All About Bass Fishing - Guide To Locating Bass During Cold Fronts

There is almost always good fishing just before and during the early stages of a cold front. But once the front passes through, fishing almost always declines noticeably – often drastically. The barometric pressure drops during the front and rises once the front moves through, bringing bright blue skies.

3 Most Important Factors About Cold Fronts

Fishing is generally quite good just before a cold front arrives.
Once a cold front arrives the bass school tighter and are less likely to feed.
Fishing generally does not return to normal until 24 to 48 hours after the front has passed.

3 Most Effective Fishing Methods & Lures

Scale down lure sizes to appear as easy morsels.
Slow down your presentation, cut that speed in half and then slow down some more.
Fish deeper than normal and tighter to vertical structure elements.

During a cold front expect fishing to be tougher than usual.

Bass are affected in two major ways when a cold front moves through the area.

Barometric pressure drops before and during a cold front. The drop in pressure seems to put the bass on a feeding spree and they become considerably more active. Once the front moves through, the pressure rises and the bass become much less active.

UV rays from the sun also play a major factor following cold fronts. Because bass are sensitive to UV rays, they avoid direct sun whenever possible, especially to their eyes. The front brings in wind and cleans particles from the air. These particles normally provide some filtering of UV rays. Once the front passes, the days are bright, sunny, blue-sky days with no clouds or particles to filter out the UV rays. In addition to being inactive due to barometric pressure bass move deeper and tighter to cover to avoid the intensified UV rays.

It can take several days for the pressure to drop back to normal and the sky to gather particles. Once these two events take place, the bass slowly get back to business as usual.

During the slow fishing following a cold front there are two keys. First fish deeper and tight to cover focusing on vertical elements such as sharp drop offs or standing timber. Secondly, drop down the size of lure and work it very slowly. Bass are concerned with their well being and are not seeking out food. But if it is an easy morsel for them to grab, you might entice them to pick it up and eat it. The bite is likely to be a very soft, pressure bite.