When is the best time to go fishing? We ask this question many times and there are two answers. The first answer is to go fishing when you can. With the daily pressures of everyday life even a couple of hours casting a lure or just sitting on the bank waiting for a bite is time well spent.

The second answer is not nearly as important as the first but here are some facts. We get up hours before daylight and head to the lake to get that "early" bite. We fish way past dark to get the bite. And when lunch time comes we leave the lake. This is our biggest mistake.

Records kept by several organizations including the International Game Fish Association to the Bass Anglers Sportsmans Society tell the tale. Divers who have spent thousands of hours under water studying fish activity both salt and fresh water tell the tale. Lifelong fishermen also tell the tale.

More than eighty percent of all world record fish from both fresh and salt water are caught between the hours of 11am until 2pm. And the reasons can be as mystifying as the fish themselves. But here's a view.

During the middle of the day sunlight is at it's peak making everything in the underwater world much easier to see. The water is almost always warmer during the middle of the day. But the simplest fact of all known to experienced anglers is big fish simply feed in the middle of the day.

Casting lures all day is worth the effort. But think about every cast before you make it. Accuracy can and will pay off. If the fish are very tight in cover and you miss the target only a few inches, you may not get the strike. Bounce lures IN the under water structure. Never be afraid to loose or hang up a lure. That's an anglers biggest fear, not loose the fish, but loosing the lure. After all it's call terminal tackle for a reason.

The next time a fishing trip is planned, fish hard ALL day long. Get the baits IN the structure. We just might see your name in the record books.