Bass Fishing Tip of the Week 01/24/09: Deep Water Fishing after a Cold Front

Cold fronts often send bass to deep water. Many theories exist as to why they seek the depths but I believe it is due to the more moderated water temperatures that exist there. When a cold front moves through, the air is in contact with the water's surface and the water's surface temperatures drop fairly rapidly. A thermal gradient is created in the water table whereby being cooler in the shallower water or surface waters and getting gradually warmer at greater depths. Forage such as shad and other schooling species move lower in the water table and the bass follow suit.

Southwest Florida had experienced a large warming trend in mid December that signaled the largemouth bass to spawn. Many fish were bedding through the 2nd week of January 2009 until a major cold front came through. Anna and myself fished a local tournament after the cold front and we noticed many fishermen were fishing the shallows expecting to catch the spawners that were their at the beginning of January. Even Anna and I started shallow the 1st hour of the tournament although we didn't expect much and we had a plan to fish deep.

We ended up fishing most of the tournament in relatively deep water on the ledges of the river channel from 11-14 feet that dropped off to 20 foot. The fish were keying on timber located on these ledges and we tossed a marker whenever we had a bite in a new location.

Some key points to remember when bass fishing after a cold front are:

1- Move to deeper water and fish structure such as submerged timber, rockpiles and weedlines. Look for distinct drops and changes on your depthfinder

2- Mark an area with a buoy after you either catch a fish or miss a strike. Bass often school on specific structure after a front and the strike zone will be small. A marker allows you to cover the strike zone effectively and you'll often catch more than one fish on that spot.

3- Pattern the fish on the deep water bites. By this I mean watch your depthfinder and key on the depths the fish are using as well as what type of structure they are on. When moving to another spot, try to replicate fishing the same depths and structure the fish were on at a previous location.

4- Slow down your presentation. Carolina rigs are great for deep water fishing as they are in constant contact with the deep water strike zone and force you to fish slow.

Follow these important steps after a cold front  hits and I'm sure you'll be doing more catching with less fishing!

Anna with a pair of nice fish caught after a cold front on Lake Manatee during Mr. B's January 2009 tournament. These helped us win this one!

The Largemouth Herald