Best time of day?

[Spoonminnow]

There's a lot more to fishing then just throwing a bait in the water

Couldn't have said it better along with this:

Not all lakes and rivers the same. Too many variables like season , water levels and location

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Examples:
One lake I've given up on for the year due to daily high winds of over 20 mph, has many flats that extend far from any shore. Finding the edges and drops require a boat. In shallow water, dying pads make for some good fall fishing on those flats for bass, perch, crappie, sunfish and bass. The best time to fish this lake: whenever you want to or feel comfortable once the air temp goes from 29 degrees up to 65 in the sun. Fish are cold blooded and bite lures regardless of the time of day or water temperature which right now is in the 50's,

The lake I also did done well on this year is a different story: high hills for wind protection; paths around the lake; deep water off many steep banks; narrow flats and humps parallel to shore within a casting distance from shore or to it. The biggest mistake the anglers from shore make is not moving when fish aren't caught - no different than me finding and catching fish from a rowboat. You gotta go to the fish; they aren't coming to you. Plus, fish aren't in large schools like in pre-spawn, and though double or triple catches can be made in a spot, single fish spread out many feet from each other is the norm where I've been fishing.

Another thing - at least in the n.e. lakes I've been fish from Oct 1 until the present, are the lures I use. Lures that use steady retrieves such as crankbaits, Beetle Spins and spoons, generally come up short because fish need to be teased long enough to strike, and in colder water that entails using light lures or live bait under a float that can be twitched long enough in a seasonal strike zone not far from their heads. In two days, I caught over 50 fish/ 4 different species on one Crappie Magnet rigged on a 1/24 oz ball head jig attached to 8# test braid. The retrieve was a combination of rod tip twitches, pauses and slight turns of the reel handle at the depth I found fish.

Note to Moose07: light lures cast way out from shore and worked slowly towards you would help in your search for fish grouped in deeper water from where you're standing. A float would allow an even greater casting distance to deeper water using light lures or live bait.

Note: deep water may only be 4-6' or 12'. But recently I've found that fish were milling around in water 4-6' closer to and also out from shore in the same area.

I launch the boat usually by 11am when the sun is warmest (most comfortable) and catch fish all day long sporadically before the sun gets too low. The above tips help me locate and catch fish in different areas of the lake and in different depths from a boat. No guarantee any of it will help where or how you fish.

Sorry for the long-winded dissertation but that's just who I am (except for the long-winded part ).