First cold front - FLORIDA

[Hez]

Now that we are a few days into this first cold front down here in Florida...how is everyone doing on the water? 

The bite has been tough for me the last 3 days - nothing seems to be working well at all. 

Threw soft plastics all day yesterday, finally landed one on a shallow crank - fishing Lake Harris in Central Florida.  Fish seem to have lock jaw - hoping they are a bit less finicky and ready to eat today.

How has everyone else been doing? 

 

 

[N Florida Mike]

They were biting big- time right as the front came in.I caught 7 or 8 that evening, 2 pound average. Mostly on a 5 inch senko.

Fished a pond for a little while today.Had 1 bite in about 40 min.Big fish but lost her.

And I caught a couple 3 pounders in the home lake on live bream in the last couple evenings.

[Terzy]

It's been pretty d**n tough, only caught a few dinks fishing a baby brush hog super slow. 

[riverbasser]

Not in Florida but not too far from it. Plan on going Friday to an area I'm not too familiar with. Plan on taking advantage of the drought as the water is low and way clearer than normal so I will be able to see things that I normally couldn't. Guna be marking a bunch of stuff and fishing along the way. There's a warm trend coming back and I have hopes it will be a good day

[soflabasser]

Bass fishing has been excellent for me this whole year,haven't noticed it slowing down at any point. I have done all my bass fishing from the bank this year, so you definitely don't need a boat to have a good time bass fishing in Florida. Try fishing slower than normal during/after cold fronts.

[N Florida Mike]

I had a very slow summer.Hottest summer in 100 years In the Jax area I believe.

Spring was good,not great.Fall has been about average.

Still not getting big fish for some reason.

[soflabasser]

1 hour ago, N Florida Mike said:

I had a very slow summer.Hottest summer in 100 years In the Jax area I believe.

Spring was good,not great.Fall has been about average.

Still not getting big fish for some reason.

Have you tried night fishing during the summer?I have noticed that I do better night fishing during the summer,when the water is warmer than usual ,or in highly pressured bodies of water.You live somewhat close to Osceola national forest , I know people catch big bass often around that area,so I think its worth the drive to fish that area and surrounding areas.Stick marsh is another place filled with big bass.

[hawgenvy]

Here in South Florida today it got humid and drizzly late afternoon and the one to two pounders went crazy for my chrome jerkbait thrown from the bank.  Caught twenty bass in an hour.  But the Mayan cichlids were snapping at it too, and I kept catching them -- unwillingly. One was hard to calm down to unpin, which resulted in a treble hook in my finger past the barb (ouch!). Meanwhile, I was getting bit on the big toe by a couple of fire ants, and a little gator was pursuing me all over the place.  Anyway, I made it home safe and sound and the main thing is that I didn't lose my $25 Megabass jerkbait.

Tomorrow should be a good day for bass catching  -- that is, if that someone special will let you out of the house for a few hours on a holiday to do it.

[N Florida Mike]

I didn't go night fishing much this year.I work outside,and by the end of the day I was just wanting AC and sweet tea.And there were a lot of nights that it really didn't cool off much.But night fishing is best in summer for sure.

I have not fished the Osceola lakes,but have fished most of the big lakes near there like Ocean pond and Palestine with fair results.

Stick marsh is a long drive from NE FL.I prefer Rodman but haven't fished it lately.There are some 16+ fish in there without a doubt.

[soflabasser]

Rodman Reservoir definitely has some huge bass in it. A man caught a +14 pounder out of there not too long ago and that bass is registered in the TrophyCatch Hall of Fame club . Lots of people have caught +10 pounders out of Rodman Reservoir and it's highly likely a state record fish is swimming there at this moment. 

[N Florida Mike]

I heard of a fish around 17 being caught there a year before or two ago .A guide or his client caught it on a shiner.He also lost a fish at the boat he thought was bigger,maybe 19 or 20.

I hooked a huge fish there once.It just turned around swam off and broke the line.I either had 14 or 17 pound test.Probably the biggest bass I've ever hooked.Only 1 other fish ever did the same thing to me.

[Hez]

 

On ‎11‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 11:16 PM, Terzy said:

It's been pretty d**n tough, only caught a few dinks fishing a baby brush hog super slow. 

I know the feeling!!!

 

 

 

On ‎11‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 2:26 PM, soflabasser said:

Bass fishing has been excellent for me this whole year,haven't noticed it slowing down at any point. I have done all my bass fishing from the bank this year, so you definitely don't need a boat to have a good time bass fishing in Florida. Try fishing slower than normal during/after cold fronts.

Yes sir - have been trying to fish slower.  It's tough for me...but I have been doing "okay" at it. 

 

 

On ‎11‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 9:12 PM, hawgenvy said:

Tomorrow should be a good day for bass catching  -- that is, if that someone special will let you out of the house for a few hours on a holiday to do it.

I had the whole week off...and have been fishing everyday so far, figured I would spend time with the family on Thanksgiving and the day after. 

Back to fishing tomorrow.

 

Quote

On ‎11‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 7:43 PM, N Florida Mike said:

Still not getting big fish for some reason.

 

Me either, and was making that exact comment Wednesday on the water;  "Seems like the big fish are tough to catch lately." 

              ___________________________________________________________________________

We went out Wednesday and had a better day!  Caught 9 between my 12 yr old son and I (which is a trophy day on the Harris Chain).  They were back to biting like crazy. 

Started the day throwing worms - then the crankbait bite turned on.  My son caught his new PB of 3.62 lbs. 

[Mike L]

Florida bass are notorious for just flst shutting down after a cold front. And the farther south you go the bite gets harder and lasts longer. Take Okeechobee for example...The north shore bite can be completely different than say in So. Bay and it's only 30+ miles away.

This last cold front wasn't as bad as what we'll see later on. A few days after the front passed it warmed up considerably and with it the bite also..

 

Mike 

[soflabasser]

The weather seems to have been stable since the last coldfront we got,so I decided to fish for bass this weekend with my better half. Glad I went(and not saltwater fishing which I was planning to do) since I caught a 8.15 pound bass from the bank,which makes it the 5th biggest bass I caught in 2016.I think I need to take my better half fishing with me more often,since I seem to catch some memorable fish when she joins me

 

[Hez]

10 hours ago, soflabasser said:

I think I need to take my better half fishing with me more often,since I seem to catch some memorable fish when she joins me

 

Now that you mention it...my better half was there when I caught my PB too...maybe you are on to something.  

[geo g]

Went out last night for just one hour from 5:00 and dark.  Caught 11 with 2 two pounders and a 7.5 lb big fish.  It was pre-cold front conditions and the bite was on.  I will try to post a pic with my original post.

[woolleyfooley]

Reviving this thread. If that’s not allowed I apologize!

 

So a cold front is on the way right now. First real one of the year. Is it still widely believed that south Florida bass don’t bite after a cold front? I remember reading some more recent threads where it seems that opinion might have changed lately.
 

It seems pond bass are less affected by cold fronts, imo anyways. Any reason that could be? 

[crypt]

I really believe the cold fronts affect the fisherman more than the fish. You just got to slow down and figure out what works at the time. I have caught em great right after a front came in and sometimes they just don't seem to want to hit anything. It's a crapshoot. Love it.

[rboat]

Fishing was real good before Hurricane Milton. That storm shut down many of my local boat ramps and the ones that are open, it seems the bass have gone into hiding. I feel blessed if I catch one each trip. Those big storms seem to really mess up the normal fall bite.

[N Florida Mike]

I personally don’t fish much after a cold front . I’ve never done well fishing then, ‘specially with blue bird skies and wind.
 

[Don51]

I went out with the kayak in the morning not expecting anything. Wind was howling to make matters worse. Ended up with 10 bass of no size and lost a few. Was surprised to catch anything. 🐟