Back End..Front End of Cold Front.

[Alphahawk]

I have always read and heard...and my experience has always been that fishing the back end of a cold front is not very productive. Since the front is coming in tonight that would make tomorrow the back end of a cold front. I have also read that small bodies of water are less affected by this than large lakes. Would like to hear opinions on how long one waits before going fishing again and does this theory hold true for most..and what experience you all have had with it.


Regards

[MNfisher]

Coming from Minnesota where there are several small lakes, as in 200 acres or less and with lakes so big you cannot see across them. I would have to disagree that cold fronts do not affect smaller lakes as much as bigger ones. Trust me, those small lakes are affected just as much. I strongly believe it is a pressure change thing. I have noticed that fishing can be excellent obviously right before the front comes in, but also during the front. I used to muskie fish a lot back in MN and during those fronts, COLD, WIND, SIDEWAYS RAIN, the muskies would go CRAZY!! But 10 hours later, when it would be clear, COLD, and calm, they would be lazy as ever!! So, tomorrow, back in MN, I would head out to muskie fish, perfect conditions. As far as heading out to fish again, i would say that if you have 2 or 3 days of relatively constant weather, they usually are biting somewhere again. But I also believe that there are fish to catch always. Just is tougher at times.

But I definitely have seen a cold front spark a bite too. It isn't very often, but there are times when fishing is tough and a massive front comes through and they just turn on. I think that sometimes very long periods of consistant weather are not good for fishing either and a change in weather, even if it is a cold front, helps things out. But, from my experience, this is usually a rare occurance.

I fished a few rivers back in MN and I noticed that Rivers are affected less with cold fronts. I don't know if the moving water is not affected by the pressure as much...who knows. But I am talking about constant flow rivers. No generators or flow changes to change things up.

Just what I have learned over the years I have fished. I am sure everyone has something different to say

[Travis C.]

Depending on the strength of the front in pressure change and where the fish are that you're chasing would be the main factors. Since you multiply atmospheres as you go down in depth a fish at say 25ft would feel a front change far less than a fish in say 5ft.

Here is what I have experienced for mainly bass and some crappie fishing too.

Shallow small lakes I would avoid after a major front or if you had to fish it downsize to smaller natural looking baits usually soft plastic and slow presentations.

Larger bodies I'd search out the deeper resident school's of fish that normally don't move around much and fish to them. If you have found a bunch shallow, then start moving back out towards the deep water until you find them again. Sometimes they will stop on the first or second drop but most times you'll find the suspended off the major drop in the area over deep water. Those fish are far harder to catch.

Time frame you can't really give a rule that covers all bodies of water but the weather needs to get stable or in that direction. It's trial and error as the fish have to eat. If you're faced with these work something slow, smaller and natrual looking. Things like drop-shot, shaky heads, finesse worms, hair flies, live bait, hair jigs and even suspending jerkbaits with looooong pauses.

So what's your thoughts on tomorrow afternoon? It should be stabilizing some from what the forecast says, and that's when I was thinking of going out for a few hours.

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by RiverShoes

So what's your thoughts on tomorrow afternoon? It should be stabilizing some from what the forecast says, and that's when I was thinking of going out for a few hours.

I am not sure if you were asking me that question or not but I will give my thoughts. This front either was not a big a deal as they first said...hardly any rain...or it is a little late getting here. However I will be going back tommorw also. Plus..I like to fish for certain species with cloud cover..mainly Crappie.

Regards

[Travis C.]

I would not let the weather keep you from going. Remember that there are numerous variables that go into having success fishing. Whenever you watch a weather report on TV it will better than 50% be different once you get to the water or it may be accurate and the water will be off color more than you'd like. Never turn around for the house or launch thinking you won't have any luck just change tactics.

Days like today and tomorrow assuming your after bass in my experiences the fish will be either suspended off of creek or river channel drops especially if there is cover on the drop or they will remain shallow but get as close to structure as possible. This is when you really need to slow down, downsize baits, use natural colors and cast precise to a piece of cover sometimes more than once working all sides. The suspending fish are tougher but once you find them a vertical presentation is the best with either drop shot or jigging spoon and possibly a jig/trailer if they are suspended near cover.

What seems like tough conditions is really a good sign in that it eliminates a whole lot of water for you before getting the boat wet. Map all the big drops in an area you had been catching them and also look for structure especially isolated ones in areas you were catching them if no deep water is nearby.

[TNtransplant08]

Do you think the cold front affect fish as much in a tail race below a dam, especially when they're pulling water? In my experience so far fishing below OH Dam, weather doesn't seem to have as much of a factor as does current does.

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by TNtransplant08

Do you think the cold front affect fish as much in a tail race below a dam, especially when they're pulling water? In my experience so far fishing below OH Dam, weather doesn't seem to have as much of a factor as does current does.

I wouldn't think so because like you said current would be the main factor as it drives food, O2 and temps for them.

I believe the big thing with cold fronts on fish like bass is the sudden change. They either go from water a certain temp to few degrees cooler in small amount of time, they go from having a steady pressure and then it changes messing with their system or a really good front that does both. We every year go from nice warm days of late summer to like today much cooler and it makes us sluggish not wanting to do much outside so we stay near our cover. But after a while of constant days like today its not too bad. Fish, I believe are the same way. In a river too much is constant even though everything above it may change throughout the year. Now if the flow changes all bets are off.

[bd-]

I think in rivers and tailwaters, current is king. Nothing affects fish feeding more than current. Temperature can be really critical too, since it triggers a lot of insect activity, which in turn gets the small fish feeding on the bugs, and the big fish feeding on the small fish. Frontal activity can have an effect if everything else is stable, but there are a lot more variables in river fishing.

As far as fronts go, especially on lakes, I actually think stable conditions are best. The first couple "bluebird days" of a cold front (high pressure area) are usually lousy fishing, but if you have stable conditions for 4 or 5 days, that can still give you a pretty good fishing day. When fronts are moving through and the barometer is up and down all over the place, it can be hard to figure out what the fish are going to do.

Falling barometric pressure on the leading front of a low pressure area seems to trigger some sort of feeding frenzy sometimes, and you can catch a bunch of fish on the lead edge of bad weather rolling in. I don't know why. But once the pressure has finished falling, it seems like everything is done for a while until conditions stabilize again.

From my experience, fronts actually affect small bodies of water MORE than big water, for the reasons Travis pointed out. If a fish is in big water where he can just move 10 feet deeper, that creates a much bigger pressure change on the fish than a weather system moving through. But in a small pond, the fish usually can't move much deeper or shallower, so he's more of a "prisoner" to the barometric pressure from the atmosphere.

bd

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by bd-

Falling barometric pressure on the leading front of a low pressure area seems to trigger some sort of feeding frenzy sometimes, and you can catch a bunch of fish on the lead edge of bad weather rolling in. I don't know why. But once the pressure has finished falling, it seems like everything is done for a while until conditions stabilize again.

bd

Leaving technical mumbo jumbo out, when a front is rolling in it usually brings a pressure change with it. An easy way to look at it is say the distance between the clouds and fish would be the size of a weight they are swimming around with. As a blue sky is pushed out by a front clouds roll in and that distance gets considerably smaller or less in weight terms.

That is why fish always seem to bite better as a front comes in and all the way up until it passes. Because after that the weight is getting heavier until it levels off.

I know its not an answer in science terms but you see what I am saying.

When the fronts are coming through one after the other and pressure is up/down a lot that is when you go offshore to the deep resident fish where the effects are minimal if any.

This the only site I have ever found that shows a 5-day with pressure: http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/3502

[Alphahawk]

Originally Posted by bd-

I think in rivers and tailwaters, current is king. Nothing affects fish feeding more than current. Temperature can be really critical too, since it triggers a lot of insect activity, which in turn gets the small fish feeding on the bugs, and the big fish feeding on the small fish. Frontal activity can have an effect if everything else is stable, but there are a lot more variables in river fishing.

As far as fronts go, especially on lakes, I actually think stable conditions are best. The first couple "bluebird days" of a cold front (high pressure area) are usually lousy fishing, but if you have stable conditions for 4 or 5 days, that can still give you a pretty good fishing day. When fronts are moving through and the barometer is up and down all over the place, it can be hard to figure out what the fish are going to do.

Falling barometric pressure on the leading front of a low pressure area seems to trigger some sort of feeding frenzy sometimes, and you can catch a bunch of fish on the lead edge of bad weather rolling in. I don't know why. But once the pressure has finished falling, it seems like everything is done for a while until conditions stabilize again.

From my experience, fronts actually affect small bodies of water MORE than big water, for the reasons Travis pointed out. If a fish is in big water where he can just move 10 feet deeper, that creates a much bigger pressure change on the fish than a weather system moving through. But in a small pond, the fish usually can't move much deeper or shallower, so he's more of a "prisoner" to the barometric pressure from the atmosphere.

bd

X2 on your post....You have that right "Current is King" in a tail water. Appreciate the response to the question. I will still fish the back side of a front but more often than not I have been burned. A good example was about 2 weeks ago when I fished Nickajack on Monday and caught plenty of Crappie and yet did not have a cooler so kept none. Went back on Wednesday as the conditions were right for Crappie...cloudy, a little wind. But the front came through Tuesday and I knew it but went anyway. Fished hard but caught only a couple of fish. It was a perfect place for fish...a flat with a drop off to 22 feet. Licked my wounds and waited on Friday to return and killed the Crappie once again. If the weather is not too bad tomorrow I am going again. It will be cool and damp but hopefully the cloud cover...and a 1/64 Trout Magnet...will turn the fish on.


Regards

[bd-]

Originally Posted by Travis C.

Leaving technical mumbo jumbo out, when a front is rolling in it usually brings a pressure change with it. An easy way to look at it is say the distance between the clouds and fish would be the size of a weight they are swimming around with. As a blue sky is pushed out by a front clouds roll in and that distance gets considerably smaller or less in weight terms.

Well technically, it doesn't have to do with the clouds themselves, of course. I imagine you probably know that, but I guess the illustration could be confusing to some people. Colder air is more dense than warmer air, so it weighs more - so a cold air mass has high pressure and a warm air mass has low pressure.

The "front" is just the edge between the two air masses. Warmer, less dense air holds more moisture, so you get nasty weather at the edge between the cold front and warm front because the warmer air hits that cold air mass, cools down, and the moisture precipitates out.

From the fish's perspective, I'm not sure anybody knows exactly why their feeding is affected by barometric pressure. But fish are extremely sensitive to pressure changes - both their lateral line and their swim bladder respond to extremely minute variations in pressure. Among other things, fish use these organs to determine their position in the water column, since they sense greater pressure as they move deeper. I suppose maybe atmospheric pressure changes are distressing and disorienting to them since they have to cope with that change.

On the other hand, it might not entirely be the pressure at all. Fish are sensitive to sunlight, since they have no eyelids. Some fish are more sensitive than others - walleye are more sensitive to bright sunny days than bass, and bass are much more sensitive than rainbow trout. Browns seem to like low light much better than rainbows too.

High pressure areas tend to coincide with cloudless, sunny days. In addition there may be a temperature drop, which affects metabolism in fish since they're cold-blooded. So who knows, maybe the pressure itself is just a small part of the puzzle.

bd

[Cornbread]

My two cents for what it's worth. I agree with the better on the front end slowing on the back end. That said, I try to adjust my expectations for those days. Its another day of experience fishing either way. I, like I'm sure most you, get to fish when I can good or bad conditions. And some of my best fish have come on days I would consider poor. Striped bass in particular seem willing to bite on days like Friday may be. It also seems many species Bass, Crappie,white Bass etc.retreat to creek channels and deeper areas and group up a little tighter. Or so it seems. Thanks to all.

[TNtransplant08]

Thanks for the reply. It makes me feel alittle better about maybe going to the OH dam tomorrow if the wife lets me. They've finally increased the flow after weeks of only 5,000 cfs and 1 or no generators going. The past few days they've been releasing 12,000 cfs and 2 or more generators. Hopefully that should improve fishing down there. I haven't gone in a few weeks since the bite from the bank has practically been nonexistent.

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by bd-

Well technically, it doesn't have to do with the clouds themselves, of course. I imagine you probably know that, but I guess the illustration could be confusing to some people. Colder air is more dense than warmer air, so it weighs more - so a cold air mass has high pressure and a warm air mass has low pressure.

bd

I know it may seem confusing if you think about it compared to actual data. There are a bunch of dynamics that go on when a front comes through. I was a meteorology major a WKU but for a simple visual image it has always stuck with me. I can't remember who told me that may have been my grandfather or one of his buddies but its an easy way to look at the sky and see what to expect. It may not translate on paper but it means the same as far as what happens to the fish.

A hundred ways to skin a cat as far as ways to understand or relate things. Sorry, if it was a little head scratcher.

I agree on the light thing too. There are so many factors going on that we could relate it to pressure because that one factor is most obvious to us.

I'll post an article wrote on cold fronts here in sec, if I can dodge the kid with a popsicle.