Navigating the optimal times for fishing can be a nuanced task, particularly as seasons change and conditions fluctuate.
In the realm of bass fishing, each season brings its own set of challenges and opportunities.
Understanding the worst times to fish during these seasons can significantly enhance your angling success.
The spring is a tricky fishing period because the bass are constantly changing behavior and transition from the pre-spawn to the spawn, and then into the post-spawn.
But there are a couple important things to keep in mind. First, the days are getting longer and the water is getting warmer.
This means that bass will become active, especially during the warmer, sunnier parts of the day.
The worst time of day to fish during the spring is the very early morning and late evening hours.
Early mornings in the spring time are super cold. It takes a long time for the sun to warm up and energize these bass.
And in the evening, the sun is going down and so are the temperatures. Bass will find a warm pocket or drop off and hunker down for the cold night.
Bass are very inactive and unwilling to eat during the early morning and evening hours of spring.
The summer is hot and the sun is bright. There is even a nickname, the “dog days of summer” that lets you know, fishing is not great.
The hot sun gets very high in the sky and beats down on the water. Bass and other fish will over heat and be uncomfortable.
So the mid day from 11:30-4 is usually the worst time of day to fish during the summer months.
Bass will sink out deep or hold super close to cover and shade to get out of the sun.
And they will be much less willing to chase after prey, or lures, that are in open water, because they would have to swim out into the bright sun.
The early morning and evening hours are your best bet in the summer.
The fall fishing days are probably the most universally effective. There aren’t super hot or super cold temperatures that restrict bass activity and aggression.
In my experience, the peak temperatures hours of 2-3 o’clock are probably the worst.
But, I have still had plenty of success during these hours. I suppose the night fishing hours are certainly not great either, but I doubt any of you are spending a lot of time night fishing for bass.
Again, the brightest hours and the darkest hours will typically be the worst time to fish in the fall, but you don’t need to worry about when to fish during the fall.
Bass are always eating this time of year.
As we all know, the winter is a tuff time of year to catch bass. The silver lining of winter bass fishing is that bass tend to be more active during the day time hours.
When the sun and temperatures are highest, bass take advantage of this to move around and eat a bit more.
The worst times of day for bass fishing in the winter are the morning and evening hours.
The water is very cold and during these hours, the sun isn’t able to penetrate deep into the lake to warm up the bass or rocks.
Thankfully this is the case, because it would not be fun fishing in the early morning or late evening hours during the cold winter.
As you can tell from reading, the worst fishing times are very dependent on time of year.
However, as a general rule of thumb, the peak hours are usually less effective.
What are the peak hours?
These are the middle of the day and the middle of the night. The brightest and warmest hours. And the darkest and coldest hours.
If you don’t know what barometric pressure is, I will briefly explain.
Barometric pressure is essentially how much weight or atmospheric pressure is pushing down on the earth’s surface at any given time.
This number is constantly going up and down all throughout the day. But is high or low pressure good for fishing?
The lower the barometric pressure is, the better fishing will be.
The low pressure allows the fish to rise up in the water and use less energy as they move around.
Making them more aggressive and hungry.
Yes, 100%. Although these times of day tend to be slower and make it more difficult to catch fish, you can still have tons of success.
Bass still get hungry and still need to eat all throughout the day.
So no matter how bad the conditions or what time of day it is, you can still catch bass with the right techniques.
This is of course a very blanketed question and will depend a lot on your specific situation.
However, finesse fishing is usually the best strategy do use during these “poor” fishing hours.
When bass don’t want to chase or aren’t super aggressive, an enticing finesse bait is almost always the best thing to use.
A drop shot or Ned rig, for example, can catch bass pretty much 100% of the time.
Spring Fishing:
Summer Fishing:
Fall Fishing:
Winter Fishing:
General Worst Hours:
Barometric Pressure:
