Este artigo está disponível apenas em inglês.
When to catch largemouth and smallmouth bass: the best times of day, a season-by-season water temperature guide, and how weather, moon and solunar windows fit in.
Bass are the most popular freshwater game fish in the US, and one of the easiest to time once you know what drives them: light, water temperature, and weather. Here's when to go.
Overcast days stretch the morning bite across the whole day.
| Water temperature | Phase | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Below 50°F (10°C) | Winter | Fish slow and deep; the warmest afternoon hours are best |
| 50–60°F (10–15°C) | Pre-spawn | Often the best fishing of the year. Bass feed up on points and channel edges near spawning flats |
| 60–75°F (15–24°C) | Spawn | Bass on beds in the shallows; check local rules on bed fishing |
| 70–80°F (21–27°C) | Post-spawn and early summer | Topwater mornings, bass move to grass and points |
| Above 80°F (27°C) | Summer | Dawn, dusk and night; deep structure at midday |
| Falling from 70 to 55°F (21–13°C) | Fall | Bass chase baitfish into creeks; long feeding windows |
Smallmouth follow a similar calendar but tolerate cooler water and like rock, current and clear water.
The pressure side is explained in barometric pressure and fishing.
Many bass anglers believe the spring full and new moons trigger waves of spawning when water temperature is right, and tournament anglers often watch the moon in the pre-spawn. In summer, bright full-moon nights are popular for night fishing.
Use the moon to choose days and solunar windows to choose hours: a major period at sunrise on a pre-front day is about as good as bass fishing timing gets. The phases are compared in best moon phase for fishing, and the 2027 spring moon dates are in the solunar fishing calendar.