Early Mornin' fishin....?

[stevomac59]

At what time is a good time to be on the water in the morning? What should I fish in calm... and/or windy conditions (during the early mornin').


Tanks

-stevo59

[Jim80]

spinners are your best friend in the wind and buzz baits work well to . clear water
i love the worm or a lizard , if you got lily pads and what not the frog is killer too .
clear water i go pumkin/chartreuse watermelon stuff like that .

[keithdog]

The earlier the better IMHO. I'm usually out at 5AM when I can be. One place I go to does not open the gate untill 6AM. But I know lots of guys who are launching at 4AM. When the water is calm as it usually is in the early AM hours, I like to start with top water baits. A frog worked in the slop and pads, and toss a plastic around too, such as a Senko or a lizzard. As the wind starts to pick up I'll usually start throwing a spinnerbait and shallow cranks. The frog of course is a viable choice all day. By mid to late morning, I'm usually crankin deeper water around submerged weedbeds.

[bamabassman]

get out ther 30 mins before the suns up. use the topwater lures in my opion, if the water is calm.

[zooker]

3 am till about 10 am... flat calm that is when horny toads, spooks, poppers are at there best. windy conditions buzzbait, devil horse, torpedo...


zooker

[stevomac59]

how would you fish the spooks... i bought one this weekened..

[zooker]

walkin ze dawg...

zooker

[stevomac59]

are spinners good mornin' bait to? should i run them low?

[zooker]

not nearly as effective as a buzzbait..

zooker

[Lancer6]

Stevorino,

You won't be permitted to choose your weather (we wish!) so you'll have to adapt to wind, water temperature, and visibility conditions regardless of the time of day. As Zooker indicated your lure choices will need to match prevailing conditions. So will your tactics and selection of location on any given body of water.
During the hot summer months, night or early pre-dawn is usually an excellent time to be on the water, especially under a full or nearly-full moon. Under those conditions bass will often feed more actively and thus are more catchable. The downside is that the daylight bite, at least until much later in the day, is pretty sparse, the bass having fed early.
On the other hand, if there's been little or no ambient light during the night, bass will often start the day with a hearty breakfast...Shad, Frogs, Hash Browns, etc. The bite may last until later in the morning and be especially good if overcast conditions prevail.
I'm no pro, but I've enjoyed some success under the conditions under discussion. Here are some ideas re lure selection:
If I'm night fishing, or starting pre-dawn for a more conventional time frame, I have one rod rigged with a Black/Blue Swirl 5" Tiki Stik OR a similar lure in Black/Blue Flake, T-rigged or Wacky-rigged, usually T-rigged with a 4/0 EWG Gamakatsu. No added weight. I DO add a rattle, but to do it right takes practice and the right tool...and you may waste a few soft sticks in the learning period...use old raggedy or cheap ones for that.
In addition, I will have a rod rigged with a worm, usually a ZOOM U-Tail in Black Sapphire, preferably with a 1/8 oz tungsten bullet free-sliding ahead of a glass bead snugged against the eye of the hook with a Peg-It(TM). I normally rig this one with a 3/0 EWG 'Katsu, sometime a 4/0.
The next weapon in The Order of Battle is a Strike King Midnight Special spinnerbait, Black/Blue. to which I might add a twin-tail (curly) trailer, secured with a dab 'o super glue. You'll need to check often to make certain the trailer hasn't slipped, BTW, and that's not readily noticeable in the dark.
As well, I might rig a black Ribbit Toad, the new floating model (which I find doesn't float all that well, but no matter,) OR a black buZZZZZZZZbait.
One more rod rigged with a black (usually) topwater, such as the large-size Johnny Rattler prop bait, a SuperSpook Jr. painted gloss black, or a Devil's Horse, and I'm all set UNTIL dawn paints her rosy hues 'cross the Eastern sky. This last rig is usually more effective for me are than the toad or buZZZZZZZZbait when there's some pronounced chop on the water.
All the black stuff gets replaced once "safe light" prevails unless there's truly dark overcast.
If you have any other "?"s, ask away.
Others here will be happy to share their favorites, I hope.

L6

[stevomac59]

Thanks L6...

I was also wondering, what is a good bait for during the day... the weather down here can reach a schorching 100+Deg F. I just bought a black buzz bait, I will give it a try; However, I will be arriving at the lake at around 230pm, so I wont be able to do some mornin' fishing until the next day. How deep will these fish be during the hot day, as well as the cool morning?


Thanks for all you effort and time on your responses!


-"stevorino"

[Nitro911]

Hey Stevo,

I assume that since you are in Laredo you are making the short drive to Falcon. If the water level is still dropping down there like it was in April, I would look for deep rock piles, abouot 25-30 feet, and Carolina rig them. You might also try a deep diving crankbait, but I just don't have much luck with them myself (granted, I don't fish them often enough to give them a fair chance).

If the Valeno bridge is still far enough under to not risk your lower unit, you can try fishing that area. I have had some decent success near the bridge, as well as farther up Valeno. Of course if the water is dropping as fast as it was when I was there last, you may be stuck in the main channel.

Good luck!

[stevomac59]

Nitro, I am going to fish Lake Corpus Christi this friday-sunday.... any suggestions on that lake?

[Nitro911]

I have only been on that lake one time and it was the color of chocolate milk. It was last May or June during all of the rain that we had and it was ugly. We even moved the tournament up to Choke because of it. I wish I had some info for you, but you already know all that I do about the lake.

[stevomac59]

since it's a chocolate milk color, do youthink dark (black, blue) and Chat. baits would work?


-stevo

[Jim80]

yeah darker colors in water like that . and for your spinners use a double Colorado blade and
don't shy away from painted blades , the more vibration the better .

[frogfisher]

just as the sun is starting to come up to where it gives off light but you can't actually see the sun. you could go with a propbait or buzzbait or spinnerbait... But if you use a prop in windy conditions it should have 2 propeller blades so it still disturbs the water

[3dkicker]

Just a different opinion but I've been doing very well later in the day, on the Potomac, with catching bigger fish and topwater bites this year. The fish that bite after noon seem to take the bait better and are bigger than the ones that bite early. Me personally I'd prefer if tournaments started at 8 AM and fished to 4 PM all through the summer. Let it get nice and hot, 95 degrees, and I'm loving it. Forget the 4 AM wake up calls and alarm clocks!!!

[zooker]

4 am?? try 2 am smitty my man this is a dayly time for me...



zooker

[Buzz Wing]

On the water around 4:45-5:00 the last couple of weeks. Great fishin', man, great fishin'...

[brushhog]

Strangely, I'm with 3d on this one. We've had much better luck mid day and after our last 3 times out.... strange. Usually I like about 45 minutes before sunrise.

[3dkicker]

2 AM??? No way in *#@% I'm getting up at that time to get out on the water. I'm heading off to bed at that time!! Me, I need my beauty sleep.

Hey - you get one of those blades out in the mail to me or do you need my address??? Looking forward to testing it out on the 'Mac. They've been crushing the buzzbait and chatterbait with my custom skirt. I'd love to see how they react to the customized blade! (Of course only with your permission!!!) Got a two day coming up at the end of the month I'd love to win. Plus a couple big money tournes too.

[frogfisher]

the lake that I fish is related with a park and it doesnt open til 7 but there is a way to get in but its kind of hard to do it and the place where you can get in is near the bad spots to fish so I just wait til 7.... I catch most of my fish between 12:00PM and 2:00PM so its not really a problem for me

[bamabassman]

3d..you better STAY in da bed pal, hahahahaha. you need a LOT of sleep ifn you think it's gonna make you look any better, rofl. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

[Captmikestarrett]

I never fish before 3 pm in the summer..

Unless I fish out on the bay. Or the Dragon

Or the power plant ..

Forget it I just fish when ever the fish bite..

Capt Mike