Why aren't you fishing this morning?

By Bill Prater

What's the greatest thing about fishing really early during this type of weather? It keeps paddle boarders and their ilk at bay so we cam fish without distraction. Well, at the very least, boarders tend not to show up until well after breakfast, when our shared water starts to really heat up. 

My preferred warm water tactic for fishing this time of year is simple: just get up a lot earlier, and quit when you find the fish have called it a day. (You could probably use the same tactic at dusk, joining serious cat and walleye fishermen. But I am personally old and go to bed early.) 

You might also do like me and worry less about what kind of fish you want to catch, and more about what is species are biting on a particular day. Nothing complicated, but clueless anglers more often enjoy a leisurely breakfast, check their phones for cute kitty videos, and then naively go fishing with the same tactics that worked well in mid May. 

I grew up near St. Louis, MO, where summer nighttime temperatures don’t get remarkably cooler than in the daytime. But they are still somewhat cooler. For a hungry fish, that difference can be quite enough to keep them active. Old Mr. Watson, who taught me to fish with a fly rod, also taught me to be on the water no later than 4 in the morning this time of year. Who knew bluegills and bass feed most actively in the dark about 4 in the morning? Early-rising Midwestern anglers like him, that’s who.  

Fortunately for the me of 2024, the Front Range window of opportunity is more flexible for productive late night/early morning fishing. Average nighttime temperatures dip into the 50s and 60s, helping our water stay a tad cooler well into morning. 

So! Get your butt out of bed, ignore your damned cell phone and be on the water around dawn. For a few blessed hours, you may find fish nearly anywhere on the lake or pond. They could be shallower than you’d believe possible. Or roaming well outside the weed beds. Or in open water chasing bait. If you’re fortunate enough to fish a west-facing shore, you may find fish lurking in the shade for as long as possible. The point is, they roam around as long as possible looking for breakfast. But when the sun gets up over the tree tops, most are likely just like you: huddling near the aquatic equivalent of an air conditioner, suspending way down deep.   

You might also do better by concentrating less on a single species. Learn the pleasures of multi-species angling. Pick tactics and baits that work for bass as well as crappie, trout, bluegill and yellow perch. (There's been a revolution in finesse techniques in the past few years). The point is, odds of finding a cooperative species are greater if you pick a tactic that fools as many species as possible. For me, that’s using ultralight gear, micro-finesse baits, a variety of colors.

But that’s a subject for another day. Just get out there early, and as Mom would have told you, put on lots of sunscreen and mosquito repellant.

Another benefit of early morning fishing:
early morning light makes for
more dramatic fish pictures.