish. This can make night catfishing more fun and easy since the water and surrounding bank is bright and more visible.
You can certainly catch lots of catfish during the day. One thing that I have found is that you will catch lots of small catfish during the day and less big ones.
The big catfish really seem to become active at night and dominate the dark waters.
But I have caught lots of big catfish during the day as well, so don’t let that keep you from getting out there and fishing.
