How do most of you approach a post cold front scenario. Slow it down? Go deeper? Always been a little behind the curve when it comes to fishing post fronts.
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How do most of you approach a post cold front scenario. Slow it down? Go deeper? Always been a little behind the curve when it comes to fishing post fronts.
mow the lawn. lol
yes, you need to down size, slow down, and fish tight in the cover.
What he said.
Each lake will vary...our home lake has 2 distinct patterns....we have "pelagic" BIG Slab Crappie that will continue following schools of shad and locate on Drop-offs/Structure close to the schools, the Crappie will hold for a day but will not lose touch of the shad. They will eat but move off the school and hold on structure again.
Smaller Crappie will hold tight to cover for a couple days until the weather stabilizes, but they will eat if something comes close, or if they are presented to!
I usually fish tight to the cover and close to the bottom in shallow lakes. Here they tend to bury up in the cover but will still bite if you can find them.
I've been thinking about the down sizing thing lately. What does that mean for you guys? What weight, type of bait, etc? Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by river scum
I just downsize the size of the swimbaits, normally I'm using 3 to 5 inch swimbaits, and during a front or this time of year when the forage is small, I drop down to a 2 or 2.5 inch swimmer!Quote:
Originally Posted by mitch_ward
I only change jighead weight due to wind.
I generally just slow down a bit unless the fish are really shallow. If they are shallow, less than 6 feet deep, I find some cover or drop to 1/48th ounce jig
Quote:
Originally Posted by mitch_ward
for me it means switching from a 2'' twister on 1/8 jig, to a "B.G.'' baby shad on a 1/16 jig, and slowing my action way down. added scent helps immensely at these times too.
If the front doesn't make a radical change in the deeper water temps, it seems to not have too much effect on Crappie in our lakes. It can, in fact, start the shift towards the Fall pattern ... albeit a "false start" in most cases, this time of year, seeing as how the effects are short lived and air temps rebound back to normal or above.
With our thermoclines in the 12-20ft range, and most Crappie holding at or around those depths, a front doesn't affect them in the long term. When the trend is moving towards consistent cooler weather, and water temps begin to drop in the deeper depths of the water column, the fish will instinctively start to feed more heavily & aggressively. Then those cold fronts can actually help push the fish to react more positively.
Quick rises/falls in the barometric pressure (the result of major fronts) upset the equilibrium of fish in the shallower depths of the water column, and they react to that by hunkering down or going deeper or a slowing of their feeding activity. They're "uncomfortable", so they react accordingly. Once the pressure has eased back to a more comfortable level, the fish detect that and go back to their normal, seasonal behavior.
... cp :kewl
Mow the lawn :Rofl
I agree with everyone. I find cover or structure. I really like lilly pads after a front. I downsize too. Usually, I move from a shad or twister tail to a smaller tube. Might even move to a small gulp nible. Light tackle helps to detect the bite as sometimes they just seem to filter feed.
Oh man it's killin me! Skunked again!