Cold Front Techniques

[Lsmith500]

Ok Guys and Gals, what are your go to techniques for major Cold Fronts?

We fish river systems around here, back waters, sloughs ect...  When the weather goes from 85 for the high one day then 60 for the high the next, how do you adjust?

I'm not looking for the slow down, heavy cover, go deep stuff, I wanna hear about those little tricks we all have up our sleeves to catch bass during rough times!

This should get interesting 

[Bassboss]

First off in the morning, fish the sunny side of the lake! Use poppers and wacky worms.

Once the progresses, find deeper water with wood/rocky bottom. The wood and rock should retain heat. Fish them with a jig, make sure to use trailers like zoom super chunk, and Uncle Josh Pork Frogs. These have little action. If you use a trailer like a rage chunk, or one with lots of action, than the bass will know it's a fake. In the cooler water EVERYTHING slow down, not just bass. So if your using a jig with lots of action, it will look very out of place. 

[tmiller2]

i usually try not to slow down or change up what im throwing too much....i will just make more casts to the same piece of cover...and throw a bait that is a little more subtle....like instead of pitchin and flippin a brush hog i will throw a beaver instead....and sometimes ill just rip spinnerbaits or lipless baits and try and will the fish into a reaction strike...

[-Shawn-]

Great Topic Lee.  I think The best Trick I have found for fall Fronts(Before the water gets to the low 50's) Is .....  Look for good wood cover on Structure that I know was holding fish before the front, Then run a Buzzbait into it a couple of times then Pitch a Beaver in there. This has really been a good pattern for me the last 3 years in the fall.  But it did not work on the Red.     If you are doing this in a team Tourney you can still cover a lot of water by working together.  Crash and I Tried this the other evening with her following with a small soft Swimbait and tore them up also.

[Bassinkorea]

Great Topic Lee.  I think The best Trick I have found for fall Fronts(Before the water gets to the low 50's) Is .....  Look for good wood cover on Structure that I know was holding fish before the front, Then run a Buzzbait into it a couple of times then Pitch a Beaver in there. This has really been a good pattern for me the last 3 years in the fall.  But it did not work on the Red.     If you are doing this in a team Tourney you can still cover a lot of water by working together.  Crash and I Tried this the other evening with her following with a small soft Swimbait and tore them up also.

Hmmm, interesting idea Shawn. What is the reason for putting the buzzbait through first??  I guess you are just trying to get the bass's attention and then offer it a easy-to-catch bait like the beaver.

[coldfront]

1/4 oz black jig with brown trailer (zoom super chunk jr in brown-if you can find it)...add a bit of smelly jelly in the orange color with the glitter...fish it on 14# mono... 
or, zoom green pumpkin frenchfry with same smelly jelly and a 1/16 ounce tungsten black bullet weight...for bigger fish...numbers go with the green pumpkin finesse worm (zoom)...

[-Shawn-]

I think The Buzzbait ticks them off. It definately wakes them up.    I found this pattern on accident and it hs worked for me for 3 yr.  I have on occasion made it work in the dog days of summer too.  The way I found it was, There was a brush pile that I knew had a good fish in it because I had seen the limbs move, I pitched to it several times and nothing. SOOO I picked up a buzz bait and made a few cast through it for a reaction strike and nothing. So I figured I would give it one last pitch and "THUMP" !       I turned around and made my way back down the ledge That I had already thouroughly fished without a bump doing the same thing and picked up quite a few fish.   

[coldfront]

I'm hearing more and more of this technique Shawn...

as for water temps, here, when they drop under 50°F, it gets real slow...but interestingly enough, the fish can be 'anywhere' from real shallow on isolated cover to deep....

[-Shawn-]

It has worked for me best during the fall bite, But like I said someties I can get it to work in the middle of the summer when the fish are hot and sluggish.

[caddobass]

Don't be afraid to throw your Rat-L-Traps. The reaction strike will work. Years ago on Toledo Bend we would slow way down and go to jigs & mudbugs deep, then on a couple of trips we started to get reaction strikes in ditches and off ridges in 3 to 6 feet of water. Been doing it for years now!

[Lsmith500]

Great Ideas guys, keep them coming!  This is the main reason we're here on Ulitmate Bass! 

[bassindago]

in the fall crankbaits,shallow in the morning and deeper as the day goes on and the sun gets high.

[BassAss@sin]

I would totally just climb into the back of LSmith500's boat and tie on the same thing he has on and cast the same places he does. LOL! Just kidding Lee! Had to do it.

[Lsmith500]

I would totally just climb into the back of LSmith500's boat and tie on the same thing he has on and cast the same places he does. LOL! Just kidding Lee! Had to do it.

Uhhh Rich, you did mean, , , "climb into the middle" didn't you? ? ? 

[BassAss@sin]

Oh yeah!! Thats what I meant! Be the little kid in the middle of the boat dodging treble hooks like the matrix all day. LOL!!!!

[jigman1]

When the cold front comes in don't let it bother you. The fish usually move tight to cover because your basic rocks, stumps and grass are holding heat. I like to flip and pitch grass with a new technique that is out called the Punch skirt it is a weedless jig. Here what you do you take a tungsten weight and i usually differ from type of grass your fishing but a like a half ounce. So you take a peg slid it on your line then put your weight on but they are wanting you to buy these special skirts and it is a waste of money but i take a normal skirt and run it up the line then tie on my hook. In fall and winter I use a beaver or a chunk. This is a technique I learned from fishing the California Delta. It has won alot of money. Just cause it is cold don't mean you are not gonna be whacking them. just flip cover and you will catch them and if you are fishing dirty river systems throw a Bandit 100 series in orange crush they are killing it up here on the Ohio and every fish I have caught it has been down in there throat. Good luck guys hit me back