Can You Catch Fish During the Day?

Most anglers understand that the best time to go fishing is typically early in the morning or in the evening. During these low light periods fish are naturally more active which prevents some good fishing opportunities.

As a result, many fishermen will pack it up and head home during the middle of the day or avoid fishing in the afternoon in general. So you might be wondering is this a mistake and can you catch fishing during the day?

Contrary to popular opinion you can still have a lot of success catching fish during the middle of the day when right strategies and techniques are used. During the day fish become easy to predict and can be found close to cover, in shade or out in deep structure. Fishing natural baits and lures in these areas will help you catch a lot of fish throughout the day.

In this article, I’ll share with you exactly why you should stick around and fish during the middle of the day. As well as some key strategies and tips that have helped me catch fish when other anglers have packed it up and headed home.

Let’s get started.

10 Tips to Catch Fish During the Day

A lot of anglers are under the assumption that fishing is never good during the afternoon or middle of the day. What these anglers don’t realize is that you can still catch a lot of fish during this time of day, you just need to adapt your strategy and techniques a little bit.

The places and baits you used to catch fish in the early morning or evening hours may not work later on during the day. The fish will move to different areas and their behavior will change based upon the conditions.

Here are 10 simple tips that I’ve learned over the years that will help you have more success fishing during the middle of the day.

1. Fish Deep

During the afternoon when the sun is high and it gets hot out their fish will head for deep water. The sun will cause the water temperature to warm, and the oxygen levels will decrease and evaporate. As a result, fish will find deeper water where there is more oxygen and cooler water temperatures.

Don’t get me wrong you can still catch fish during the middle of the day in shallow grass, around docks or other structure. However, to give yourself the best chance at catching a lot of fish find deep water. If you can find ledges, rock piles, brush and other structure out deep you’ll find and catch a lot of fishing during the middle of the day.

2. Find Shade

Shade is perhaps one of the most underutilized and overlooked areas in all of fishing. During the day fish are drawn to shaded areas as it’s a way to hide from predators and provides them protection from the sun.

When its sunny outside fish will almost always relate to shade created by structure like a docks, laydowns, bridges and even grass or trees. These can all be predictable and easy areas to target during the day and will help you catch a lot of fish.

3. Add Scent

A simple but yet effective tip that will help you catch more fish during the day is to add scent to both your baits and lures. This often gets overlooked by many anglers, but it can make a big difference.

Adding scents to your baits and lures leaves a scent trail for the fish and masks unnatural odors that tend to get on your bait from your hands. This extra smell will increase the drawing power and appeal of your baits and will help you catch more fish

Another added benefit of scent is that when a fish does bite your bait, they tend to hang onto it longer, giving you more time to react and set the hook. This can-do wonders for you hook up ratio.

4. Find Vegetation & Structure

There are three basic things every fish needs to be able to survive. Proper oxygen levels, nutrients (food), and somewhere to hide from predators.

On each body of water there are certain areas you can find that will have all three of these things. Areas that have this combination are going to be the most productive and is where you’ll catch the most fish.

Look for areas that have vegetation and structure like grass, docks, lily pads, brush and other unique objects. These are prime time areas you should target and will help you catch a lot of fish during the day.

5. Find Wind & Current

Wind can be both a blessing and a curse when it comes to fishing, especially if you are fishing from a boat. It can be a challenge to cast and even navigate your way through the wind.

However, the wind also brings a lot of positives and can really make for some great fishing. When its windy fish can become more aggressive and it’s easier to trick them into striking.

Current is another important thing to look for when fishing during the day. It brings in key nutrients and food and fish will tend to setup and feed heavily in these areas.

If you can find a windy bank or areas that have good current, there will likely be plenty of nearby fish ready to be caught.

6. Slow It Down

If you are fishing during the heat of the summer slowing down your lure and bait retrieval can make a huge difference.

During the middle of the day fish can get lethargic and might be a little more selective in what they eat and chase. Slowly dragging your bait on the bottom or winding your lure in can be a great way to catch them.

For this reason, its best to find good fishing areas and slow down. This will give any nearby fish the opportunity to easily find and track down your bait or lure.

7. Go On Cloudy Days

I realize that it may not always be possible to choose the conditions when you have a chance to go fishing. However, if you can catch an afternoon that has over cast and cloudy conditions it can create a great fishing opportunity.

Fish are much comfortable in low light conditions like a cloudy afternoon. They will roam around more and tend to be more aggressive. This can allow you to fish faster, be more efficient, get more bites and ultimately catch more fish.

8. Mix Your Retrieval Speeds

Using a steady and consistent retrieval speed can catch you fish, but for the best results mixing up your retrieval speed and cadence is much more effective.

Fish are opportunistic predators meaning they take advantage of easy pray and small changes to your retrieval like a pause, twitch, increase in speed or deflection off cover are fantastic ways to trigger their predatory response.

This may seem like a small thing but it can go along way into getting your fish to react and bite you lure. This is especially true in the afternoon hours when the fish might not be as active.

9. Match the Hatch

Matching the hatch is a common fishing strategy used by anglers that basically means finding out the type of fish forage your targeted fish are eating and choosing baits and lures that closely resemble the forage, size, and color.

Finding out what the fish are feeding on and matching it the best you can will give you a huge advantage. It can be a challenge to trick a fish during the middle of the day. That’s why making your bait look like what they are feeding on is key.

10. Go Finesse

If you are having a hard time catching fish in the afternoon or during the middle of the day downsizing your baits and lures can be a great way to get more bites. Don’t be afraid to go with a more finesse or smaller presentation.

A finesse bait or lure looks more natural and appealing in the water and will attract a broader range of fish. This is especially true when the bite is tough and fish are less willing to chase down crankbaits and other power fishing techniques.

Fishing During the Day by Species

Adapting your techniques and strategies are key if you want to catch fish during the middle of the day. In some cases, you might need to change up what you are doing to catch a specific species.

Here are a few things that I’ve learned targeting different species during the day.

Bass Fishing During the Day

In the morning bass are up shallow roaming around looking for an easy meal. This can be one of the best times to target bass. However, it can be a challenge to locate them as they are less predictable and harder to pinpoint.

When the sun is high and it starts to get hot outside, you can find bass either up shallow in heavy cover in grass or out deeper (10-30ft) in offshore structure. Shade is also a key area that I like to look for when fishing for bass during the day.

If you are targeting bass during the day make sure to check out these 25 bass fishing tips that will help you know exactly how to catch them.

Trout Fishing During the Day

Where to fish and locate trout will depend upon the type of water you are fishing at. If you are fishing in a river or small stream deeper slower runs, eddies and shady banks are prime areas to fish. When fishing for trout in ponds and lakes they will most likely be in deep structure where the water is cooler or around shade.

If you are fishing for trout specifically during the day make sure to read this article: 20 Trout Fishing Tips to Catch More Fish

Crappie Fishing During the Day

You can have a lot of success targeting crappie during the day. You just need to know where to fish and what to look for. Crappie will be holding very tight to cover, tucked up under docks or out in deep structure like brush piles. They tend to get pretty sluggish in the heat of the day, so finesse slower presentations can be the most effective.

If you aren’t having any luck catching crappie during the day read this article to help you understand why and what you can do to turn your fishing trip around.

Fly Fishing During the Day

When I first started fly fishing I thought I could only catch fish at night when a lot of the hatches took place. What I didn’t realize is that there were plenty of hatches and different ways you can catch fish during the middle of the day. In fact, some of my best dry fly fishing days have been throwing hoppers and ants in the middle of the afternoon.

Additional Fishing Tips

Bottom Line

Most anglers pack it up and head home in the afternoon, but this can be a mistake as there are plenty of other fish than can still be caught. In fact, I have caught some of my biggest fish ever during the middle of the day.

As anglers we can’t always control or predict how the fishing is going to be and when we can fish on a given day. That’s why it’s important to fish when you can and don’t rule out catching fish during the day. As long as you implement the key strategies we discussed in this post you can have a lot of success.

I would encourage you to re-read this article and practice the fishing tips we discussed, and I guarantee you’ll catch more fish during the day and you’ll become a more effective and efficient angler.