Time of the day for panfish

[bullzeyez61]

What time of the day do you catch the most panfish in and around the metro?

[Deitz Dittrich]

I would say that the first hour of light and the last hour of light are probably the best times.. but my thoughts are, anytime you are fishing is a good time to be fishing.

[BDR]

I like the first hour. It sure feels good when the sun is coming up rather than going down.

[Coach1310]

I think the twilight hours of dawn and dusk are best for the community spots, but don't be afraid to fish during the middle of the day. Because of my schedule I get to fish the middle of the day often and have no problem finding and catching fish. I like to key on the areas surrounding community spots. Whether the fish are relating to a hump, reef, weedline etc. at dusk, I try to find them in the open water surrounding these areas!

[CrappieAttitude]

Typically I agree with the low light hours, but recently I have been fishing a dark stained lake and to be totally honest I have caught more fish during the daylight hours than the low light times of the day. I feel it totally depends on the lake.

CA

[Matt Johnson]

I think it really comes down to the body of water and the water clarity. Like CrappieAttitude said, stained lakes can produce all day long, while clear lakes might only have short windows for fast activity.

I think that bodies of water with any current can have a different window as well. Larger lake chains that have a lot of inlets and outlets leading to and from river systems can have consistent bites as well.

For me, I like chasing my gills during the day, but the hour before, as well as after sundown can be very good. Crappies can also be a day bite, but it can also be a locational thing.

If you're fishing a school of suspended fish over a deeper hole then you might experience a better evening bite. This might be the case because of the forage they are targeting. Once evening rolls around you'll see that the micro-organisms begin to rise off the bottom, which in turn causes a flurry of activity. Those little green marks on your flasher are oftentimes those little critters free-floating in the water column.

However, you might find crappies cruising shallower water throughout the daytime... and feeding in that shallower water throughout the daytime. Some of my best crappie bites have been in the middle of the day in water anywhere from 4-8 feet. This is in the same lake where the evening bite over a deep hole is also good. So, this also shows that it can really come down to a locational thing as well.

I personally think most lakes can have a decent daytime panfish bite. It might cause you to punch more holes to stay on top of the fish, but the fish will feed at those times nonetheless. The evening bite is more confined and oftentimes you can sit over one hole and catch fish, so it seems as if the bite is better during lowlight. Daytime fish are just on the move more, so it requires you to move with them...