As a bass fisherman there’s nothing more frustrating than a sudden cold front. You’ve dialed in your summer fishing when all of a sudden the weather changes overnight. Don’t let that cold front be the excuse you’ve been waiting for park your boat for the winter.
during the late summer and early fall cold fronts are just a fact of life. You can either deal with them call it a season hang up your rod. think about it if you didn’t fish in the cold you’d have to skip October through April and that’s a whole lot of fishing. Those fish have to eat and you might as well be the guy to catch them.
Fishing After A Cold Front
Learning to deal with the first cold fronts of the season can be a difficult task. when everybody else starts packing up for the year it’s nice to be the last one on the water. With less fishing pressure You’ll have the run of the lake.
As the air temperature cools overnight the surface temperature of the water is bound to drop. Sudden cold fronts affect shallow water first. Overnight the water temperature could drop as much as 10 + degrees.
How Cold Fronts Affect Bass
Throughout the years I’ve noticed a sudden uptick in feeding whenever theres a slight shift in weather. That’s why fishing is so go after the rain. However when there’s a sharp drop in the water temperature activity levels drop significantly.
You could be in the middle of the fall feed and all of a sudden a cold front comes out of nowhere. It’s like a shock to their system that knocks them off the feeding mode.
Bass tend to feed best during stable conditions. When weather throws a wrench in their plans they just hunker down and wait for it to pass. Most of the time they’ll hold tight to cover and move farther underneath it.
Shallow Water Changes Fast
Shallow water you can expect abrupt changes in the water temperature. Think about it, after a cold front the water temperature drops, there’s less light, wind picks up and the barometer shifts.
All these drastic changes really affect the bite in a bad way. Chances of a good morning bite are slim. You’ll really have to dig in a change to a slowed down finesse approach.
Where Should You Look For Bass After a Cold Front?
Most of the fish that have been holding out in shallow water head for deeper holding areas that maintain their summer warmth. Continuing to fish the shallows is a recipe for disaster. You’ve got to head towards deep water where the fish are holding out.
Keep an eye out for deep water structure. Bass are drawn towards deep water brush and channels that maintain their warmth. You’re going to have to rely on your electronics this time of year.
Keep an eye out for those deep water ledges and dropoffs nearby the shallows. Think about those secondary points that lie just outside the shallows, yet they aren’t quite deep.
Once I find where they’re holding I like to cast a jig like the Booyah Boo Jig and work the bottom thoroughly. Remember that fish are lethargic in the cold so you don’t want a big flashy lure.
Try Smaller Baits
Since bass are cold blooded they are a lot less active in cold water. They’ll be saving energy so they aren’t going to want to work for a meal.
Smaller profiles look like a much easier meal for bass that don’t feel like moving.
Size down your lures and slow down the movement. Big meals aren’t really necessary, but they won’t be able to resist a tiny snack.
Work The Cover
Wood acts like an insulator so it will retain heat longer than the surrounding water. Fish are going to flock towards the warmth and bunch up near underwater structure.
Keep an eye out for underwater logs, docks, bushes, rocks etc. A little bit of structure will draw in large schools of bass.
They’re going to congregate around these areas so try using a lipless crankbait to quickly work the area. I clean up using the Strike King Red Eye Shad. Plus since it’s a lipless crankbait you won’t have to worry about getting caught up on underwater debris.
Crash Through That Cover
When you notice bass going deeper than normal into thick weed mats there’s only one solution. You need to crash through the weeds using a weedless lure.
This is when I bring out my big fat creature baits. I either bring out my Zoom Bait Baby Brush Hog or Strike King Rage Tail Bug. Use a Texas Rig so that it’s completely weedless and can really rip through those weeds.
Slow Down
The most important thing you need to remember after a cold front is to slow down. Bass are going to be moving a lot slower and less reactive. This means you’ll have to slow down your presentation.
If you’ve never tried a wacky rig now’s your chance. Personally I like to rig up these 5 inch Yamamoto Senko’s and slowly drop it nearby cover. A few twitches here and there is all you need to draw in those reaction strikes.
Throughout the summer whenever there’s a slow bite you try to cover water fast looking for active fish. Slowing down your presentation almost seems counterintuitive, but trust me it works. Giving those fish longer looks will bring more bites every time in the cold.
Bite Picks Up Later in The Day
Remember that the water isn’t going to stay cold forever. As the sun comes out the water temperature will naturally increase throughout the day. Unless the temperature continues to drop, the bite will typically pick mid afternoon.
Bass are going to get much more active later in the evening. A few hours before dark they’ll start biting as they come out to feed.
When the bite starts to pickup try working the water with a faster moving lure. This is when I like to bring out my squarebill crankbaits, Lipless Crankbaits and Spinnerbaits.
Strike Kings Red Eye Shad and the Strike King KVD 1.5 Shallow Squarebill Crankbait can really save those slow days after the bite picks up. As they move back towards shallow water early afternoon work the area fast and hard.
If that doesn’t work burn a small spinnerbait just below the surface. For some reason bass really go crazy with a speedy retrieve after a long slow moving day.