Night or Day?

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I recently read something in, "How to Find Fish," by Cliff Hauptman that intrigued me. In effect, it suggested that most fist are caught in broad daylight. As an example, a famous Florida angler was mentioned. This man maintained complete catch records and these indicated the majority of his trophy bass were caught between 9am and 3pm.

This is somewhat contrary to what most of us are taught, i.e., fishing is best in the dawn hour and an hour before sunset. Or maybe at night. It is known that fish DO feed at these times, and often heavily, especially in the shallows.

However, bluegill (and most traditional game fish) are primarily sight feeders. Their eyes are very similar to our own, in fact. And just like us, this suggests that the bright of day is their optimum feeding time. I know, they have many other senses - lateral line, smell, etc. And in the deepest waters, eyesight may indeed take a back seat.

But it's much like a human hunter who also has other senses. Nevertheless, he must first see his target before he pulls the trigger. Likewise, the "moment of truth" for a bluegills' prey most often comes at the behest of the fishes eyesight.

SO what do you think - daylight or dark. Which is the best for catching fish?

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Thanks Vince.
I've read elsewhere that the night bite slows starting in the hour or so before midnight, staying slow
until the hour our so before dawn.
Catfish, being notoriously nocturnal, are known night biters. Even so, if we could analyze the numbers
we would probably find that they slow up during night time's middle lull.