During the Front

[Trox]

This is a topic that I've always had a hard time researching. Not pre-front, not post-front, but that time in between when the wind really starts to pick up for the first time, and the temperature is rapidly dropping while the barometric pressure is rapidly rising. The ACTUAL front. 

 

It seems like the amount of information online about the before and after (pre and post) of these weather phenomena and how they effect bass behavior is endless, but there is a noticeable gap of information about the "in-between". To even better describe what I am talking about, I captured a screenshot of an upcoming cold front, and separated the pre/during/post frontal periods by a couple of orange lines (see attached image at bottom of post)

 

A couple of preconceptions that I have (Keep in mind that when I mention "cold front", I am talking about THE cold front. Not before or after):

1. To me, it has always seemed that the bite really turns on at the beginning of the cold front, up until about about the halfway point, I believe this to be true because of a few reasons:

     - The high winds shift the bait and forage around, as well as forcing a lot of things to re-adjust. Potentially making easy meals for bass to prey apon.

     - The oxygenation and new or increased current of the water causes bass to become more active

     - The combonation of likely cloud cover, rain, and/or the breaking of the surface by the capping waves, hides imperfections in lures, retrieves, etc, making presentations seem more realistic and appetizing to bass (think moving/reaction baits). 

 

2. Now, 90% of the time I fish these conditions, the bite always seem to slow down about halfway through the cold front. And based on talking to others at the boat ramps after a full day on the water like this, after tournamnets, etc, "Yeah, the bite just died around 11 or so" is basically all I hear. Now, my preconceptions of why this happens are literally just me guessing but:

     - The fish are full and also tired from feeding since the front started

     - The word is out that I'm in the area (An example of the dumb things I tell myself when the bite dies and I can't actually explain why lol)

 

so, this (finally) leads into my questions... And I apologize as they may come off as broad or high level, but I literally cannot find anything about the DURING of cold fronts and how they effect bass behavior... So any help, past experiences, etc is MUCH appreciated as it helps me piece together the final peice of the cold front puzzle...

 

1. As mentioned, once the barometric pressure begins its initial sharp rise and the wind begins to howl, the bite seems to really turn on. Now, rising pressure tends to be a mainstay for tough fishing conditions. Why does this seem to be the exception of the rule? 

 

2. What happens, if anything, when the front is about halfway through that causes the bite to seemingly die off? Nothing has changed since the beginning of the front, the wind is still heavy as it was when the bite was good, etc... Are the fish actually just "full"? lol - I know I'm not the only one who experiences this... Maybe the temperature change in the water is actually starting to take effect and shutting things down? Maybe the barometric pressure is finally getting to a point where it's really starting to effect the fish? Maybe I'm just crazy?

 

So, these questions are all based on personal experience and information gathered from other fisherman at the boat ramp immediately following a day on the water, so if your experiences don't align with mine I would love to hear about it and learn from it! I know there are a couple of other questions that I can't recall right now, but I hope this sparks a good conversation about this piece of cold fronts that seems to get forgotten, or simply untalked about imo.

 

[gim]

@TroxBox this is deep. Almost too deep into it lol. But you have a lot of good information that I agree with.  I will offer my experience.

 

First off, I believe that weather changes help increase fishing success specifically in the summer months. In addition to bass fishing, I also muskie fish and there is often a very brief period of time when a muskie is willing to bite. Outside of that short window, there’s nothing you can do. Long stretches of the same weather pattern for days or weeks on end is not helpful. That is usually high pressure that results in hot sun, warm temps, and dryness. When a front is coming, I try to be out there. I won’t jeopardize my safety to fish in a thunderstorm, but clouds, rain, and/or wind has more often than not, fired up a bite. And since I prefer to fish with a faster, more aggressive, moving lure approach, days like this often result in my best fishing of the entire season.

 

As for when the bite dies during the middle of a cold front? Maybe the novelty of the weather change has worn off. There definitely seems to be an abrupt time when it happens too.

[Trox]

33 minutes ago, gimruis said:

this is deep. Almost too deep into it lol

You may be right, but if there was any place where I felt I'd have a chance at an answer or decent discussion, BR is probably it. So here I am, taking my shot lol. Part of me wonders that if the severe weather these weather systems typically bring make it extremely hard to effectively track bass behavior... hence the lack of information on the topic? It is also very possible that I am indeed looking too deep into it!

 

33 minutes ago, gimruis said:

As for when the bite dies during the middle of a cold front? Maybe the novelty of the weather change has worn off. There definitely seems to be an abrupt time when it happens too.

The bass in the middle of a front... 

[gim]

1 minute ago, TroxBox said:

Part of me wonders that if the severe weather these weather systems typically bring makes it extremely hard to effectively track bass behavior... hence the lack of information on the topic?

Oh absolutely that’s possible. I mean at some point it’s just unsafe to be out there.

[T-Billy]

Once the pre-front/early front aggressive bite shuts down, I typically look for sheltered areas and fish a jig or T-rig tight to cover. This bite usually holds up for me until the wind dies down.

 If I'm chasing smallies, I'll let the wind carry me along a break or across a flat, and generally be stroking a tube or T-rigged beaver. Again, this will usually produce until the wind turns off.

[WRB]

Cold front is very misleading.

Lets look at the weather system differently. Starting with normal stable weather and what changes it. 

Low pressure system moves in bringing with it clouds and sometimes rain or a storm depending how low the pressure is. The low pressure systems is followed by high pressure system. The transition between low and high pressure is the cold front. 

The cold front is cold air inbetween the low and high pressure systems. Blue bird sky with wind and patches of clouds being pushed out by the incoming high pressure that is followed by normal stable weather.

The cold front isn’t a front it’s the backend of the low pressure system that only lasts a day or so.

Tom

 

 

[CrashVector]

I only know what I've seen them do on a very clear,very big pond that's shallow (roughly 5-6' deep) with sporadic, but very heavy, grass cover.

 

I can't answer for big lake systems, etc.

[TnRiver46]

According to all reports, the cold front done knocked them in tha head 

[Trox]

Just adding a little something that I stumbled onto last night while reading a book that I got this past Christmas...

 

When discussing the effects of barometric pressure in the book, High Percentage Fishing, Josh Alwine states that "Only in the most extreme cases of rapidly increasing or decreasing pressure did the bite rate seem to be negatively affected around the 3-hour mark after the onset of the change. These case are rare in the data and are usually associated with the passage of a major storm or frontal system"... ?

 

 

21 hours ago, WRB said:

Cold front is very misleading.

 

The transition between low and high pressure is the cold front. 

After reading that chapter in that book last night this comment made more sense to me... It's not the "cold front" that we need to really concern ourselves about, but rather the cause of it that needs to be examined in order to gain an understanding of the topic.

 

[CrashVector]

We had very *very* strong cold fronts come through recently...the latest Sunday night.  Dropped daytime temps by over 30F.

 

I could SEE the fish.

 

They were hovering just inside the innermost weed edges...NOT in the deepest part of the lake, but right at about 40 yds from the bank.  Bluebird skies.

 

Makes sense...air was/is in the mid 40s...sun heats up the weeds just under the surface, bass sitting in the warmer water.

 

Literally NOTHING could get them to bite, and I was looking right at them.  I tried 25+ different lures from buzzbaits to Ned rigs and senkos.  They were ignoring everything including the tiny bluegill that were literally surrounding them.

[Zcoker]

Great questions! And I know we ALL seek logical answers but no one can truly answer those questions with hard facts related to why fish do what they do during pressure fluctuations. Science suggest a few things that make perfect sense but often times I have seen fish (all fish) do the complete opposite lol. For the most, I would look for a pattern in these events that has proven itself over and over, which is the wind. The wind plays into these fronts highly. I catch more fish and more quality fish when that wind starts to howl. When the wind starts howling, the fish start prowling! 

[LrgmouthShad]

Good selection of weather app ?. wunderground.com -> 10 day forecast for those curious. Gives detailed breakdown of everything weather related

 

I don't have an answer to a lot of your questions unfortunately

[cyclops2]

Weather affects all animals to some degree. The fish metabolism is very low in the north now. Most deep enough water has already had the " inversion Change " take place. So it is just sit still until the school leader says.....Lets eat again.

I do not even bother to fish in N J now. Fish are basically in long dormant stages.

 

Go to  /  move to  the deep south if you really need to fish year around.

[TnRiver46]

5 hours ago, cyclops2 said:

Weather affects all animals to some degree. The fish metabolism is very low in the north now. Most deep enough water has already had the " inversion Change " take place. So it is just sit still until the school leader says.....Lets eat again.

I do not even bother to fish in N J now. Fish are basically in long dormant stages.

 

Go to  /  move to  the deep south if you really need to fish year around.

Or the mid south ? 

[roadwarrior]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Or the mid south ? 

It's Prime Time on the Tennessee River!

 

[cyclops2]

My last good eating fish meal was Charlie Tuna.     ?