It’s a Beautiful Day for Fishing. Or is it?

I walked in the door and laid my rods in the corner and my wife asked, “How was the fishing?” “It was terrible” I said. Then she asked, “But why? It was so beautiful today!” “Exactly!” I exclaimed. That was the problem. It was too beautiful. No wind and high and bright “blue bird” skies.

So, what’s the problem?

Well lets think about this. Fish are prey for many different predators and many of these predators rely on sight to find their prey. Ospreys, eagles, FISHERMEN… When there’s no cloud cover and no ripple on the water it makes the predator’s job of finding their prey very easy. Fish know what’s up and they feel exposed on these days. They get real skittish and wary. Even the most perfect of presentations have the potential to be shunned by fish on “beautiful” days like these.

So, what, we don’t fish on beautiful days?

That’s not what I’m saying. Any chance you get to fish is a chance you should take. Fishing isn’t all about catching you know.  There are several upsides to “beautiful” days. You won’t be getting wet in a chop on the water, it just feels good to be out there and even if you can’t entice a bite, you can learn about where they are hanging out because you’ll be able to spot the fish easily. Then, next time you’re out fishing and the conditions are right, you’ll know where to find the fish.

What if I want to catch fish on “beautiful” days?

You might have to make some strategic adjustments. Keeping in mind that once the sun gets high, the fish are going to be on high alert, here are some things you can do to increase your odd of success.

1. Get on the water and on the fish before sunrise. The fish are less likely to be as skittish in the dark as they will be once the sun exposes them.
2. Use subtle baits. Rat-L-Traps and top water plugs are probably just going to scare the heck out of the fish. Use soft plastics on weightless hooks if you’re fishing shallow water. Fish your baits slower than normal and lead fish more that you usually would when sight casting.
3. Use live or dead bait. Fishing with lures is fun. It’s my favorite thing to do. But after the 50th redfish turned down my presentation this past Saturday, I was wishing I had some live sardines or cut mullet. If you really want to catch fish on “beautiful” days, you might have to swallow your pride and put down the jig and pick up the cast net.
4. Search for fish in deeper water. On “beautiful” days, if you can see the fish, they can probably see you. Try fishing deeper areas where you can’t see the fish. Those fish are more likely to be willing to play.

So, what’s a “real” beautiful day to you?

This is a beautiful day for fishing. We caught over 60 redfish this day.

If you had to know what my favorite weather is for fishing it would be this. Overcast skies with a very slight chop on the water. Air temps would be in the upper 70’s to low 80’s and there would be a chance of rain. Combine that weather with a good tide and it just seems like the fish go off.

But we can’t make the weather be a certain way so a “real” beautiful day to fish to me is any day I get up and my wife and kids are healthy, my family still loves me and God still puts the love of fishing in my heart. The weather is what it is. Enjoy every day you get a chance to fish and if you get out there and it’s a “beautiful” day, use some of the tips in this article and you’ll really have a beautiful day.