So it's no big surprise that the drop in pressure before a big ole storm makes the fish eat. Today we had a huge storm, like multiple tornados big storm (in new england!) And I was out on my kayak until the rain started. I didn't do BAD but it wasn't quite the slaunch fest I was expecting. All teeny guys on the squarebill up shallow. I only caught one dragging a Texas rigged power worm, which has been cleaning house lately. The flipping craw bite didn't happen once. 

 

What do you guys throw when the storm is looming to slay the bigguns?

Usually, I like a bait that matches the most likely forage, and generally if fish are schooling, feeding up, or ambushing baitfish I like a pretty fast eratic action, and I'll change my presentation alternating dramatic pauses until I dial it in. 

 

As the spawn gets closer, I start to notice a pretty wide separation between big fish on the cusps of spawning and juveniles just trying to bulk up/second and third wave spawners that generally aren't the 4+lb fish we're generally looking for. In the summer and fall, if this corresponds with a hatch or bass busting on baitfish towards the surface or weed/structure lines, you can be in for some really exciting conditions. 

I like to throw what I think is about to be washed into the lake or what will be blown around by the wind. Worms, lizards, shad baits. Have had luck with all 3

Hmm. Maybe it was just a fluke. I regret not throwing the chatterbait. I should have taken some time to dive a little deeper water with cranks too. That's about the only water I didn't cover. 

 

Oh well, there will be other storms. 

Unfortunately, the bass don't keep one eye on weather channel, nor do they have barometers in their homes.  Frontal activity (and precipitation) can affect fishing, but in my experience, fatter, slow fronts are easier to tie to changes in the fishing.  I think that you'd find that recent afternoon fronts (from TN up through NE) have come in with a hammer and produced quick, dramatic changes.  My limited experience has led me to believe that these types might give you a little uptick for a short period, but I figure it has more to do with rain than pressure.   I do think that generally, those wide, slow fronts that spend most of a day rolling through will give you some noticeable increases in active feeders.   I have little data and no science to back any of that up, but maybe its just subconscious self-preservation, as I'm more likely to try to get off the water before predicted harsh fronts roll in....but steady rain, with gradual cooling will find me sitting through it for hours.

Well now that's something I've never considered before. Some of my best bites were right at the beginning of nasty little thunderstorms. The kind where you get drenched in the 4 minutes it takes to get the yak on the car. I had never considered the speed of the front. That makes a tremendous amount of sense. 

I throw a buzz bait for those as slow moving steady rain cold fronts push thru in the fall or spring, bass will go crazy for it.  I don't have much luck with the same technique when it comes to summer thunderstorms though.

So I thought they should have but and didn't, then today I went out post storm after the rain stopped when the bite should have been at its worst, I thoroughly cleaned up. A MVMT 80x, a power worm and a chatterbait. I even got a bass trying to catch some panfish on a 1/8 jig and grub. I got a bunch of perch too ?

 

Moral of the story, bass are weird man. It is what it is I suppose.