How To Catch Fish During A Cold Front

When a cold front approaches, most anglers tend to shiver with some indulging in activities other than fishing. Abandoning all your bass fishing activities due to the frustrations that accompany this season is a bad idea, though! During a cold front, water temperatures tend to drop 10 to 20 degrees, making bass lethargic and catching fish much harder. For this reason, a deeper understanding of the behavior of bass during this season will serve you well as an angler.

How do bass behave during a cold front?

During a cold front, the temperatures tend to drop with high pressure and blue skies covering the region. Bass are cold-blooded and depend on the environment for warmth in order to lead a much more comfortable life. For this reason, as the temperature changes during a cold front, bass tend to change their lifestyle, especially their eating habits, to match the conditions.During a cold front, when water temperatures are below 45 degrees, bass rarely eat and their metabolic rate is usually slow, hence digestion takes place at a very slow rate. For this reason, bass tend to be more sluggish and reside in the deep waters where the temperatures are slightly warmer. This provides the root challenge of catching bass during a cold front.On the other hand, due to the higher temperature at the beginning of a cold front and their sense of the drop, the metabolic rate of bass tends to burst out, which leads to their hunger and an almost binge-eating style of feeding frenzy . The results are a more aggressive and active bass. The bass tends to move out of the deep waters to the shallow depths, making it much easier for anglers to catch them with simple tools such as the spincast reel. If you can hop on the water right before a cold front, they will be eating.

Tips to attack bass during a cold front

• Target the riprap areas which serve as holding grounds for bass during these weather drops. Once in these areas, use ideal baits including plastic worms, buzz baits, spinner baits and the crayfish colored baits. Fish at different depths while targeting all the cracks and crevices around the riprap.• Another technique that can prove useful during this weather drop is split shotting, or using the hot shot rig. For this technique to be effective, straight tail worms of about 6 inches are recommended. You can start off with 1/8 to about 3/16 ounce sinkers and make adjustments to the weight gradually as you work with the gear.• Use medium to lightweight fishing rods with soft tips together with a high-quality spincast reel for a more balanced set up to effectively attack the bass.• Slow down! During a cold front, bass are quite sluggish hence you do not expect a strike to occur immediately. Their sluggishness makes them much slower in motion as well as striking the baits. Therefore as an angler, you need to exercise utmost patience by leaving your bait under the water for longer periods compared to the summer season.• You can also use a luring pheromone in your area of fishing. This pheromone may be a natural stimulant, commonly referred to as fish spray, which will serve to entice the bass to strike the bait especially when it has not fed for a number of days. This fish spray will also prove useful in cleansing any human or other offensive odors that are likely to drive away the bass.Don’t allow cold season to deter you from your normal fishing habits. Now that you have an understanding of the disparities that come with changes in temperature, it is high time that you apply the above tips and get your desired catch regardless of weather. It's amazing how much warmer a cold front can feel when you're actually having fun and catching fish!