Best Time of Day to Catch Striped Bass (All Seasons)

Striped bass are one of the most sought after and powerful gamefish in North American waters. Knowing what time of day is the best to catch striped consistently can really help you become a better striper fisherman. It is very important.

What is the best time of day to catch striped bass? The best time of day to catch striped bass is early morning from dawn until about 2 hours after sunrise and late afternoon from 2 hours before sunset until dusk. Fishing for striped bass can be even better in the hours before a major cold front or rain event arrives.

Tidal factors also play a big role for saltwater striped bass that we will cover later in this article.

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When are Striped Bass Most Active?

Based upon my experiences, striped bass will eat all day long but really seem to peak in activity levels in the early morning and late afternoon when they can hunt prey in the reduced light cooler temperature time slots.

Striped bass are visual predators and rely heavily on strong daytime vision to locate food. The reduced light hours of early morning and late evening are perfect for stripers because they can see better than most of the prey they are hunting.

This gives them a tactical advantage over many schooling baitfish they chase. Striped bass will absolutely feed throughout the night as well during the late spring, summer, and early fall.

Saltwater Striped Bass

The best time of day to catch saltwater stripers is normally in the morning and later in the afternoon. The bite can also be really good around high and low tides.

Keep an eye on tidal conditions and check out local fishing forecasts for the best times to hit the stripers in your area.

Freshwater Striped Bass

These are ones I am much more familiar with. Freshwater striped could be landlocked stripers that spend their entire life in freshwater, or they could be striped bass that transition to and from saltwater running up large rivers.

The best time of day to catch these striped bass will still be early morning and late afternoon but you can catch them all day long as long as food is present.

During the early summer when shad, alewives, and smelt are spawning at night, striped bass fishing can be intense.

That is my favorite window to fish because the action is in-your-face and hard-hitting. The other time I really like to fish for stripers is in the hours before a major weather break occurs.

Inbound cold fronts and rain storms can really turn on stripers and encourage them to forage for food. After the cold front arrives, fishing slows way down.

To learn how to catch striped bass using Alabama “umbrella” rigs, check out this article I wrote. If you want to know the best times to fish in Virginia Beach (one of the best striped bass destinations on the east coast), please check out this helpful article.

For a complete breakdown of the best time and season to fish in Cape Cod, please check out this complete guide I wrote.

Striped Bass Seasonal Guide:

Winter

During the winter, striped bass will absolutely feed as long as food is available. Their feeding metabolism does seem to slow down a bit but you can definitely still catch them.

Unlike warmer months when you really want to target stripers in the early morning and late afternoon when the water is cooler, during the winter you instead should fish when the day is hottest.

As a result, I recommend fishing in the afternoon from noon until about 2 hours before sunset. This is when you stand your best chance of landing some big fish.

If you want to learn what are the best fighting fish to catch to include saltwater and freshwater, please check out this helpful article I wrote.

Spring

During the spring, you really need to track the time of season you’re fishing. In early spring, the water is still very cold.

Striped bass will be pushing bait into the shallows to feed up before the spawn. They will be active feeding during the afternoon when the water is warmer.

Later in the spring you will have the spawn. Catching stripers during the spawn can be tough but post-spawn, striped bass come alive.

I recommend fishing in the early morning and late afternoon time windows for these post-spawn fish. Nighttime will start to come alive at the end of spring as alewives begin their spawn and striped hammer them at the surface at night.

Summer

In summer, the best time of day is early morning and late afternoon. I like fishing from dawn until 2 hours after sunrise in the morning. In the late afternoon, start fishing 2 hours before sunset until around the last light.

The middle of the day can be lucrative but you will need to fish closer to the bottom. In early summer around the spawn of schooling bait like alewives, the nighttime topwater can be incredible.

Fall

Fall can be a great time to catch big striped bass. They will be eager to feed to put on enough fat stores to make it through the winter.

This is desperation mode for striped bass. The best time of day to fish for fall striped bass depends a lot on the part of fall you are fishing.

Early fall mimics the summer where stripers feed most heavily in the cooler periods of the day. Early morning and late afternoon is key.

As fall moves along and the weather gets colder, striped bass feed more in the warmer parts of the day. The early afternoon period always seems to be best for me. The closer to the winter you get, the more striped bass feed in the warmer parts of the day.

Do Striped Bass Bite at Night?

I have found that night fishing for striped bass can hit or miss. During the early summer especially, freshwater striped bass fishing can be awesome at night in conjunction with the spawn of schooling bait like alewives and shad.

Using topwater baits that closely mimic alewives is the way to go. Later in the summer, you can catch stripers at night but not as reliably.

In the wintertime, don’t bother fishing at night for striped bass. You may catch some but the bite will be a lot slower than during the daytime.

How Does Moon Phase Affect Striped Bass Fishing?

For bass in general, the moon does play a role in feeding activity. I like to fish 3 days before and 3 days after both the new moon and full moon. This applies to daytime fishing.

Nighttime striper fishing is also affected by the moon. I have found that stripers are pretty light shy at night and will actually descend into deeper water when there is a full moon out.

On new moon nights or once the moon drops behind clouds, stripers rise closer to the surface to feed. I have also found that striped bass will relocate if you turn on a headlamp or some type of boat-mounted light.

Rain & Cold Snaps

These are my favorite windows to catch stripers. The low pressure systems associated with an approaching cold front or storm can really amp up feeding activity in striped bass.

A lot of times, the hours just before one of these events will see striped bass become very active and seek out prey and schooling fish to attack. Fish before a cold front especially.

After a cold front arrives, fishing will slow way down. You can still catch striped bass once the cold front kicks in but you will need to rely more on dead bait on the bottom and not fast moving lures. But before the cold front, fish with moving baits like plugs, spoons, and glide baits for big bites.

Can You Catch Striped Bass in the Middle of the Day?

The truth is you can catch striped bass during the middle of the day but you will need to fish down deeper. Striped bass don’t seem to like hitting baits above them in the water column with a bright sun overhead.

Imagine how fun it would be to eat food that is up above your head while you’re staring up into the sun. Instead, stripers will prefer to look down for food so fishing on or near bottom is best.

Now this all changes on cloudy or overcast days. When the bright sun overhead is diminished, stripers will oftentimes come up near the surface to strike shade, alewives, and squid.

What about Hybrid Striped Bass “Wipers”?

Hybrid striped bass, also called wipers, are merely hybrids of striped bass and white bass. You can easily spot them because their stripes are broken and not clean like a regular striper’s would be.

These fish are most active in warmer months around sunrise and sunset. During colder months, I find that late morning through mid-afternoon seems to be the best time to catch wipers. I really like fishing for them during weather breaks.

If it has been cold for weeks and one day, the ambient temperature is up about 8-degrees, that is when these fish will absolutely come alive and feed.

Also, warmer rain during the winter can really draw fish into the mouths of feeder streams and make them bite.