????

all I know of is cold fronts, and the associated atmospheric pressure. Not perfectly clear on how to predict or analyze weather patterns to discern this yet though.

but also, aside from that, what else makes bites 'sluggish'?

When I put my tournament entry fee on the table not only the get sluggish the disappear

When I put my tournament entry fee on the table not only the get sluggish the disappear

Ha ain't that the truth last week I had a tournament the week befor I killed em then tournament came and d**n near got skunked managed to get 5 at the end go back the next day and everyday for a week sense and caught 30 in an hour.

????

all I know of is cold fronts, and the associated atmospheric pressure. Not perfectly clear on how to predict or analyze weather patterns to discern this yet though.

but also, aside from that, what else makes bites 'sluggish'?

Water temps,Fishing pressure,Boat traffic,O2 levels,food source,Just to name a few.

There is a long list of reasons but keep reading the articals and you will find so much more that will help you to understand a lot of these reasons and how to fish these sometimes difficult day's.

East wind, I live in MO and fish Truman Lake. Even when I am having a good day bass fishing, if the wind turns to the East, then the bass shut off. Also, a barometer reading over 3.15 is very bad and over 3.3 I can't even catch crappie.

Fish sense barometric pressure.

When a cold front moves through an area the bass feed before and during the front. Then they turn off until the accmulate to the high pressure system which may take one or two days.

Also, hot water and lack of oxygen will also cause the bass to be sluggish.

Water temps over 90* and poor oxygen levels can drive you crazy.

Cold fronts don't make bass sluggish, they may be less active in shallow water. Hot water (over 85) creates low DO levels; the bass must move to cooler well oxygenated water, if the bass can't move to deeper water or find weed beds with good DO levels, they will become very sluggish.

Cold water can slow bass down, they are cold blooded and become sluggish.

Keep in mind that bass are not always active, they are inactive for longer time periods.

The key is timing, be on the water when bass are active. Tournament anglers don't always have that choice and must fish under all conditions.

Tom

X2 what WRB said

Bass can be very active in cold water, cold water slow their metabolism which simply means it takes longer to digest their food so they do not need to eat as often.

Example: early pre-spawn down south has water temperatures in the upper 40s & yet the #1 lure of choice is fast moving lipless cranks which big bass will chase down.

Bass can be very active in cold water, cold water slow their metabolism which simply means it takes longer to digest their food so they do not need to eat as often.

Example: early pre-spawn down south has water temperatures in the upper 40s & yet the #1 lure of choice is fast moving lipless cranks which big bass will chase down.

No doubt about it.

Bass can move surprisingly fast in coldwater, but coldwater does slow down their rate of digestion and seems to create a “brain fog”.

Strange but true, the coldwater brain fog can be penetrated using two opposite methods. One way is to wake them up

with a lure that produces short, quick oscillations like a Lipless Plug or Rage Tail Lobster.

The other way is to accommodate their slow decision-making process with the pause interval of a Jerkbait

or the plodding coverage of a Live Minnow.

Roger

and there is always that time when they are full and aren't interested in feeding any more.

Mottfia