Morning Bite

[decoy]

Anyone ever have success trying for Crappies or sunnies in the Morning? I guess I've never tried for them until afternoon -dark. Could try morning bite this week if it's worth it. I've got some good panny areas to try out.

Let me know,

decoy

[bigbucks]

Sure I used to do it all the time. I've had spots you could get to at 5am, put down a line & the bobber wouldn't even stop, made you wish you were there at 4, other times they didn't start until 6:30. I've found with walleyes in the morning in a lot of my places they don't start until it's pretty light. Sunnies would most likely be the same, but I've rarely targeted them other than late ice afternoons.

[Matt Johnson]

Sure, the morning bite can be even better than the evening bite on some occasions. Often times the fish are triggered to feed when there is a transition of light, or during twilight periods. These fish are eager to come out and feed on micro-organisms and the action can be pretty non-stop.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Mr. Pike1]

I agree with Matt. I have had some great action pre-dawn for crappie, walleye, and sunfish.

[Big Johnson]

I have some favorite gill lakes in Ottertail county where the prime time to catch the nicer ones is sunup and the first hour after.

[Matt Breuer]

Morning bluegills, there's no other way to go!! They will bite readily all day long, and better in the evenings, but the best at sunup!!! Crappies are great in the A.M. as well, but they are feeding more heavily in the eve's.

12-2 A.M. bluegills should be your next step!!

[icehousebob]

Years ago, I would put a permanent house on St. Albans Bay on Tonka. I asked the locals who lived on the bay what time the Crappies bit. They all agreed that there was a 45 minute evening bite but no morning bite. I started going out there an hour before first light and the Crappie bite was amazing. It seems none of them had ever tried to catch them in the morning. I didn't want to hurt their feelings so I never told them. And as soon as the Crappie bite ended, the Sunnies would start. The bigger ones bit early so as soon as the small ones started, it was time to go home or stay for the midmorning Northern bite.

[CrappieJohn]

I'm going to put one poser to the two Matts here: All of the waters in the area I live are fairly stained, have limited weeds and almost everyone has mud/muck bottoms. Historically ( summer and winter) these areas provide a solid twilight bite early and late, fishing so-so thru the day and some possible crappies at night but they tend to be fickle. Finding crappies during the night is a piece of cake, getting them to respond to anything is another issue. My question is this: Why do the sunfish absolutely seem to shut right off at dark and not hit again until the ice gets a little light on it the next morning? Even then things can start off very slow. It is like a plateglass divider has been put in the drink to keep them out of the way?

[Matt Breuer]

Tom, there are two lakes in particular that come to mind when I read your question. Both have stained water, and both have great 'gill bites at twilight, and fair throughout the day. I used to think that it was odd that the 'gills shut off right at dark, but then I decided to stay late one night, really late! I used a pink/glow Poppee from Custom Jigs, and flashed the heck out of it every five minutes or so, and pounded it right off the bottom all night long. I picked up a decent 'gill every 30 minutes or so, but had to work hard for them. Suddenly around 12 A.M. they turned on, it was one of the best 'gill bites I've encountered, they were all very big, and bit readily!

My only explaination for 'gills not biting as well after twilight is that they feed heavily all day, and don't need to feed as much during the night. That's why the morning bite is so good, as soon as a little bit of light hits the ice, they're on!! Bluegills are notorious for having poor night vision, which is another reason for them shutting off.

As for that bite I had from midnight to 2 A.M. I owe it all to the fact that bluegills school much tighter after dark, and the effectiveness of the glow baits I was using!

[CrappieJohn]

Thanks Matt! Crappies are no sweat for me. Sunfish I do not understand so much yet and when people ask about this problem, I haven't had very good answers for them.

One of the curiousities in the SE is that even the waldos on the big river are spotty after dark, except right up on shallow bars below the dams. Ice fishing waldos and saugdogs is fruitless on the Miss down this way. I generally stick with the boat forthese guys and fish during the day.

Don't get me wrong, I fish the sunnies when I get a chance and really enjoy the little guys, but boy they can be a stickler once we start getting dark. Then the action is predictable....the crappies will kick into gear when the sunfish bite wanes. Your idea about the fish being filled up makes sense though. Winter almost always has about a one to one ratio for clear to cloudy days ( my perception) and I have noticed that the sunfish bite , while it always exists during the daylight hours, seems to be much more aggressive when it is cloudy but not thick clouds. It may even be best when the shadows come and go fromthe clouds periodically.

If there is a late night bite, the fish are safe....from me anyway. I am camped at 10 every night. I'll leave the fish for you young guys! lol Thanks Matt....have a good Christmas!

[Matt Johnson]

Another thing, bluegills lack the vision that crappies do at night. Bluegills bully the crappies around during the day and then it's the crappies turn come night fall. Once night falls, I find bluegills right up tight and inside the weeds. They want nothing to do with open water or anything to do with suspending at this time. And like Matt said, I also believe they heavily feed during the day and take a nap at night. However, some of my biggest bluegills have come after dark or before sunrise, but I put those bull gills in their own category

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Ruegs23]

Guys,

This is really interesting with the fish sleeping at night. I have a buddy who scuba dives and while diving at night last fall he saw lots of sunfish. The funny thing is they were hugging the bottom right up against weeds. The fish wouldn't move until you were inches from them which is really strange! We figured they were sleeping!! Who knows??

[Scott M]

I'll better be able to know for sure after Icthyology but fish do get lethargic and kind of into a state of dormancy during those light periods that they aren't well suited for. If you have something that glows bright you might be able to get some gill bites if you know fish location during night. Crappies are like clockwork because they have diel daily migrations as they look for baitfish suspended or in littoral areas during light transitions.

[CrappieJohn]

Something just a bit off the posted topic that is interesting and has an effect on a night bite is bottom content. Off topic because I am going to use sauger as an example for part of this.

In Lake Pepin on the Miss. River at Lake City Mn the sauger are the most caught species. From about a half hour before actual lighting takes place until about the same period in the evening is when you will catch these guys. Fishing gets awful slow after and during the dark of night. Crappies are even tough to find after dark in that lake even though they are another target species in certain areas. The crappies will react to the on coming morning and waning even light just as the sauger do. Ihave no idea why these fish just don't produce at night, but I suspect it has something to do with bottom content and color.

My rasoning for thinking that color has something to do with it lies in the fact that sauger are able to change their coloration to match their current surroundings....they are very much like a chameleon. During the summer months the backs of these fish are generally mottled. I have notice that during periods of winter and under ice that fish caught in the same areas have a solid dark back.

We know that both crappies and the walleye/sauger have eyes conducive to gathering latent light from the darkest of the dark waters and on the darkest of nights, but what about their prey? Can they see well enough to be safe when active? The fish in this setting are not feeding on bugs, they are hunting meat. If the food source is tucked away for the night somewhere, it only seems obvious that the game fish will gear their periods of inactivity around this time frame as well. Remember...fish are cold blooded and will not expend crucial energy reserves on empty water.

Lots of things can become control factors for the fish. Food is one of those variables. Understanding what controls the food itself will help understand how it ,too, can control when fish are best or most likely to be biting. As far as the crappies and sunfish go, I can think of at least one lake where the bottom content is a black one and on this lake the fishing has it's hayday from about an hour before dawn until 10 AM and then again from about 4 until 6 PM. On cloud covered days the fishing will hold together throughout the day. Well lit days produce sporadically. On most days, regardless of available light, the sunfish will hit from the time the sun is lighting up the ice until the time shadows darken the ice. You'd be very lucky to see a sunfish during the dark.

If you are having problems finding a night bite on a given body of water, it may want to take a look at what the bottom is like where you are fishing. It might be as simple as trying another area on the lake to get over sand or rock.It may mean that the particular lake simply will not give up a good night bite because the bottom hinders one.

[rosspj59]

da_chise, are you going to school for Fish & Wildlife Management at the U? I want to take icthyology, but they won't let me till I take Calculus and few others prereqs to get into the program. I think it would be a very interesting class.