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Probably the best fishing times are when the ocean tides are restless before their turn and in the first hour of ebbing. All fish in all waters, salt and fresh, feed most heavily at those times.
The best temperatures for fish species vary widely, of course, and are chiefly important if you are going to have your own fishpond. The best temperatures for brook trout are 45° to 65° F. Brown and rainbow trout are more tolerant of higher temperatures. Small-mouth black bass do best in cool water. Horned pout take what they find.
Most of us go fishing when we can get time off, not because it is the best time. But my granddaddy always said "boy, if ya wanna catch something, 'asides yeller flies or 'skeeters, ya needs to go fishing . . .":
- One hour before and one hour after high tides, and one hour before and one hour after low tides.
- During "the morning rise", after sunup for a spell, and "the evening rise", just before sundown and the hour or so after.
- When the water is still or rippled, rather than during a wind.
- When there is a hatch of flies, caddis flies or mayflies, commonly. (The fisherman will have to match the hatching flies with his fly, or go fishless.)
- When the breeze is from a westerly quarter rather than from the north or east.
- When the barometer is steady or on the rise. (But, of course, even in a three-day driving northeaster, the fish aren't going to give up feeding. Their hunger clock keeps right on working, and the smart fisherman will find something they want.)
- Starting on the day the Moon is new and continuing through the day it is full. 'Always fish on the growing moon'.
