While listening to episode 55 of the On The Water Podcast, my ears perked up when the guys began chatting about all the signs of activity on the pond one night. The concept of a bite window has always intrigued me because no matter where I fish—fresh or salt, east or west—the bite window opens, and then at some point, it slams shut!
In my younger days, while fishing in Southern California, I watched the bite window swing wide open in areas packed with boats. One moment, all was quiet and no one was catching, but then, as if someone flipped a switch, every boat doubled up. Today, as a kayaker, I usually avoid the fleet and look for open shorelines at night. However, when that bite window opens, I’ll get right in where the fish are and make the most of it.
Sometimes, it isn’t hard to figure out when the bite is ramping up since there are obvious signs like breaking fish and other anglers with bent rods. There are also signs of a bite window in nature. In salt water, it may be diving birds or nervous baitfish stacking the water column. Freshwater signs can be more subtle; you may notice animals like squirrels, birds, deer, and rabbits becoming increasingly active or mobile. Activity in nature has peaks and lows and, as anglers, we try to hit as many of the peaks as possible.
The question that we all need to answer is how do we know when peak activity occurs? I focus on tides and solunar tables. The solunar tables are an often-debated topic, as in are they accurate? I have found them to be most helpful in salt water because they are based on the same forces that shape tides. They highlight the periods around tide changes, and for fish that ride the tides, such as stripers and fluke, tide changes either spur or kill the bite.
In my experience, the best bites occur either as the current slows before a tide change or as it speeds up after the peak high or low. Slack tide is sometimes an opportunity to hit a large fish, but even those encounters tend to happen a bit away from dead slack. Of course, local conditions always have a big influence, and some spots produce results at a specific point in the tide even when the fish aren’t biting elsewhere.
For kayakers, taking advantage of lower current times can make life easier by helping conserve energy as well as increase catch rates. I like to find spots where I can ride a fast-moving tide to—some kayak launches allow me to pedal down-current to a hot spot, fish through the turn of the tide, and return home with the current. If I can time my trips with tides, I’ll launch just after peak current, which occurs about 3 hours into a rising or falling tide. This allows me to fish until slack and usually puts me in one of the bite windows.
I’m a fan of getting to a spot where I expect the fish to be before the bite window opens. Once there, I scout around with my fishfinder to try and locate the fish on structure. No matter how dedicated I am to fishing the bite windows, there are always fish willing to eat a great presentation at any time or tide.
There will be times when you misjudge the bite window. I’ve launched at ridiculous o’clock in the morning just to hit a bite window that never opened. Often, it is because the fish are more active on the next tide, so sticking it out through the turn tends to reveal the correct window. Expecting fish to bite at a certain time can be frustrating. We all have experienced tough days when every fish is a gift, and you just have to grind through a tide to be successful.
I think the bite window is much more pronounced in salt water than in fresh. My freshwater norm is to focus on sunrise and sunset bites, which are typically very good, but I have had many days when an obvious bite window opened. In healthy ponds with plenty of life, you may see or hear an increase in sunfish activity during summer bug hatches. When it happens, sunfish start popping everywhere, and their predators are always nearby.
One of the things I love about kayaking is the ability to maneuver into tight quarters. I have many places in both fresh and salt water that are very small spots, but they produce fish when the conditions are right. Years of fishing familiar areas helped me pattern tides and conditions that will ignite a bite and, over time, I’ve developed an array of bite windows to choose from. A good bite is never guaranteed, but you can use tides, weather conditions, and the forces of nature to tilt the odds in your favor.
So, take a listen to the podcast and note how Jimmy and Cheech identified an opportunity to catch fish and how they destroyed it with a large splash. I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but I’m pretty sure Jimmy was pushed.
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