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When would you say is the best time of day for fishing for these big girls ? On a clear day would it be best to hit the water when the sun hits it after the fish warm up a tad ? Around here i have found 9 to 11am and 3 to 5pm are usually best but not always depending on weather and wind direction. Just wondering what your preferences might be.
I waited for some other guys to reply but here is my .02 cents:
If fishing clear water, you might even have a good evening/night bite. I have had decent luck on sunny days in Feb/March hitting fish in clear water but if I had to pick the most productive time on sunny days with clear water it would have to be evening.
Muddy/stained water is a different gig. You could hit fish at any time. During winter, I try to fish during both windows because there are certain fish that will rarely change their habits no matter how cold the water is or how short the photoperiod.
Weather change will influence them the most. Alberta clipper on the way??? Get your butt out there before the weather change. The big bladder fish like muskies, can feel the barometric change coming 12 hours (or more) before the actual storm arrives. For me, I love to fish when the snowflakes are the size of quarters....seems to get the bigger fish moving plus the sun is blocked creating a good time for feeding.
Their feeding window is much shorter during mid to late winter so being in the right place at the right time is 90 percent of the battle. If you can locate them, you can catch them if you fish the "right times" on a consecutive stretch of days.
A lot of my winter fishing is done after work so the last couple of hours of daylight. I feel I've done pretty well during this time period sunny or cloudy, clear or muddy water. I have seen fish turn on with muddy water when the sun comes out. I have also had feeding windows happen around moon rise and moon set. I have noticed as Red said the biggest factor for me has been getting fish just before a storm or cold front moves in. Back to the muddy water topic. I feel that lure selection is very imortant, last year I started using Chatterbaits from Musky Innovations when the water was extremely muddy with great success vs regular crankbatis or jerkbaits. With clear water I have only ever had one musky interested in chatterbaits. Just something I've been thinking about. Does anyone else use Chatterbaits much?
Reed
I gave them a whirl 2 years ago with little luck in the river. Jim Bortz has had success with them at nite. If I were to use them in the river, I would use them at nite.
Joe Renosky (the original inventor of the Chatterbait) has a line of baits that my partner has been using and he had a 9 and 7 fish day on them last summer fishing Chautauqua Lake. They are a minnow bait with the Chatter plate design that MI copied from him. They are a great trolling bait as well but will blow out at around 2.5mph due to the amount of drag created with the "chatter-plate".