Question To Sw Florida Natives

[FL_Sharpshooter]

What are yall throwing when it starts getting chilly (for example in the early morning is 60's)? I mainly fish a canal, and it seems like even the slightest bit of cold weather that comes through, the bass bite completely shuts down. Are the Florida strain bass really sensitive about that, or is it just me? I have tried every cold water bait I know to throw, including red eyed shads, husky jerks, and jigs to name a few. It's gotten to the point where I won't go out to try and catch them when it's colder out. Thanks for any feedback.

[SoFlaBassAddict]

I can't comment specifically on SW Florida, but Florida bass are notorious for shutting down when the temp starts to drop. You can definitely catch them in cold weather using a myriad of lures, but thats usually a couple of days after the weather stabilizes and holds in a certain temperature range.

[evrgladesbasser]

Yes Florida bass are known to shut down after a front. But I think the strength of the front is a big factor. This weeks front that rolled in for instance, came through Tuesday afternoon. I went out right after it passed on Tuesday evening and landed about 25 between 4pm and sunset. Went out again Wednesday morning 9am-2pm and caught about 10. So they can be caught. As far as baits I didn't use anything out of the ordinary except to say I slowed my persentation down a bit. Now with a front that drops the temps dramatically it's a different story, in that case it can be very tough. In that situation I usually find the fish relating very tight to cover and you have to drop your bait right on there head. Good Luck!

[Shane Procell]

I'd be throwing a watermellon pumpkin seed Zoon Fluke either rigged with a weighted hook or weightless. This time of the year at first light(when its coolest) I'd be throwing a buzzbait, frog, chug bug, tiny torpedo or a smithwick. It would be hard to beat a wacky riged Garry Yamamoto. I'am not too far from you and these are some of my Go-To baits. Do you ever get back into the Scenic drive area? If not, you might want to google it. Monster and plantiful bass in there as well as landlocked snook.

[Bassn Blvd]

Yes Florida bass are known to shut down after a front. But I think the strength of the front is a big factor. This weeks front that rolled in for instance, came through Tuesday afternoon. I went out right after it passed on Tuesday evening and landed about 25 between 4pm and sunset. Went out again Wednesday morning 9am-2pm and caught about 10. So they can be caught. As far as baits I didn't use anything out of the ordinary except to say I slowed my persentation down a bit. Now with a front that drops the temps dramatically it's a different story, in that case it can be very tough. In that situation I usually find the fish relating very tight to cover and you have to drop your bait right on there head. Good Luck!

^ Absolutely dead on.

I am a born and raised Floridian. When there is a dramatic change in temp, I find the larger bass go deeper and/or tight to cover. These fish tend to hit SLOW moving baits such as jigs, worms or senkos..

Smaller bass, 1-2 pounds are a bit more active than the bigger ones and can be found in shallower water and will strike faster moving baits such as topwater and small swimbaits/flukes.

Example. Its Feb and March. We have had consistant temps in mid/upper 70's all day and lower/mid 60's at night. Fishing should be excellent.

Now all of a sudden a front moves in and high temps in the day are in the 50's with temps in the low to mid 30's at night. Best advice is to skip fishing for a day or two, maybe 3. If you must go then fish SLOW and deep ledges.

If I was canal fishing with temps in the 60's at sun-up, and little to no structure, then I would try a 3-5 inch jerkbait. Fish it parallel to shore from 1-6 feet of water.

If that doesn't produce, then cast towards the bank using a weightless senko or Texas rigged plastic worm up to 7.5 inches with no more than a 1/8 ounce sinker. Work the worms from the bank back towards you, into deeper water.

[FL_Sharpshooter]

I'd be throwing a watermellon pumpkin seed Zoon Fluke either rigged with a weighted hook or weightless. This time of the year at first light(when its coolest) I'd be throwing a buzzbait, frog, chug bug, tiny torpedo or a smithwick. It would be hard to beat a wacky riged Garry Yamamoto. I'am not too far from you and these are some of my Go-To baits. Do you ever get back into the Scenic drive area? If not, you might want to google it. Monster and plantiful bass in there as well as landlocked snook.

I'm not really sure what you mean? Sounds pretty cool though, I live about 5 mins from the Caloosahatchee River (it runs in Big O eventually). I don't fish the river because it's way too muddy, the water looks like expired chocolate milk. I just never have any luck there. I have scouted farm ponds though, but the problem is that over 90% of them are owned by the Florida DOT, and you know how the rest of the story goes. As far as jerkbaits go, I only ever catch something when I am fishing them as a topwater lure. I can never catch them by letting the bait drop, it might be because I'm not really sure how to work them. All I know to do is twitch them a few times and let it drop. I'll try them again when I go out later though.

^ Absolutely dead on.

I am a born and raised Floridian. When there is a dramatic change in temp, I find the larger bass go deeper and/or tight to cover. These fish tend to hit SLOW moving baits such as jigs, worms or senkos..

Smaller bass, 1-2 pounds are a bit more active than the bigger ones and can be found in shallower water and will strike faster moving baits such as topwater and small swimbaits/flukes.

Example. Its Feb and March. We have had consistant temps in mid/upper 70's all day and lower/mid 60's at night. Fishing should be excellent.

Now all of a sudden a front moves in and high temps in the day are in the 50's with temps in the low to mid 30's at night. Best advice is to skip fishing for a day or two, maybe 3. If you must go then fish SLOW and deep ledges.

If I was canal fishing with temps in the 60's at sun-up, and little to no structure, then I would try a 3-5 inch jerkbait. Fish it parallel to shore from 1-6 feet of water.

If that doesn't produce, then cast towards the bank using a weightless senko or Texas rigged plastic worm up to 7.5 inches with no more than a 1/8 ounce sinker. Work the worms from the bank back towards you, into deeper water.

I can catch quite a few on the GYCB senkos, but never on the knock-offs, go figure.. lol. That kind of fishing doesn't really excite me though. I have been doing really well though on the kvd 1.5 cranks when I can see an open path from the moss/crud to run it through. The big problem now is that the tilapia have now taken over the old bass nests and are running the bass off. So now, I have to go further up the shallower canal (though you can catch some bass by blind casting in the bigger canal). I like the shallow canal because I can sight fish (well atleast when the rain doesn't muddy up the water). If fishing slow is what it takes, I'll give it a try. With the weather being upper 80s and low 90s now, I've got to change up the game again. Seems the cranks have been producing some in this hot weather though. I sometimes hesitate to fish them cranks, because the canal is overloaded with both gar and chain pickerel (there being 2 pickerel to 1 gar) and they will eat anything that moves fast. I don't mind catching them I suppose, but I prefer bass.

Thanks gentlemen, I'll give all of your suggestions a try if we have any more cold spells.

[Shane Procell]

The area I'am thinking of is the Golden Gates area. If you've never fished in there you should give it a go.

[FL_Sharpshooter]

The area I'am thinking of is the Golden Gates area. If you've never fished in there you should give it a go.

Oh, I see. Thanks for the tip, I'll have to check that out.