Temp Effects?

[SuburbanBassaholic301]

where i live it has been hot lately. it was high 90's last week and mid to upper 80's this week. i have been fishing both weeks. compared to when the water was cooler, the bite has really slowed down but i have caught quality fish off deep points. there is a cold front coming through and it will cool down from the mid 80;s to the low to mid 70's by tuesday june 17th(i am posting this sunday june 15th). what effect do you think this will have on the fish (largemouth bass). will they move up shallower while the weather is cool?? any tips would really really help me. thanks

[CJ]

Pending on how deep and how shallow your talking about, it's not likely that the fish that are deep will make a major vertical migration due to their gentle swim bladder. Fish that remained shallow may become more active though.

[SuburbanBassaholic301]

what about the fish that stay deep? do you think the fish in general will feed more actively due to the cooler weather. i know they say that cold fronts turn the fish off, but it has been so hot here lately that i think the fish will like a cold front right about now.

[CJ]

The deep fish shouldn't be effected much. Their relativity to structure and/or cover may change. Current and the cloud cover are usually the main factors on the deep fish. Sunny days or when a resevoir is pulling water usually put fish near cover. Cloudy days and cold fronts may cause them to suspend a little bit, which around here they do on and off anyway throughout the day.

[Jig Man]

Here in Mid MO post spawn cold fronts rarely change the water surface temp more than a couple of degrees and then only for a short time.

The post spawn fish usually react to this type of cold front by moving close to cover and not really changing their depth.  For example, when we have flooded bushes and a cold front comes through you have to fish right in the middle of the bushes instead of on the edges.

[xps94]

if your talking florida bass i dont think 75 degrees will slow there metabolisim. maybe the action will heat up some but the winter cool fronts is what makes you have to go reeeel slow on your retrieves..

[Catt]

Even though you're talking a 20 degree change it's a slow steady change over a 2 week period; it may make the bass slightly more aggressive in shallow water but will not effect the deep bass.

[Paul Roberts]

where i live it has been hot lately. it was high 90's last week and mid to upper 80's this week. i have been fishing both weeks. compared to when the water was cooler, the bite has really slowed down but i have caught quality fish off deep points.

This sounds pretty normal.

will they move up shallower while the weather is cool??

No, your deep fish will not likely move up shallow. But, as Catt and CJ mention, shallow fish may become more willing to hunt during daylight.

The reason, as CJ mentions, is that bass and most other warmwater fishes cannot adjust the amount of air in their swim bladders quickly enough to adjust for the pressure change associated with rapid depth change.

How far can they move vertically? There doesn't seem to be much direct information out there, but observations by anglers show bass can move as much as 15 vertical feet to chase prey, but this is for short duration and they must move back to their acclimation depth. I'd have to double check what I have, (as I collect this sort of stuff), but anglers report swim bladder distention in bass when bass are caught deeper than 25 feet, although this varies with how long they are held, and, the difference in water temperatures.

However, the two big factors will be presence and availability of prey (affecting bass activity and vulnerability nothing new here) and sky water conditions (affecting your presentations nothing new here either).

If you've got bluebird skies and calm clear water, you may not be able to get close to shallow fish. You can adapt to this, or you may be better off staying with your deeper fish. If you can find lotsa active prey in the shallows and visibility is not crystal, or you can adapt, you may find a good bite shallower. Might be  good time to try flippin' or froggin' in the shallow heavy stuff -if you have such places.

[WRB]

Deep is a relative statement; how deep; 30 feet or 15 feet? It's early summer so my best guess deep is somewhere around the 20 foot depth in most high-land or hill-land reserevoirs or 8 feet in most low-land reservoirs.

Short term air temperature changes are related to weather fronts, cooling means low pressure fronts, clouds with light wind generally improve the fishing. Storm fronts are more radical events, higher winds and greater temperature/pressure changes, which in turn affect the water conditions more. The bass that are up shallow will tend to more tighter to cover, the deeper bass are affected less, however can be more difficult to fish due to the wind.

The core water temperature should not change too much; 2 to 3 degrees, unless a lot of rain and run off occurrs, then the water clarity and temperatures can change more. Bass will move to stay in the warmer water about 70 to 75 degrees, if available during the summer period.

WRB

[fishfordollars]

Once the fish set up for the summer in their deep haunts they are there to stay unless something drastic happens to make them move. That would be a change in water quality, depth, and/or forage base leaving.

[SuburbanBassaholic301]

got out fishing today during this cool front that came through my area. it was low 70's and very windy. i dont know what kind of effects the low temp had. i caught 5 very small bass (none over 2 pounds) and my buddy caught 3 the same size and 1 small tiger muskie. that was cool! all fish were caught in about 11-20 feet range. all on drop shot and 1 on a jig. all in all a good day, just glad i didnt get caught in a storm. a couple of nasty clouds went by us. but, like i said a good day fishing.