9/29 Post Cold Front Afternoon

[rps]

Didn't expect to do any good today. Blue bird skies and north winds are not good things. I surprised myself. One keeper walleye in the boat and one came unbuttoned at the boat. Several small bass.

I trolled a small profile crank bait and found fish 21 to 23 feet deep suspended just off the edge of a channel in 24 to 28 feet of water. Variable boat speed (1.8 to 2.6 mph).

[kjackson]

Nice...have you found the river fish less susceptible to the influence of a cold front?

[rps]

No. The only advantage to rivers and farm ponds is there are fewer areas to hole up in.

[Champ188]

If anything, cold fronts hit the river areas harder because of their shallow nature. I don't have any data to base that on other than a lifetime of experience, but I can testify that my younger years of tournament fishing were spent praying that a cold front didn't blow through and erase any advantage that I had built in practice by locating shallow fish in the river arms of whatever lake I happened to be fishing.

I'm told that when barometric pressure is high, as it is after a cold front, that the air literally pushes downward. This can be felt by the fish and affects their swim bladder. The shallower they are, the more they feel it. Again, that's what I'm told and have read. Not saying it's gospel.

I do know that it's generally best after a cold front to fish deeper, as those fish seem to be less affected by the pressure change.

[rps]

Deeper, smaller profile baits, and slow down. I have often fished crappie jigs and Charlie Brewer "Do Nothing" rigs in post cold front conditions.

BTW, current forecasts indicate I get to fish another post front next weekend. Yippie Ki Yay.

[bfishn]

...I'm told that when barometric pressure is high, as it is after a cold front, that the air literally pushes downward. This can be felt by the fish and affects their swim bladder. The shallower they are, the more they feel it. Again, that's what I'm told and have read. Not saying it's gospel.

Since it has weight and mass, our atmosphere is always "pushing down" on the water (and everything else). Standard atmosphere measures 29.92 inches of mercury column, or 14.696 psi. The actual pressure at any point depends on the altitude and local weather conditions, which on the earth surface has ranged from measured extremes of 25.7 to 32 inHg. The typical frontal variations we experience are more in the range of 1-2 inHg, or 0.5 to 1 psi.

Underwater, pressure increases at 0.43 psi per foot of depth, which, due to atmospheric pressure, is already about 14.7 psi at the surface. A fish at 10 feet deep is subject to about 19 psi, and one at 34 feet deep undergoes 2 atmospheres, or about 29 psi.

When you look back at our typical 0.5 to 1 psi frontal pressure changes, it becomes obvious that the pressure change a fish feels from a storm front is actually less than they feel with a mere change of 3 feet in depth, something most fish do all day with no apparrent ill effects or changes in behavior. The change from a front also spans an hour or more, leading one to believe that the changes we all see in fish behaviour with the passing of a front is due to something other than the barometer.

[littlejasper]

WOW!! Very interesting. I guarantee the readers had to go over that post twice. Of course Babler already knew all of it!! You probably called him for a reference!!! Seriously, real good stuff.

[powerdive]

I will agree that major cold fronts sometimes have elements (changes in light intensity, perhaps) that may influence fish activity, but for the most part fishermen are too quick to jump on it as their excuse for not catching--often even BEFORE the fact. Most of the time, when we don't do well, it's not because the fish won't bite--we're just unwilling or unable to change our approach to something that will work.

[Sprint21fter]

Just what powerdrive said we need to make adjustments in order to catch post frontal fish. I have had to change from flipping a 1/2oz jig to a 1/4oz tube if I am fishing wood or laydowns. Also, if I was catching them on a jig before the front by letting it hit bottom and then hopping it, I would adjust to letting it hit bottom and soaking the jig and becoming a line watcher. My experience for the most part if fish are shallow during a post frontal day you can still get them to bite. They seem to slap at a crankbait or spinnerbait if you are covering water. What I do then is either downsize the blades or size of the crankbait or somtimes I don't change the bait but I change the retrieve. Also, fish as tight to the cover as possible the fish are still there but they are affected by the pressure change. Old saying: "Never leave fish to find fish." There is also a very good Bassmaster show that was held on Dardanelle a few years back and the final six made adjustments after a cold front blasted through the area. KVD was one of the six and he changed and caught almost 20lbs to nearly beat Mark Menedez. Its all between the ears for us fisherman but stubborness normally dooms us on lake.