Cold front help needed

[12poundbass]

Today's my wedding anniversary and my wife said she wanted to launch the boat and catch some fish (I know I'm lucky, I'm taking her out afterwards). Here's the thing, it's 30 degrees colder than it has been for the last 3-4 days. 

  I'm in central Michigan, 30 degrees colder, cloudy wind out of the east. I've never had any luck with cold fronts. I've read from a ton of you that say you have no problem catching them so my thinking towards this cold front has changed from the past. 

  What area of the 50 acre, natural lake would you focus on? Presentation? LMB btw

  Side question: I talked to a guy today and he said fish in the northern part of the country aren't as affected by cold fronts as the fish in the southern part of the country. Any truth to this? 

  Thanks in advance for the replies, and thanks for all the knowledge you've shared on this forum, it true my is the best.

[RoLo]

 

I can assure you, I'm not one of those anglers who has no problems during a cold-front   

 

Water nearest the surface is most effected by a cold-front, which pushes bass down to the bottom.

What you want to do is downsize your lure, fish on or near the bottom and slooow down your delivery.

A dropshot rig is a good choice, but any option that caters to the above 3 adjustments

will be just as effective.

 

Roger

 

[scaleface]

I dont have a different plan after a cold front . If its cold and sunny I probably wont  fish a top water, otherwise I start out like normal and try to make the correct changes as needed .

[Turkey sandwich]

Anyone on here saying that they don't have a tough time during a cold front is probably being a little less than forthright.  Everyone struggles getting bites during major changes in conditions, be it cold fronts, drastic changes in water level, clarity, etc.  

 

My advice?  Enjoy her company on the water and make that the focus. 

My other advice?  Cold fronts will typically push fish toward stable water and their level of aggression will be slowed.  They could move slightly deeper to the closest change in structure, and likely they'll be much tighter to cover.  It's a small like, so the effect is likely pretty big, but the upside is that a 50 acre lake doesn't leave a lot of room to hide.  Once you find them, you'll likely find decent numbers.  Getting them to bite typically requires a lot of finesse (dead sticking, shaky head/finesse worm, drop shot) or trying to get reaction bites by ripping crankbaits or spinnerbaits.  

 

Have fun at dinner!

[scaleface]

I havent been able to fish because of health reasons and dont know when I will be able to go .  Its 61  degrees today a lot colder than it has been . It  looks like great fishing weather to me  . I would expect a really good day if I could get out .

[MIbassyaker]

50 acre natural largemouth lakes in michigan -- my specialty! (err....such as it is).  Cold front recipe: 4-6" worm on the bottom in the cabbage.

[chadmack282]

water temp  doesnt change near as fast as air temp so i wouldnt expect to much of a difference ln water temp over night.  

so slightly cooler water & over cast after several sunny days sounds like a great day to me!!

[Scott F]

1 hour ago, chadmack282 said:

water temp  doesnt change near as fast as air temp so i wouldnt expect to much of a difference ln water temp over night.  

so slightly cooler water & over cast after several sunny days sounds like a great day to me!!

Surface water temp in the lake I'm fishing in Northern Wisconsin went from 55 to 48 overnight. That's a pretty big drop. It sure shut off the bite for both smallmouth and largemouth. 

[WRB]

The reason bass stay deep during the winter to pre spawn transition until the water temps and weather stabilizes is big swings in surface water temps the bass can't tolerate.

deeper water bass are less affected by cold fronts.

Tom

[Catt]

The colder the water, the slower the bass's brain operates so the slower you must present your lure or it's gone before the bass's brain tells it to bite!

 

Slow Rate of Fall!

 

Wacky Rigged Trick Worm

[NHBull]

If I was going out with the Mrs in those conditions at his time of the yr, drop shot and wacky rig in the calmest part of the lake.  I don think the bass will be chasing bait fish on the surface in those temps

[12poundbass]

UPDATE:

Well the weather guessers in my area were wrong, the rain that they said was going to stay way south moved north towards me. They always blame Lake Michigan on the inaccuracies. We played it safe and didn't launch the boat. We grabbed the poles and hit a couple bridges. She caught one on her usual, 5" green pumpkin Senko (that's all she'll use is a Senko). I caught one I'd guess 1.5lbs on a 1/2 jig just scooting it across the bottom of the river. Both smallies. Bummed we couldn't launch the boat, but glad we got to fish. We went out to eat afterwards, and had a good time. Thanks for all your responses!

[Captain Phil]

Your question about the effect cold fronts have on northern or southern fish is an interesting topic.   Down South where I live the water never gets much colder than the high 40s.  However, Florida largemouth bass turn off severely when this happens.  We don't have a lot of deep water, so our fish dig deep in heavy cover especially wood.  There are two cold front tactics that have worked for me over the years.  One is fast and one is slow.   The fast method is to rip a rattle trap or lipless crank bait and trigger a strike with a fast erratic retrieve.  I don't have a clue why this works, but it does.  It's tough work, but it has bailed me out of a lot of nasty cold front situations.  This works best if the water is murky.

 

The slow method is to slow way down and flip heavy cover with a small jig or soft plastic lure.  Make as many drops as you can and give the fish time to find the bait.  Some of my biggest bass came on a cold high sky day in January.   Whatever you do, keep up your confidence and stick with it.   You won't get as many bites after a cold front, but you may catch more fish than the rest of the anglers.

[MIbassyaker]

56 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

UPDATE:

Well the weather guessers in my area were wrong, the rain that they said was going to stay way south moved north towards me. They always blame Lake Michigan on the inaccuracies. We played it safe and didn't launch the boat. We grabbed the poles and hit a couple bridges. She caught one on her usual, 5" green pumpkin Senko (that's all she'll use is a Senko). I caught one I'd guess 1.5lbs on a 1/2 jig just scooting it across the bottom of the river. Both smallies. Bummed we couldn't launch the boat, but glad we got to fish. We went out to eat afterwards, and had a good time. Thanks for all your responses!

 

That's more than I caught sitting at my desk, for sure.

[scaleface]

I remember one time my cousin and I went fishing after a cold front with high blue bird skies . I  made the comment this might be a tough day and he said "nah the deeper fish will still bite ". He was right .  Cold fronts dont discourage me unless there are high winds .

[12poundbass]

Up until a couple years ago when I really started to get serious about bass fishing I was always told it takes a good 48-72 hours after a cold front before the bite comes back. Honestly I've never had luck after a cold front, but I now know my approach was way wrong. My confidence still isn't all the way there but it's getting there when it comes to cold fronts. 

  I can honestly say I've learned more in these 7 months I've been a member than I have in the past few years reading articles. You guys truely are great!

[WRB]

When someone asks a question regarding bass behavior it's helpful to know when they are fishing and what specie of bass is being targeted, the OP said LMB and is fishing in Michigan. Good post and better decision not to suffer in the rain with his bride!

Tom

[Catt]

What's at issue here is not just water temperature but frontal & post frontal conditions.

 

Your bite can shut off in a matter of minutes & stay shut off for a day or two.

[scaleface]

A simple  change in wind direction can shut it down or improve the bite .  So  just go fishing and if fish are not caught   try to make smart decisions on how to catch some .You cant do anymore than that .

[sully420]

Im experiencing the same here in Minnesota. I do believe bass up here are not effected by cold fronts as much as southern bass but there are times of the year that they are. I think this is one of those times bass are transitioning shallow to think about spawning and all of a sudden cold rain and temps dropped from 70-40 degrees in the span of a week with steady winds. Also weed growth has just begun and most shallow bays are have very little weed growth at all. This adds up to 6hrs of fishing and 2 1lb bass to show. Seems like a good idea to fish deep and slow or stay home.

[chadmack282]

On Friday, May 19, 2017 at 6:39 PM, Scott F said:

Surface water temp in the lake I'm fishing in Northern Wisconsin went from 55 to 48 overnight. That's a pretty big drop. It sure shut off the bite for both smallmouth and largemouth. 

never said it couldnt drop enough over night to turn bite off.i

its possible for water temp to drop enough in hours to turn the bite off just in my experience when its allmost june water temp typically doesnt change drastically over night.

but i am not in Northern Wisconson & can see where a major cold front coming out of Canada could drastically  change water temps rather quickly.

i would still b on the water tho.