Winter is one of my favorite times to fish for trout. Not only are there fewer people on the water, but trout will feed throughout the cold season, giving you great odds of catching a fish. So what’s the best time of day to fish for trout in the winter? That’s what I want to answer for you in this post.
The best time of day to fish for trout in the winter is during the afternoon. The water temperature will be the coldest first thing in the morning, and if the weather is nice, it will warm as the day progresses. In the afternoon the water is warmer and aquatic insects will become active which triggers the trout to feed.
Don’t worry if you only have morning hours to fish. Trout fishing can be very productive throughout the winter months, but generally speaking the bite will be better as the day progresses.
I want to take some time now to go more in depth as to why the afternoon is the best time to fish for trout in the winter.
There Is More Bug Activity
Bug activity is incredibly important regardless of if you are fly fishing, lure fishing or bait fishing. The fact, is that the average trout’s diet is made up almost entirely of insects and worms.
The underwater world is dense with life. Even many of the bugs you see flying around the lake or river were hatched out of eggs underwater. Most of these bugs live almost their entire lives underwater, and emerge as flies for only the last day of their life on earth.
But What If I don’t Fly Fish?
This is why fly fishing can be extremely productive. But that being said, you don’t have to be a fly fishing angler to catch trout. I’m sure you already know that lures and worms can be very effective.
The reason it is important for a bait or lure angler to understand insects, is that when the insects are active, so will be the trout.
During the winter months, insects are much less active. Most insects will be hiding down in the rocks waiting for a warm spring day to arrive before they come out and spread their wings.
However there are a few very small insects that will emerge out of the water year round, including winter. They are tiny little midge flies. As I said, midges will hatch year round, but during the winter they prefer to wait until a sunny day.
During this feeding time, you can cast out your lure for a reaction bite, or float a nice juicy worm under a bobber.
So in the winter, the best time to fish for trout is during the afternoon of a sunny day. This is when the midges are making their way from the bottom of the lake or river up to the surface where they can hatch out of their wormlike shell and spread their wings. As they are rising through the water and hatching out on the surface, the trout will be eating them like crazy.
Trout Slow Down When They Are Cold (Kind of…)
As waters get extremely cold in the winter months, the trout’s metabolism will slow down slightly and they won’t be quite as active as they were in the spring and fall. This being said, trout do prefer cold water over warm water. This is why they are such a great species to target during the winter.
Other fish like bass, carp, and catfish are much more difficult to catch during the winter because they go into a sort of hibernation mode. They aren’t sleeping like a bear, and they will still eat, but they will be pretty lazy. For this reason, I usually just focus on trout all winter long.

Winter Trout in Warm Climates
Obviously winter weather is different depending on where you live. Currently I’m living in Arizona, where they only stock trout from November to February. The summers in Phoenix are just too hot and the trout won’t be able to survive in the local ponds.
Since the winters are so mild in Phoenix, you can fish for trout any time of day during the winter. However, because of the fact that you are fishing near a major city, you have to deal with crowds. For this reason it might be better to fish for trout early in the morning. Otherwise there will be too many anglers and the fish will be under too much pressure.
Most good trout fishing is done in the northern states where the climate is much colder.
Winter Trout in Cold Climates
Before moving to Arizona I spent over a decade living in Idaho. Idaho winters are very cold. I usually didn’t fish if the temperatures were below 20F. Not because the fish weren’t biting but rather because Water would freeze in my guides and I wouldn’t be able to cast. I could still catch plenty of trout, but I’d have to break the ice off my rod after every cast and that’s just not very fun.
And this leads me into my final reason as to why the afternoon is the best time to catch trout in the winter.
It’s More Comfortable For The Angler
Here are some reasons why morning isn’t the best time to fish for trout in the winter.
I don’t mean to sound weak here, but some winter mornings are just too dang cold. A winter morning in Idaho can easily be sub 0 temperatures.
Now if you are ice fishing then great, just dress warm, bring your shelter and little buddy heater and jig through the ice. But if you are fishing a river or lake that isn’t frozen over, then there are going to be some challenges once you get below the freezing point.

For one, you may have an ice shelf building on the water’s edge. This can cause problems when you are reeling in your fish and it cuts your line on the ice. It can also be dangerous if you try to step on the ice and end up falling through.
You need to protect your hands. When you are handling fish your hands are most likely going to get wet. I recommend using barbless hooks during the winter because it will decrease the amount of time you have to handle a wet fish to get the barbs out. I also suggest you bring a small hand towel so that you can dry your hands off when they do get wet.
You can wear gloves when trout fishing in the winter. But you still have to take them off to tie knots and handle fish.
There have been many times my hands have gotten so cold that I couldn’t touch my thumb to my pointer finger let alone tie a knot. This makes fishing in extreme cold a real hassle and not really worth it to me.
All this being said, the weather will usually be slightly warmer in the afternoon and since that’s the time when trout are more active anyways, I say that the afternoon is the best time of day to fish for trout in the winter.
One more thing, you’ll probably be more patient when you are comfortable. Patience and confidence are two key ingredients to having an enjoyable day out on the water.
Conclusion
As the day progresses into the afternoon, the temperatures will usually rise and insects will become more active. As the insects become more active, the trout will start feeding. Even if you are fishing with bait or lures, you can still take advantage of this feeding schedule. That is the main reason why the afternoon is the best time to fish for trout in the winter.
I hope this helps you out. Stay safe in that cold weather, and have fun out there!
If you are looking for more trout fishing tips, check out my trout page