Best time to fish today

How these windows are worked out

Everything on this page is calculated for the exact spot you pick, in that spot's own time zone, from the position of the sun and moon.

• Dawn and dusk windows run from first light (the sun 6 degrees below the horizon) to about 90 minutes after sunrise, and from about 90 minutes before sunset to last light. Low light is the most reliable feeding trigger there is: predators see better than their prey at dusk, and baitfish move up to feed.
• Solunar major periods are the two hours centered on the moon passing overhead and underfoot. Minor periods are the hour around moonrise and moonset. They are shown because many anglers plan around them, and they are marked as the weaker signal because the evidence for them is thin.
• Moon phase uses plain words: new, crescent, half, three-quarter and full.

Is it better to fish in the morning or the evening?

Both low-light windows beat the middle of a bright day for most gamefish. In summer the morning window usually wins, because the water is at its coolest and the fish have fed through a short night. In spring and fall the evening often wins, because the afternoon sun has warmed the shallows by a few degrees. Walleye, crappie, snook and striped bass feed hardest right at the edge of dark; catfish and many snapper keep going well into the night. Each species guide lists its own feeding clock.

What moves the bite more than the clock

Dawn and dusk tell you when in the day to go. They do not tell you whether the day is worth it. That comes from conditions the sky cannot show:

• Water temperature sets how hard fish need to feed. Every species has a band it feeds best in, listed in the water temperature chart.
• Barometric pressure trend: the falling hours before a front are often the best of the week, and the bright, high-pressure day after it is usually the worst. See barometric pressure and fishing.
• Wind stacks bait on the windward bank. See wind and fishing.
• Tide decides the saltwater bite more than the sun does. See how to read a tide chart.

BiteCast puts all of it into one number: a 0 to 100 Fish Score for your spot and your target species, for every hour of the next eight days, with the reasons behind today's score.

Common questions

What is the best time to fish today?

For most fish, the best time to fish today is the first 90 minutes after sunrise and the last 90 minutes before sunset, when low light makes predators bolder and baitfish move. If a solunar major period lands inside one of those windows, that overlap is the window to be on the water. Pick your spot above to see today's exact times.

What time of day do fish bite the most?

Most gamefish bite most at dawn and dusk. Bass, pike, walleye, trout, crappie and redfish all peak in low light. Catfish and many snapper feed mostly at night. Bluegill and other sunfish feed through the day.

Do solunar tables really work?

Solunar tables track the moon's position, and the evidence that they predict catches is weak and inconsistent. They cost nothing to follow, so they are fine as a tiebreaker, but water temperature, pressure trend, wind, light and tide move the bite far more. The moon phase guide covers what the research does and does not show.

Is fishing better before or after rain?

The hours before rain are usually better: falling pressure, cloud cover and wind all make fish less wary. Heavy rain that muddies the water or a sharp cold front behind it usually slows the bite for a day or two. See fishing after a cold front.