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You’ve got a week to go fishing in the spring and the temperature is beginning to rise. You’re excited; you just know the fish are going to be munching.
Then … bam! A giant cold front hits.
I feel your pain. That’s pretty much what we run into on the Bassmaster Elite Series trail each spring, and what we saw at Chickamauga event this month.
It’s one of the hardest times for a bass angler when you have spring-like conditions, the fish want to spawn, then suddenly it gets cold. The fish either shut down or disappear, and you’re as confused as they are.
Now, during those late-spring cold fronts when some of the fish have spawned and some are up shallow wanting to spawn, they may stay.
The ones that are most affected are in the first group that moves up early in spring when the water temperature drops a few degrees.
Those fish really don’t want to bite, and you’re left to start playing the mind game. “Will they stay shallow, or will they back off to prespawn areas?”
To add to the confusion, you never really know if the fish are where you are fishing or have vacated the area.
It’s often a small window when they do bite. You could work through the best spot on the lake, and if they’re not biting you wouldn’t even know a fish was there. Go through it when that window is open and wow … it’s pretty easy.
So, timing is so important, and it’s why you have to keep fishing and trying different things until you hit the right window.
To me, the smartest way to fish those conditions is to pick apart areas of prespawn fish inhabit. Some of those fish that were shallow may have moved back and joined others that weren’t ready to move up. Those areas are least affected by the drop in water temperature.
Lure choices depend upon your preference.
During the recent Chickamauga tournament, guys were either fishing finesse lures and catching small ones with the occasional big fish, or throwing giant baits and fishing for just a few quality bites.
I don’t like either style, so I fish standard baits that I’m more comfortable using.
One of my favorites for those adverse conditions, especially in clear water, is a Strike King KVD Jerkbait, either the J200 or J300. The jerkbait is a great way to target fish that aren’t active because you can work it at different speeds and often trigger that bite from non-aggressive fish.
But honestly, fishing really stinks when those hard, early-season cold fronts chase bass out of the shallows or shut down the bite. Yet, when you have time to go fishing and can’t pick your days, you have to make the most of it and hope you hit one of those windows to salvage a good day.