Cold Fronts

[buzzfrog]

does any cold front affect a bass, or should i ask what a cold front is. Very warm all week, then a night of rain and 10 degree drop tempatures, it is chilly today but not cold. Does this count as a cold front or does a cold front have to be a few days of cold weather. I hear people comming in from the docks and blame the cold front for bad fishing, If what i described above is a cold front is it even worth going fishing this evening, if so do i change or do any differantly, color-retrieves etc... also was told by old timers, (non big time fishermen) that after a big rain, plastics near the shore are kill becasue bass wait close to shore and eat the worms and bug that run off the bank.

[K_Mac]

Cold rain and temps has a real impact on fishing. Fishing was really starting to turn on around here until some cold rain and overnight temps down in the 40s dropped water temps from lower 70s to lower 60s. Usually slowing down and fishing tight to cover/structure is my plan in these conditions. I fished most of the day yesterday on a very good lake and caught only dinks. I threw the entire box at them, and fished depths from 6" to 20'. Although I won't say for sure, my guess is they had moved out and were suspended in deeper water. I did not spend any time proving that theory, as I have never had much luck catching those fish. We just enjoyed the day watching eagles, falcons, deer, and other wildlife. Whether the fish are biting or not, it still beats most other things...

[Raul]

1o degrees drop, in what ? water or air temperature.

If it is a 10 degree drrop in air temperature there will be little effect on that side, water is 800 times denser than air so 10 degrees drop in air temperature will have insignificant effect on water temperature. 10 degree drop in water temp is significant, fish will move deeper and tighter to structure and/or cover.

With drops in air temperature it´s the weather pattern associated what can make things change a lot, bluebird cloudless skies can shure cause the fish to develop a bad case of shutmouthitis.

[Marty]

Technically, a cold front is the leading edge of a colder air mass. It might be called a cool front or strong or weak cold front based on the temperature difference between the air mass and the air it's replacing.

[buzzfrog]

Yea, my weather has been 70 and 80s during the day, 30s at night, but today the temp dropped to about 55-60. It stopped raining about 1:00 pm today. is that considered a cold front, I mean how many days of bad weather or weather patterns storms etc... before it offcial is a cold front and how long does it throw bass off for

[200racing]

what i have gathered from alot of reading

water is much more stable than air so its takes awhile to drop its temp.

whats hits the fish instantly is barometric pressure. they feed harder as it drops(pre-front) then feed very little when it bottoms out and climbs back to normal.

[Crestliner2008]

what i have gathered from alot of reading

water is much more stable than air so its takes awhile to drop its temp.

whats hits the fish instantly is barometric pressure. they feed harder as it drops(pre-front) then feed very little when it bottoms out and climbs back to normal.

X2 - The rising barometric pressure - after a front moves through - forces bass down toward the bottom (the pressure affects their swim bladder) and reduces their activity levels. They rarely chase under these conditions. They can still be caught, but their strike zone is dramatically reduced, to a little as a few inches in severe frontal conditions. You have to fish very close to cover and almost bop 'em on their noses! But they can be caught.

[jeb2]

I agree it's more about the pressure. We were fishing a power plant lake Saturday after a cold front had moved through. The lake is always higher temps than other lakes in the area. And it was still quite warm on Saturday. But the fishing was way off compared to our normal trips there. I also went fishing yesterday on Beaver Lake and it was really bad. Never put a bass in the boat from 6:30 to noon. That's very unusual for me. Strong NNW winds to boot. Tough day on the water. But a 21" walleye did provide a little fun, and will look good in the frying pan!