Top Tips For Maximizing The Chilly Weather Bass Bite

Bassmaster Pro Ott DeFoe Shares His Autumn Insights

By David A. Brown

from The Fishing Wire

Fall is transition time for largemouth bass; it’s a time when the fish have fully departed their warm season haunts, but they’re not quite ready to drop into their winter retreats. No, the calendar’s tail end is all about stuffing bellies and packing on the weight that’ll sustain the fish through winter’s leanness.

The bass are on the move and it can definitely be a here-today-gone-tomorrow deal; but the bass’ seasonal instincts also heighten the likelihood of banner days. Few times of the year will see gatherings like the fall gorge fest and savvy anglers can enjoy the kind of action that’ll have you pining for your next outing.

“Once you get to November and beyond, the later fall period brings the opportunity of finding big schools of fish,” said Bassmaster Elite Series pro Ott DeFoe. “They’re starting to get grouped up into their wintering places, but they’re still feeding pretty good. You have the potential to catch a lot of fish when you find the right deal.

“The good thing about fall is that the bite could be in really shallow water or it could be in deep water. It’s not like summer where you only find big groups of fish deep; they can be grouped up shallow too.

So, how does the accomplished angler from Knoxville, Tennessee make the most of this opportunity? Truth be told, the exact game plan varies day to day; nevertheless, DeFoe suggests following these four guidelines for maximum seasonal success. Baitfish are generally migrating to the backs of creek and coves, but the schools are constantly moving. Covering water is the key, but DeFoe has a couple of strategies for narrowing the search.

• Fish the windy side of the lake, as the wind pushes baitfish into predictable areas.
• Watch for wading birds grouping on the bank, or hovering and diving over open water. Both point to baitfish concentrations.

KNOW THE NEIGHBORHOOD. A big part of the hunt for fall bass and the bait schools they follow comes down to recognizing the productive areas. Bluff walls that typically occur on the deeper side of a creek can be one of the most consistent fall producers, as the vertical structure provides a holding spot where bass can quickly adjust their depth to find the right water temperature by ascending or descending in the water column.

This is the sure bet; the place that typically produces some level of activity throughout the day. DeFoe values the bluffs, but he points out another consideration with day-making potential.

“In a creek arm with a steep side and a flat side, I look at both as having their own set of options,” he said. “The bluff is the safeguard. In the fall, I can go to a bluff and catch some fish and I may find a group of them. I can throw a shallow to medium diving crankbait or a jig and run across places throughout the day and put together a decent (5-fish) limit.

“On the other hand, I may fish flats half the day without catching a fish; but once I find them, I’m liable to catch 15 pounds in 15 minutes. So, it’s a matter of which do you want to focus on: Do you want to focus on the bluffs where you can pick up a fish here and there, or do you want to focus on the big groups of fish that have the bait pushed up there on the flats and are actively feeding?”

WATCH THE WEATHER. Speaking of weather, DeFoe knows that cold fronts bring major impacts that demand consideration. Before and during the front’s passage, fishing can be off the charts, as falling barometric pressure, cloudy skies and blustery winds can whip up one ferocious feeding frenzy. On the flip side, post-frontal conditions can be a real head-scratcher.

Here, the high pressure, cloudless skies, intense sunlight and lack of wind create an eerily still scenario in which bass tuck tight to shady cover and hunker down until conditions stabilize. This is generally considered “lock jaw” time, but bass still have to eat — they simply adjust their methods.

STAY CAST-READY. In closing, DeFoe points out that fall weather can take its toll on an angler’s performance. Certainly, chilly temperatures will tap away at one’s endurance, while the bright sun of post-frontal conditions unleashes solar harshness on one’s skin.

To keep himself in good physical and mental form, DeFoe won’t launch without his BUFF Multifunctional Headwear — possibly a Merino Wool or Polar model, as conditions dictate — and an appropriate pair of BUFF gloves.

“I like not only the sun protection and wind protection I get, but also the warmth around my neck,” DeFoe said. “Also, BUFF’s Merino Wool hats and the different models of gloves complement the Multifunctional Headwear. Having items that make you more comfortable on the water will relate to more casts per day and more fish in the boat.”

Early Scouting Prepares Bass Anglers For Cold Front Fallout

By David A. Brown

from The Fishing wire

“You gotta have a dream, if you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?”

That memorable tune from South Pacific finds Tonkinese mother Bloody Mary counseling Lieutenant Joe Cable on the pursuit of true happiness with her daughter Liat. But you have to wonder how the lyrics might’ve varied had the scene taken place around some western hemisphere bass factory like Lake Ouachita, Guntersville or Toledo Bend, instead of overlooking Bali Ha’i.

Maybe something like:

“You gotta have a stump, if you don’t have a stump, how you gonna catch a bass post-front?”

Broadway aside, there’s undeniable logic in knowing the likely spots where bass will seek refuge in the harsh conditions on the backside of a cold front. Raymarine pro Stephen Browning knows well this game and, in his estimation, fishing after a cold front is generally the toughest scenario a bass angler will face.

Browning confronts this daunting scenario with a well-conceived game plan based on forethought and strategy. But first, let’s look at how the scene unfolds.

As a weather system approaches the area, winds increase, skies turn cloudy, rain becomes more likely and the falling barometer spurs intense feeding. As the front moves through, the action continues and fish act like they want to eat the motor off the transom.

Then the front passes and things get weird. Wind goes flat, temperature drops, high pressure pushes every streak of cloud from the sky and the dreaded “bluebird” conditions can have you wondering if someone stole all the fish overnight.

Actually, the fish didn’t go anywhere; they’ve just tucked in close to the nearest cover. Remember, the only way bass can shield their eyes from intense post-front sunlight is to utilize shadows. Similarly, the solid cover they seek radiates absorbed heat — a biggie for shivering fish.

(For clarity, some bass winter on deep offshore spots, but, as Browning notes, a good number remain in mid-depth ranges and even push surprisingly shallow to feed.)

KNOW WHERE TO GO

Browning’s adept at locating bass when starting from scratch, but he also knows that bites can be hard to coax in post-frontal conditions, so less time looking means more time earning those bites. Therefore, he likes to attack these tough times with a hit list.

“What really helps me more than anything for post-front fishing is relying on my Raymarine DownVision, SideVision and RealVision 3D sonar to identifying isolated pieces of cover,” Browning said. “That may be a stump, the tip of a laydown, a small brush pile, different size rock and subsurface transition areas. All those things are where I start looking to target where those fish should move to.

“The cold front is going to put those fish directly onto those targets. I think that is the key — identifying the target and making presentations to that specific target. If you have stable weather, you can catch them in a lot of different places this time of year, but once that cold front hits, I think there going to jump in there beside that stump; they’re going hang out in that little cluster of rocks; they’re going to bury up in that tree top. That’s where your electronics can really save the day.”

WHAT TO THROW

When the front is approaching or passing, Browning gets much of his work done with Live Target mid-range crankbaits, or the Golden Shiner lipless crankbait. Remember, this is the period when bass have the feed bag on, so covering water with reaction baits is the way to go. Spinnerbaits and Z-Man ChatterBaits also fit this plan.

Now, when the front passes and the fish put on their pouty face, Browning says it’s time to slow down, refer to the waypoints he’s marked on his Raymarine Axiom and turn to the targeted presentation plan.

“On these days, I’m throwing two different baits: I’m throwing a 1/2- to 3/4-ounce Jewel football jig and I’m throwing a ball head shaky head jig with a 4- to 7-inch finesse worm,” Browning said. “I would rather catch a fish on a football jig because I feel that fish is going to be a little better quality.

“But if I really think I’m around fish, but they’re not taking the (larger) jig, that’s when I fall back on the shaky head. It doesn’t put out a lot of vibration; it is a super finesse style of fishing, even during the winter time.”

As for football jig trailer selection, Browning offers this advice: “I use a Z-Man Turbo CrawZ during times when I think the fish are feeding actively. When the front comes through and the fish are less active, I’ll use the more subtle Z-Man Bat WingZ, which is the standard split tail trailer. I’ll trim my jig skirt up really tight and try to make it a really compact profile.”

Emergent stumps are easy to spot, but Stephen Browning relies on his Raymarine unit to show him the deeper structures that will harbor post-frontal bass.

MIND THE DETAILS

Yeah, we have a general outline of what to expect on every page of the calendar, but nature bristles with variables; many of which can determine how greatly a weather system impacts a bass fishery. Among them:

Seasonal Severity: Simple math. If you have a full bag of M&Ms and I take a quarter of them, you still have plenty. But if your candy bag is only half full and I take 25 percent, you’re not going to be happy with me.

Apply this to a cold front and it’s easy to see that a mild fall/winter can absorb event a stout cold front if air and water temperatures have remained moderate. It’s those years when fall sees early and significant temperature declines that see subsequent cold fronts seriously denting the bass fishing scene.

Frontal Intensity: Expounding on the previous thought, a front’s impact is largely measured by how much the temperature drops. There’s no one-size-fits-all cold front formula. Some are mere irritations, others straight-up game changers. Also, the amount of rain a front brings can become a temporary factor, as runoff will stain the areas with concentrated inflows.

After Hours: Daytime temperatures certainly matter, but overnight lows can be the real bite killers. Consider that the pace at which a morning’s action unfolds directly correlates to the temperature deficit the sun must overcome. Other words, if the pre-front water was, say, 55 degrees and it dropped to 50 between sundown and sunup; it wouldn’t take too long for the the next day to reach a temperature at which the fish might cooperate. However, when the night of a cold front’s passage delivers a double-digit decline, you can take your time at the launch ramp — it’s gonna be a slow start.

Ultimately, each year and each cold front shapes up a little differently. There’s only so much predictability you can count on; and often, you simply have to hit the water and make a firsthand evaluation.

Of course that’s always easier when you have a place to start — and maybe find your dream come true.

also: Why Does A Cold Front Affect Bass?

Cold Front Bass Fishing Tactics