Topwater bite on cold mornings??

[Bassin-Yakin]

Do the cold mornings affect the topwater bites? 

I am in Virginia and it has been down around 35 or so at night, but warming to mid 60s during the day.  I am planning on going out early morning and wondering if the cold weather affects the topwater bite.  Does it make it later in the day, or nonexistant?  Do the fish wait for the air to warm up some to start feeding?  Thanks for the tips...

[Owasco]

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Do the cold mornings affect the topwater bites?

I am in Virginia and it has been down around 35 or so at night, but warming to mid 60s during the day. I am planning on going out early morning and wondering if the cold weather affects the topwater bite. Does it make it later in the day, or nonexistant? Do the fish wait for the air to warm up some to start feeding? Thanks for the tips...

Up here in upstate NY, the bite has died right off for me :'(.  The last week or so we have had warm weather (55-65 degrees) with it falling into the 30s at night.  Still no luck.  I have a feeling that our water temps are slightly colder than yours though.  I've tried just about every type of presentation I can think of.  It may be time for me to chase Walleye.

[J Francho]

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] J Francho.

[Bassin-Yakin]

our water temps are still around 60 or so... I have had some luck on spinnerbaits... anyone else have tips for early morning fishing on cold mornings??

[casterus60]

Saturday and Sunday we had hell's weather up here in chicagoland.Night- 30's,day-40's,wind gusts up to 30mph.Did try lipless,shallow cranks,jigs and nothing worked.But I found ledge with 7-8' of water and caught 10 bass 12-18'' in an hour.I've used slooow moving C-rig.As a bait- brush hog.After an hour bites stopped.Maybe this will help.

Adam

[Vinny Chase]

In my experience, the only luck I have had with topwater in cold water temps has been with a pop r. Make sure to wait about 10 seconds in between pops because the fish are solo sluggish.

If that isn't working go fish the drop offs with a slow jig prsentarion, I was slamming them last week doing this

[Gangley]

I have had decent luck with a Yellow Magic popper, but my waters aren't quite as cold as yours yet.  Maybe try a shallow suspending jerk bait.  I know it's not top-water, but they generally produce well in fairly cold waters

[gobig]

Until about two years ago I would have never thought of throwing a top water bait in cold weather. Now there is not a trip I go on with out giving it a try. I realize that I live in California and we do not see some of the temps other regions of the country experience. Generally our water temps do not get much lower than 40 deg in the winter.

Here is what I have experienced. The top water bite in colder weather is generally larger fish. Do not expect to catch a ton of fish. Its not like the summer bite. If you get 5 blow ups in a day, that's a great day. This is about quality fish.

Size does matter. The general consensus is to down size in the winter. I have found that going larger has worked better for me especially over deep water. In most cases 6in baits are on the small side of what I use. These larger baits have a huge drawing power and can call fish up in the coldest water. I have had some success with smaller baits when I find shallow fish. I generally turn to a frog or a popper in this instance.

Fish slow... In many cases painfully slow. A dead stick presentation can be the answer. A good swimbait will have a subtle action imparted by the waves, wind or current. Maybe adding a few twitches now and then. Or a very slow roll. Just enough to make the tail kick. Punkers and super spooks are also good choices. Walk them slow with long pauses. I have not caught any fish moving baits fast this time of year. That is not saying it cannot happen. I am still new to these techniques in my opinion. However they have opened up another world.

[fishingfreak50]

I don't hesitate to throw my topwater. For me, the sun getting up affects my luck in a negative way. Many mornings in the cold, I have had some great topwater action on wakebaits and spooks.

[Jigfishn10]

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Until about two years ago I would have never thought of throwing a top water bait in cold weather. Now there is not a trip I go on with out giving it a try. I realize that I live in California and we do not see some of the temps other regions of the country experience. Generally our water temps do not get much lower than 40 deg in the winter.

Here is what I have experienced. The top water bite in colder weather is generally larger fish. Do not expect to catch a ton of fish. Its not like the summer bite. If you get 5 blow ups in a day, that's a great day. This is about quality fish.

Size does matter. The general consensus is to down size in the winter. I have found that going larger has worked better for me especially over deep water. In most cases 6in baits are on the small side of what I use. These larger baits have a huge drawing power and can call fish up in the coldest water. I have had some success with smaller baits when I find shallow fish. I generally turn to a frog or a popper in this instance.

Fish slow... In many cases painfully slow. A dead stick presentation can be the answer. A good swimbait will have a subtle action imparted by the waves, wind or current. Maybe adding a few twitches now and then. Or a very slow roll. Just enough to make the tail kick. Punkers and super spooks are also good choices. Walk them slow with long pauses. I have not caught any fish moving baits fast this time of year. That is not saying it cannot happen. I am still new to these techniques in my opinion. However they have opened up another world.

Great reply to this thread. I put my top waters away for this season and have done well with spinnerbaits these past couple of weeks in cold water, but after reading this, I'm going to give these techniques a shot.

Thank you for posting your techniques.

[jdw174]

The best day I had fishing last year came on a morning in late October when the air temp was in the low 40's and the water temp was 53.  I fished one 100yd stretch using a Sammy knockoff and my best five fish hit 22 pounds 8-).  Don't be afraid of topwater on cool mornings.

[aarogb]

I wouldn't be extremely worried about the air temperature.  Concentrate on the water temperature that's were the fish live.

[Nick]

I fish a lot during the fall to winter transition in a stream that has Kentucky, largemouth, and smallmouth bass. The topwater bite does slow down when the water temps drop below 55, but the bass can still be caught down to about 48 degrees with a fair amount of success. Use much longer pauses even with a stick (walking) bait or a popper. I've caught some real good bass pausing the lure for 4-10 seconds over a likely looking snag, bluff wall, or rock pile. I learned long ago to fish the deeper, slower holes, not the moving water at this time of the year. The usual topwater strikes now will be in a superslow rolling motion much slower than the "big bang" of a summer topwater strike, but success can still be had with topwaters and even slow buzzbaits at times. In these Ozark streams, I often note that one species get active while the others are not feeding.  Always fun to watch the rise and fall of aggressiveness (activity)of all the species during a day's fish.

[farmpond1]

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I wouldn't be extremely worried about the air temperature. Concentrate on the water temperature that's were the fish live.

Exactamundo!

It matters less what the immediate air temperature is than what the water temperature is (and has been). Water cools much more slowly than air so even if there has been a drop in the air temperature, the water can still be at an acceptably warm temperature for bass. Of course, once the water does cool off, that's a different ball game-particularly once a lake "turns over." Although it's not unheard of to catch bass on surface baits when the water temp drops into the 50's or lower, unless you just love to fish them, or unless you can find a shallow wind blown cove (for example) where the water temperature is up, there are other baits and techniques which will generally pay off better. Just my 2 cents.

[Micro]

I live in southeast Virginia and haven't seen any topwater action in weeks.  We've probably got warmer water than anywhere else in the state. 

The only activity on the surface I am seeing are balls of baitfish with a few jumping, but the bass action is underneath them.  I haven't heard or seen a blowup on the surface at all recently.  The bugs, especially dragonflies, that seem to draw topwater hits are all gone.  The frog noises are pretty much all gone.  And the fish I am seeing on my finder are usually 6+ feet down.  I'm done with topwater for the year.