If you find yourself saying it’s too hot to fish, the fish may agree. While fish like largemouth and smallmouth bass can be caught in the daylight hours, sometimes they are more cooperative after the sun goes to bed.
It’s hard to understand fish – I mean, you can ask them what they like, but getting an answer can be tough. You just have to figure them out.
But there are clue sometimes that we overlook, one being that heat is tough on us and them.
Studies say that a cold-blooded creature like a fish has a higher metabolic rate as the temperature rises in their environment. So they need to eat more. But most anglers will agree it’s harder to catch a fish in the heat of summer. Go figure. But there are other factors that come into play like oxygen content, bait depth and so on.
So with that behind us, what can be done to catch fish in the heat? One way is to fish at night. Even though the water doesn’t cool very quickly as the sun sets, fish will find their way closer to the lakes shoreline to feed.
Most of the time fishing is best right before and as it gets dark. Then many times it will slow down about an hour or so after dark. There are a few guesses as to why: some say their eyes are adjusting to low light. I’m not really sure but it is true most of the time.
Then fishing will pick up later in the night, and if you can stay awake, the last two hours before dawn can be very good, from about 4 a.m. on.
Fish that may be 30 or 40 feet deep in the day will sometimes go surprisingly shallow at night. They will many times hug the shoreline and if you don’t get your bait within a foot or two of the water’s edge, you will not get bit.
Fish are moody just like a lot of people I know. Some nights they are more aggressive and shallow, other nights the opposite is true.
There is a wide assortment of bait types you can use to fish at night; in fact, the same ones that work in the day work at night.