Do gills bite better early morning ?

I was wondering if anyone ever noticed a difference in the time of day when panfish ( sunnies, bluegills , etc,) bite the best .
I got to the pond this morning around nine . That’s early for me . :)
My normal time is around 10am to about noon .
I was trying to beat the Sunday morning walkers , although Sunday morning is usually a good time at ten , but being a holiday weekend, you never know.
It was almost 10 before I caught my first fish . A decent redear.
I still struggled until around 10:30 , when it seemed to pickup a little . I caught four and hooked six total in the last thirty minutes I fished.
It seems I’m wasting my time getting there early .
The bank I fish has shade on it until around 12:30 .
Thought maybe the sun creeping toward the shaded bank was pushing the fish closer.
Maybe I’m thinking too much :) .

On another note , I took my two piece 5’6” St Croix Triumph ULF . At least that’s what’s marked on the rod . This rod has a lot of bend it the first 2/3rds , to be a fast action , making it a lot of fun catching gills of all sizes .
I use this rod for stream trout fishing because the top section is so flexible and helps to keep trout hooked when they go crazy when hooked , especially on a short line .

I paired todays rod with an old Shimano Sahara 500 and 2# p-line .
Rod loads up and casts a float and fly like it was made for it .
I’m including a pic of the rod .

Some nice ones

Those are some good fish. Can't help out on the best bite times as I usually hit it mid day 11:00-2:00. I would think most would say first light and evenings for sunfish.

The last hour before sunset is when they really turn on.

:hesaid

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Originally Posted by moonrunner

Those are some good fish. Can't help out on the best bite times as I usually hit it mid day 11:00-2:00. I would think most would say first light and evenings for sunfish.

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I’ll need to research this so more .
It seems like they don’t start up until maybe around 11:00 .
Over my years of fishing , I’ve seen many days where we’d get to the lake at daybreak only to not catch anything for several hours .
Only problem with fishing late is there isn’t any shade after about 1 or 2 in the afternoon. And the algae floats to the surface in the evening.

I found this
“ Bluegill tend to be much more active in the afternoon/evening than they would be in the morning hours. As a result, tailor your fishing approach to these activity levels. In the morning, water is still relatively cool and it may take them an hour or two before they start looking to eat.”
Makes sense , explains why the bite is usually better about the time I’m headed home .
Also read , there are more insect hatches once the water warms and through out the day .

It does depend, gill. I have found early has worked very nice when fly fishing, particularly topwater flies. Soft baits not so much so. That said, somewhere after 9:00 they can really turn on until 11:00 or so, and then shut down and fast. I think water temp and sun position can have a lot to do with it. I’m talking warm water stream fishing, so YMMV. Later pm early evening can be very productive.
Bob

My opinion. I don’t start at daybreak for gills but don’t like to start once the day has heated up. About an hour after sunrise I find best for activity to begin. Crappie start at the first crack of light or under dock Lights before the sun.quite a contrast in habits. My afternoon trips don’t usually do as well. I think that the boat traffic bothers them a bit. No side imaging now so not finding beds this year. Where anyone fishes makes all the difference.

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Originally Posted by skeetbum

My opinion. I don’t start at daybreak for gills but don’t like to start once the day has heated up. About an hour after sunrise I find best for activity to begin. Crappie start at the first crack of light or under dock Lights before the sun.quite a contrast in habits. My afternoon trips don’t usually do as well. I think that the boat traffic bothers them a bit. No side imaging now so not finding beds this year. Where anyone fishes makes all the difference.

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Very ,very true. I’m sure my experiences are much different than many others, particularly lake and pond fishing.
Bob

seems later in the day is best for me , sometime around lunch till late in the day for sunfish, morning gill bites are not something I remember as being of great value when it comes to ketchn them :highfive

I've found that right around sunrise and an hour or two before sunset is when we catch the most bluegill. We're still trying to figure out where to find them on the beds though

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Originally Posted by FishHunter7725

I've found that right around sunrise and an hour or two before sunset is when we catch the most bluegill. We're still trying to figure out where to find them on the beds though

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If your water is clear enough to see bottom. Go at night with a high powered hand held spotlight. One person run the troll motor and gps to mark the beds. The other stand up and do the shining and looking. Best way I know


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

I’ve been doing some googling and reading and I figured out why I haven’t been catching as much at the pond lately .
It’s the temperature.
We’ve been having record high temperatures lately and the small , shallow pond heats up and doesn’t cool off much at night .
The bigger gills are most likely out in middle near the aerator trying to find the coolest temps .
That explains why the shady side produces some until the sun hits the area and heats it up .
I enjoyed winter fishing this past January and February up there on sunny days .
Didn’t have many walkers either . And the geese weren’t as bad .

We have had a real cool spell here in the NE that has lasted a couple of days. I’m going to test out how that affected the bite. Today the water will be warming and I’m thinking they are going to be aggressive. Fun to find out.
Bob