The Magic Hour

This past week I thought I'd research this "Magic Hour" for myself. I went to three different lakes to test this theory. Friday Morning I went to Keystone lake. Got out on the water at 5:00 AM. Right at 5:45 the fish were going crazy on the shad at the surface. I used a slip cork rig set at two feet deep using jigs. I immediately caught crappie on each cast. The bites were so agressive that one of the fish hit the cork with a major bust. This frenzy lasted for about 30 minutes.

Saturday - Oologah lake:

On the water at 5:00 AM. Frenzy started at 6:00 AM - 6:30.
Caught large slab crappie right on top of the water.
Using same slip cork rig on rip rap. Very aggressive bites.

Sunday: Eufaula:

On the water at 5:30 AM. Frenzy started at 5:35. I had to fish
a little deeper at 4 feet with the slip cork rig, but caught much
larger fish. Got my 6 pound test line broke four times. Assuming
they were sandbass or hybrids. Landed several over 14 Inches.

Conclusion:

This magic hour theory is TRUE

Dang thats early and very interesting

Educate us, what is the "Magic Hour"?

I've seen posts of it several times on this site. It's when feeding is at it's peak. When the fish gorge on shad or whatever's small enough in their path to be eaten.

How do you determine what hour of the day it will be?

I would assume its typical at the day break hour. That's why I went to three lakes to determine this.

Magic hour for me has been 9:30 to 10:30 am? But I may need to try it at daybreak.

Are you fishing muddy water or stained water? I've always done better this time of the year in the afternoon and night time rather than early in the morning. Gotta wait for that water temp to warm up. I guess that's why Todd Huckabee does not start guiding this time of the year until 11:00 AM.

Blue cats have their magic time at daybreak too even in the dead of winter.

We use the phrase "Magic Hour"in the hospital too. It's exactly one hour after we make rounds giving soap suds enemas.:D

Good info. What about the dead heat of summer? Does the magic hour theory hold true then too? and do you prefer fishing shallow water in this magic hour during the summer too?

Stink,

That there is funny I don't care who you are!

Stink- LOL, you did it again.:)

Has anyone ever tried fishing during the peak hours you see posted in magazines like Outdoor Life and so on? I wonder if that is at all accurate.

My "Magic hour" is when ever I can get on the water and start fishing!

Stink,

You are a piece of work! That was funny!!!!!!!!!!!

Stink, that was funny.

I fished in 10 - 12 Ft of water. I've observed Sand Bass feeding frenzies in the summer. Crappie are usually deeper during the summer. Keystone and Eufaula were stained.

has any one ever heard of the orignal hannon moon clock had a guy show me one somewhile back and said that it tells you the "magic hour" for every day of the year and he said that he buys one every year for hunting and fishing i look it up of the internet before and there not real expensive a few $ if i remember right they were like 5 or 6 $ but not sure

I have heard of similar products. My experience on moon fishing calendars is that they are for the most part not accurate. I do know the moon plays a big part of catching fish as far as full moon and new moon phases goes. Meaning that I will normally catch alot more fish on new moon phases and I catch less fish during full moons, unless I am fishing at night and I catch alot of fish at night during full moon. But of course this doesnt always hold true too.

But as far as the moon fishing calendars, they say you can go out and catch fish at certain times during mid-day during certain days of the month. I have found this to not be true. As with most fishing and hunting, the best times are in the morning and evening year round.

Here is my opinion on all of this, all fish do not feed at the same time in a lake. Especially a lake a as big as Eufaula. There is no doubt that this theory would hold true, because we have all heard the early bird gets the worm. Fishing and catching fish is about one main thing, food. Where ever the bait is that is where you are going to catch your fish. That is why electronics have revolutionized the fishing world. We are now able to pattern fish better than we ever have before. Sonar's, Side scans, GPS maps of the channels, flats, creeks, structure etc. give us a better chance. The bottom line is if that school of fish comes in your area you are going to catch them, but be sure a pay attention to the pattern! Plus I like to fish more than 30-1hour a day, I want to be on the water 8 hrs. But thats just me. EB

I think I want to study and pattern the forage base....the rest should not be too hard?

Hey, we can write a grant and get paid to study the magic hour, patterns, etc. What a job!
Peke

I'm the one that started calling it the "Magic Hour" here on Oologah during this seasons spawn. It has not failed me on a trip yet. Oologah Crappie tend to have a different schedule than most other bodies of water. Oologah does not have that many coves or creeks, yet has 107k surface acres of water at normal pool. The Crappie don't seem to like being close to the surface on a sunny day after a particular time. It's held true for me for the last 5 years. They always move deeper after sunrise. Only a stragler or two can be caught shallow. However, I've found many places during the spawn that the fish just seem to slam the crap out of a minnow about 30 minutes prior to sunup, and sometimes lasting 1.5 hrs. I fairly certain, I coined the "Magic Hour" phrase. I have no clue as to if it works on other bodies of water. I like to launch around 3-4 a.m. weather permitting. I've never experienced any fast and furious catching in the middle of the night, except for during the "Magic Hour". I gotta call 'em as I catch 'em.

Well my theory on successful shallow water fishing during the "magic hours", that occur at sunrise and sunset, is because fish do not have eyelids. I know as crazy as it sounds I think there is something to this.

In the early morning and late evening hours, the sun angle allows it to reflect off the water and thus allows the baitfish a chance to come into shallow water to feed. The game fish will always follow the baitfish and in shallow water the baitfish are much easier targets. It seems that this almost always occurs near dropoffs of creek channels. (fish seem to love to be closer to deeper water too.)

As the sun rises, the angle is such that the light penetrates the water and thus the fish move out to deeper structured areas of the lake. (I feel this occurs due to them not being able to control the amount of light that enters their eyes.) In the mid mornings when I catch fish shallow, there is almost always a log or tree that is creating a shadow to protect the fish eyes. I will always fish the shadow side of the structure and a lot of times I can do good especially during the spawn when they are protecting the beds.

I fish eufaula and around the Longtown area, in the clearer water, inevitably I will catch fish 2 to 3 foot deeper than when I fish CC or Rock Creek. Again, the clarity of the water allows the sun penetration forcing the baitfish and gamefish deeper.

I have read other articles on this so it may or may not be true but it sure coincides with the "magic hour."