Now that’s the ten dollar question, isn’t it? There is a ton of literature out there that says the early bird gets the worm and the early angler catches the fish. Is this in fact a universal truth, or can we bend the rules a bit? Well the answer, in my experience is it depends on the fish. Some fish almost exclusively bite in the morning, while others bite all day, and others bite early and late. Here’s what I’ve experienced and maybe this will help you with your fishing.
I’d say the only fish, that in my mind, requires me to be up early is the lake whitefish. In many places I get all my bites in the morning and by 10 am I’ve either caught my limit, or I’m in for the long haul trying to get more to bite. The fish that are least likely to be the early birds are the pike and the burbot. Both of these species can be caught in the morning, but they both have a tendency to bite in the evening as well. In the case of burbot, they will often just get started in the evening and ramp it up to an all out feeding frenzy as evening progresses to full on night. Walleye, Perch and Rainbow Trout, however, are a fish of both worlds. That is, they bite very well at first light, and at sundown.
So the take home message I can offer is this: if you’re chasing whites, it pays to get up early. For most others, they either bite well in both the morning and evening, or they are more inclined to be evening hunters. If sleep is something that is a prized part of your weekend, go ahead, sleep in, get a good rest and go out for the afternoon. Depending on the species you choose you could very well have just as good a chance as you would early in the morning.
