im semi new to bass fishing and have never fished in the fall because im always hunting. well im going on a fishing trip this weekend and it looks like a cold front is hitting on Saturday. the temps have been in the high 70s and low 80s and Saturday the high is 68 with a low of 40. I guess im wanting to know how bad do you think this will effect the bass and if it does do I need to stay away from the buzz bait / spinner bait approach ive been getting told to do and go to deep water with jigs...any help would be awesome. thanks

i said this weekend, but it really is next weekend...October 5th and 6th

Erik, let me tell you about cold fronts.

 

This Saturday, September 26, the weatherman called for a high of 75* and partly cloudy skies. Good day to go fishing.

 

When I got on the water (Pamunkey River) T 6:30AM I saw a beautiful sight: A large dark ridge from the horizon up into the far eastern sky with the sun's rays popping over the top of the ridge. I was thinking of taking a photo it was so beautiful.

 

And then it happened.  The clouds started to move in.  Not the white fluffy clouds but darker and lower floating clouds that would soon block the sun.

 

Then the wind. It started to pick up and made the water choppy. Since it was hitting us from the east the water was not going out of this tidal river. The water remained high, so high that I had to take the only opening between the pilings in the train bridge to get under it safely.

 

The temperature dropped. It was now in the 60's with no chance of hitting the 70's as the weatherman said it would.

 

Around 8:00 the bite stopped. Just went dead. Nothing. The bass scattered in the lily pads and into deeper water. They got lockjaw!

 

This is a cold front. I was not dressed for it. My hands and face were cold. The wind blew through my sweatshirt and jeans. Around 11:00 I had had enough and trailered the boat and went home.

 

One guy caught five before 8AM and that was it. We had guys zero out. The day turned miserable due to that cold front.

 

Don't stay away from any bait or presentation. The five my friend caught were on a torpedo and a toad buzzed across the lily pads and grass. No hits on any plastics after 8AM and the topwater bite went away, too. The easterly winds kept the water in the river and it was cold with the wind whipping around.

 

Go out and be ready for some early morning topwater action and then throw what you can until you find the pattern. Don't get down because you are not getting a lot of hits. A cold front will shut down the bass and if this happens just do your best and have some fun.

 

Let us know how you do.  Good luck

Drop shot! Your able to leave it in there face as long as ya like

You can't predict what will happen, so keep an open mind. I--and I'm sure most other anglers--have done well when we shouldn't and lousy when we should've done well. The bass don't read the same books.

I would fish what you want and tuck away a bag of your favorite soft plastic just in case.

Since you have not shared the region you are located, trying to help you will be difficult.

Cold fronts are cold air mass coming from marine, continental or polar zones and the polar zone cold front air mass tends to affect shallower bass more than other cold fronts.

Cold fronts that follow low pressure zones are different then a polar cold front, but have a similar affect on bass behavior. A low pressure weather system with clouds usually turns on a bass bite, the post cold front that follows turning off the bite.

Tom

PS, your chances of catching bass at home are zero! Go fishing.