What is your "go to" when the cold front has shut them down. 2024

32251 reply :

Got beat up pretty bad a few days ago. Cold front moved in...I tried everything I had...nothing worked.

What do you guys do in that situation....besides go home.

FishingBuds reply :

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Got beat up pretty bad a few days ago. Cold front moved in...I tried everything I had...nothing worked.
What do you guys do in that situation....besides go home.

Agree, this is the third year in a row that I continued thru the cold fronts like these and I to have been shut down, I tried at different times tho, It was around 2:30PM and still nothen. The water temp was 48 degrees, I know where they are but they just sit there ;D

Chris reply :

scale down, slow down, fish tight

bigtimfish reply :

X raps and or rogues

steezy reply :

rat-L-traps and black plastics

FishinDaddy reply :

budwiser and dynamite :

Crestliner2008 reply :

If you are pretty confident in their location, then downsizing and slow presentations should get a few to bite. I'd go with the drop shot, number one; and/or slow crawling a jig or tube.

Sometimes the hard jerks will produce (with frequent, long pauses), but the fish have to be in a slightly higher level of activity for them to work much of the time. Plastics work all the time.

Boogey Man reply :

Shaky head or split shot rig.

Catt reply :

Creek channels & suspended fish

fishfordollars reply :

Look for suspended fish out in the mouths of the creeks and drains. Fish them with a crankbait. they like to suspend out in the 12-15' water out over the 25-30' water..

Fish tight to cover(Not close, tight). Scrape the bark with a jig, baby brushhog, shaky head, etc. Anything that will stay in the strike zone longer. Slow down, soak the lure.

If it's hydrilla, concentrate on the points, cuts, small openings, or any thing that stands out as different. If that fails, move up to the edge of the viewable grass with a 1 oz or larger jig and crash it through the top layer out off the sides of the drains and creeks. Start in the 4-6' depths and work your way out.

Try a main lake point pattern. Pick the side with wave action and fish them all with rouges, cranks, and plastics until you find the fish. Why wave action? Fewer people fish in the wind(Less pressured areas), and it stirs up everything making it the more active side of the lake. You may fish five points before catching a fish. If you do, that just tells you it will take 25 points to put a limit in the boat. Harder for the fish to see you to.

Going home ain't no option! You will learn more on these days than any of the easy days.

Good luck.

Wayne P. reply :

I have the most success with slow presentations in all conditions, so cold fronts do not affect my catch ratio. Actually it impvoves it because the fish are more predictable and more concentrated.

During pre-frontal conditions, they roam a lot and search baits work better to cover more water, just the opposite is true for post frontal conditions.

I agree with Catt on the location and position.

ctbassnut reply :

Like everyone said. Slow it down, but for lures I go with black hair jigs and slider grubs on a darter head on those type of days.

zach t reply :

My go to is always a wacky rigged Senko/Dinger. Usually Watermelon. Pull up, shake a couple of times, let it settle.

Gangley reply :

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budwiser and dynamite :

thats the best reply i have heard yet. I about spilled my coffee when i got down to that reply after quickly scanning the above replies.

Raul reply :

I s*t you not: Lipless cranks and soft plastic jerkbaits.

The Hag reply :

A small jig or a shakey head on 8 or 10 pound test line has always worked for me after a cold front.

Rebel Angler reply :

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I s*t you not: Lipless cranks and soft plastic jerkbaits.

hahah I thought that was hilarious for some reason.

but my last time out I did pretty well usin a drop shot rig and a wacky rigged black senko. It was about 45 degrees outside, I don't know what the water temp was.

cmatthews6485 reply :

today it was cold and windy the baits that produced the best were a 7" berkley finnese worm and a 7" berkley shakey head worm both rigged weightless and slowly dragged on the bottom caught 5 fish 2 were 3 pounders and missed 2 nice fish when my dragged messed up

TimJ reply :

for largemouth, a 6" worm...deadsticked deep into reeds or under mats.

for smallies, on rocks, a carolina with a soft plastic craw (2 1/2-3")...in weedy areas, a very slow tube, maybe with a pc of alka selzer in it...using scent.

keep in mind, I'm up here in Ontario.

Bankbeater reply :

Jigs. I have been starting with 3/8 ounce and if I don't get anything after a couple of hours I scale it back to 1/8 ounce.

Dalton Tam reply :

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Creek channels & suspended fish

I agree. You should definately drop back off of a point and fish deeper. Use something like a black and red jig but fish it slow. maybe try a culprit worm let it fall to the bottom and fish it slowly back to the top.

roadwarrior reply :

Sworming Hornet with a LFT Live Magic Shad.

http://www.sworminghornetlures.com/

http://www.lftlures.com/categories/soft-plastics-lft-live-magic-shad-3-1-2

8-)

Uncle Leo reply :

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scale down, slow down, fish tight

I would also agree with this. The question is general so no matter what the situation calls for in lure type, this is much more important.

tnbassfisher reply :

Working a finesse worm of any type very slowly.

Jighead70 reply :

Zoom Finessee Worm or Giggy Stick,rigged on an Owner Ultra Head.

Tucson reply :

Fishing a cold front is difficult anywhere, seems especially bad if the bass are Florida strain. Here's my method: Idle slowly into the parking lot of Long John Silvers, slip quietly into the door trolling a $10 bill. You'll get your fish, no problem.

Tin reply :

Why does everyone slow down? :-?

Fish faster...If the front has brought on clouds (we can get front after front up here) I will fish spinnerbaits and traps until my arms fall off. There is no need to try to force feed them small plastics so just cover as much water as possible looking for reaction bites and fish that are feeding.By covering more water you will come across more fish that are feeding and you give yourself better odds by putting your bait infront of more and different fish than if you were pounding a single area for hours on end with the small and slow presentation.

If the front brings blue bird skies I will flip every piece of cover that provides shade in the lake. I seriously put my trolling motor on about 50 and just throw a jig at everything. If it doesn't get it on the drop burn it back in and look at the next spot.

I win most of my tournaments in early spring or fall when we start to get front after front. It is actually what I consider to be one of my biggest strengths. So while others are trying to finesse and force feed them small slow moving baits I'm all about reaction baits and power fishing. It goes against logic to me to fish in a way where the odds are against you.

Catt reply :

Scale down, slow down, fish tight

This can be one of the biggest mistakes anglers will make concerning post frontal conditions!

We must consider the weather prior to the frontal passage, severity of the front, duration of the front. Sudden rapid changes in weather over night or for periods of less than 24 hours can quite often have more of an effect on the angler than on the bass.

Paul Roberts reply :

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... can quite often have more of an effect on the angler than on the bass.

TimJ reply :

Long Island and Catt...I understand you. I assumed that I had already located fish and just had to catch them, not find them. I'm sticking to my guns...BUT...I will try your approach in the future. Can't hurt to learn!

RobE reply :

A red DuPont stickbait with a 10" leader.

brushhoggin reply :

where can you get these dupont stickbaits?

deep_wormin reply :

I like to cover as much water as I can with a rouge or trap and if that's not working I'll pitch a jig around cover, but I'll bulk up a jig with a large plastic and give it a large profile so when I get a bite its usually what I'm looking for. I look for the quality bite during cold fronts.

Fishes in trees reply :

Shakey head or an Eakins jig - low and slow

NeedAnewScreenName-587943 reply :

live crayfish

senko_77 reply :

After a cold front, I have 3 things tied on....

Spro Aruku Shad (lipless crankbait) - burn that thing like a wild indian over shallow cover and for suspended fish on the first break from a feeding flat.

1/2oz Spro Jig. I flip it into the nastiest shoreline cover I can find. Like others have said...not close to it, but into it.

1/8oz Shaky head. I like to go back through some of the areas I caught fish and try and get an extra bite by shaking that rig around em for awhile.

Fat-G reply :

Lipless cranks, Senkos and Trick Worms.

My best (and favorite) cold front technique is a Shaw Grigsby Craw with a split shot.

angler1 reply :

1/2 oz jig with a paca trailer worked sloooow. Color depends on water clarity.

Simp reply :

Quote
After a cold front, I have 3 things tied on....
Spro Aruku Shad (lipless crankbait) - burn that thing like a wild indian over shallow cover and for suspended fish on the first break from a feeding flat.

1/2oz Spro Jig. I flip it into the nastiest shoreline cover I can find. Like others have said...not close to it, but into it.

1/8oz Shaky head. I like to go back through some of the areas I caught fish and try and get an extra bite by shaking that rig around em for awhile.

You sure it's not one of those AT jigs I sent ya.

Thefishy1 reply :

I like a little berkley powerbait minnow on a 1/8oz drop shot and work it SLOW.

Thats been the ticket here lately.

Eternal Angler reply :

Try live bait

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What is your "go to" when the cold front has shut them down. 2024

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