The Twilite Zone

No, not the science fiction show, the science fact that predator fish, including crappie, bite better just after the sun goes down and/or just before the sun rises in the morning. Moose would probably know the scientific reason fish bite then, but I have a strong hunch that those times give the predator fish the most advantage due to the indirect sunlight not allowing the bait fish to see what's coming to eat them until it is too late.
I often plan my fishing to match the twilite time as much as possible, especially in the hot summer.
How many of you guys fish at twilite and what are your results?

Weeeel, in my personal luck, seems the crappie always quit hitting for me
just about the time the sun hits the trees, way before actual dark. Also
seems that they don't wake up for me till the sun is up a little over the
horizon. I have found that briefly switching to a blaze-orange bait helps
extend the bite maybe a few minutes, I figure what is happening is the
fish are moving vertically, going shallow real quick right at that time, and
I'm not reacting in the right way to it. I'm usually about ready to pack it
in, or at least put up my toys before plum dark by then anyway, to avoid
a dark run back to the ramp. But it is a good question, one I need to work
on addressing, shame to quit right then if they are really going on a tear
and I'm missing it.

To be honest with you, there are a couple places I fish that you will not hardly catch a fish before the sun comes up or after it goes down, but you can catch your limit alot of times right after the sun comes up. Also there is a place or two where I can only catch them after dark. But for the most part, like j white said, they start when the sun is up a little.

i agree with mr white i always have a better bite awfew after sun up . let the water warm up so to say, especially in winter and early spring.

crack of dawn, downed trees on deeper banks and shaded from the sunrise ... usually means catching a few Crappie - from post spawn thru the Summer. Seems that, as soon as the Sun's light hits the water above the tree ... click, they turn off. Overcast days may provide a little longer window of opportunity.
I try and hit as many shaded bank blowdowns as time will allow ... then, when the Sun is well up in the sky and boat traffic starts getting cranked up - I either head to the house, or break out the trolling equipment and chase Hybrid Stripers & White Bass. I'll even, occasionally, catch a few more Crappie doing this.
This is not to say that I haven't caught Crappie during the middle of the day, in Summer ... I have. I just don't tolerate the Sun & heat as well, now, as I did when I was younger ...LOL!! So, I either arrive at "first light" and fish until it gets too hot ... or fish at night. Or I'll target another species of fish, like Hybrid Stripers, White Bass, or some of the varieties of "sunfish".
I don't fish the evening bite ... since the temps are usually 20+ degrees warmer then, than in the early AM.

On another note:
Saw a Kentucky Afield show the other day ... the host, Tim Farmer, was fishing with a gentleman down on KY Lake. Middle of the day - air temps were 104 - and they were catching Crappie, casting jigs to a submerged brush pile in open water. They were casting out and letting the jigs fall to around 12ft - then ripping the jig up a couple of feet, and letting it fall back down. The Crappie were hitting the jig on the fall. The elderly gentleman was Craig Hipsher, a guide on KY Lake. He was using what looked like a hair jig - white or chartreuse head and "blue" hair. He made the statement that the Crappie hit the jig "on the fall". I also noticed that he was using "bright green" colored line, on his spinning reel ... looked to be Iron Silk Solar Mint (or something with a similar fluorescent green color). Food for thought ! ....... cp :cool:

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Originally Posted by Redtick

No, not the science fiction show, the science fact that predator fish, including crappie, bite better just after the sun goes down and/or just before the sun rises in the morning. Moose would probably know the scientific reason fish bite then, but I have a strong hunch that those times give the predator fish the most advantage due to the indirect sunlight not allowing the bait fish to see what's coming to eat them until it is too late.
I often plan my fishing to match the twilite time as much as possible, especially in the hot summer.
How many of you guys fish at twilite and what are your results?

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The only time I fish at night here is in the winter time and it is thru the ice. I will go out just before dark so I can get my holes dug and then get some rods set out. I use to use a fish house but switched to a fish trap now. This way I can move around more freely and more often. The fish slow down after dusk here and don't really hit until about 10:30 PM and will hit until about 12:00 AM. Then the bite will slow down until about 4:30 AM and will hit until about 6:30 or 7:00 in the AM. then it slows way down. Then it is light enough to see to get off the ice. In the Spring and Summer I don't rush to get on the water much before 8:00 or 9:00 AM. I let the early fishermen get on the water and are coming off when I am getting on. That way I am not competing with them on the water.

Hi Tick, I normally get to the lake just before day light when crappie fishing,mainly to drink coffee and watch the sun rise. If for some reason I am delayed, I don't worry about it too much. I find that the fish bite better after the sun gets up. Matter of fact, durring these hotter days they seem to bite better around noon here. On another lake that I have fished most of my life, you can just about set your watch by 10:00 am when they start biting. Then again at 4:00 pm when they quit. But thats just IMHO and what I have experienced.

I had my boat in the water a 6:15 a couple weeks ago. ANd foudn the fishing slow. ABout 11:30 it picked up . I caught most of my fish in between 11:30 and 1:30. I don't know how the fish felt but it was sure hot here in Dizie that day.

Also the week before the 4 th of July I went to another lake about 12:30 and did pretty well. Till I got ran off by the Jet Ski.s .
I am always the type to get out there at first light but sometimes it makes me wonder if I couldn't have slept a extra hour or so. LOL

I'm wondering - if you get to the lake in the early hours of the day, where are you fishing ? Are you fishing deep, in deep water ? Are you fishing shallow in deep water ? Or, are you fishing shallow in shallow water ?
I'm not saying or suggesting that the Crappie in "my" lakes, or my experiences with catching Crappie post spawn thru Summer, are the "best" or "only" method that works ... far from it. But, I do wonder if some may be missing out on catching early AM fish ... simply by fishing in the wrong places or depths. I do know that, once the Sun is shining on the water's surface, over the blowdowns I fish ... that they seem to quit or leave. Changing tactics or colors or baits or presentations, hasn't seemed to make that much of a difference. But, changing depths & locations (going to deeper water and fishing deeper) has, sometimes, made a difference. Banks, and the cover on them, that remain shaded til on up in the day, seem to harbor fish longer than those areas that receive sunlight early. Shade is the Crappie's friend ... and part of their "camo". They will seek it out, whether they have to go shallow or deep to get in it. And I think that, Crappie are more apt to be concentrated or in more predictable places, when the Sun is high. Could that be a factor in the catching of them, during the midday ?? And, thus, a reason why those anglers, that brave the heat & light, catch those fish - and return during those same times & conditions (seeking the familiar patterns & results of previous trips) ?? It would seem that Crappie can be caught 24/7 ... if found. And that we anglers have established a "routine" that suits us, and/or fallen into a nearsighted or tunnelvision idea of "when" the fish are biting. Hopefully, armed with the knowledge and experiences of others, who have successfully ventured forth during those "other" times, some will experiment "outside the box" ... and gain the confidence to pursue these fish, during all hours of the day & night. Predator fish rarely pass up an easy meal ... even if they are "stuffed to the gills". It's in their nature and survival instinct to do so ... to grow bigger, faster, so as to gain a size that will make them less of a target to other/larger predators.
I've caught Crappie in 8ft or less of water ... in 40deg to 90deg water temps. They didn't strike the bait any harder, in the warmer water. They're cold blooded - they take on the temp of the water around them, and are comfortable at that temp (all be it, sometimes slower reacting in very cold or very hot water temps). They have a "comfort zone" of water temps ... but, I'm not sure that doesn't relate more to spawning, than to the rest of the year. The fry will only hatch, and stand a chance of survival, if the water temp is in a certain range (and the water temp has to be high enough to support the food chain that the fry will feed on). But, once they have reached a certain size/age, maybe the water temps aren't nearly so important ... as say, an available food source & a good, low light ambush spot ??
In order to understand the Crappie better ... isn't it wise to try and understand "its" prey, better ? Finding out what the predominant food fish/creature is, of the waters we fish, sounds like a first step in figuring out where the Crappie would/should be. Finding out the daily, monthly, yearly or seasonal movements of the baitfish/food being utilized by the Crappie - should give us a more better idea of where the Crappie go, stay, hide, or move to & from .... and when. We all know and agree on one thing ... you don't catch what you can't find. Maybe we need to start thinking more like a hungry Crappie ... and less like a hungry Crappie angler. We all know "where" OUR favorite food is, and could probably give detailed directions as to how to get there, and when the best time to be there is !! Maybe if we study the food of the Crappie, "where" it is at certain times of the day or year ... and how & when they get from point A to point B ... and, where along that path, is the best suited point of ambush or attack -- then we may, just may be able to put one more piece of the puzzle in place.
We discuss how we catch them ... what equipment we use ... where we go ... when we go ... what we fish out of ... and even what bait we have the most success with. But, most of the discussion is centered around the Crappie itself. We're not on the water 24/7 - and we don't "feed" them as often as they feed themselves - and some of them probably even hatch and grow old and die ... without ever seeing one of our baits or lures. I think that, if we understand the "normal foodsource" of the waters we fish, we will increase our understanding of the fish we pursue ... and that should translate to more successful fishing -- or, should I say "catching" !! ....luck2ya ...cp :cool:

I don't know what it is like where you are at but at twilite times here in Illinois, you can see the crappie busting the new hatch shad schools on the surface. Nuff said.