Cold front

[Al Agnew]

I got up early this morning to play basketball from 6-7 AM, then meet Hog Wally and Mitch for a few hours of fishing on a stretch of river that I hadn't fished in the winter before.  When I started the truck after coming out of the gym, the temperature was 67 degrees.  I headed north.  Fifteen minutes and fifteen miles later, it had dropped to 48.  By the time I got to the river, it was 39.

Now that's a cold front!

I don't worry as much about cold fronts in river fishing as I did when I used to do a lot more lake fishing.  The worst thing about a cold front in the winter is that the water temperature starts dropping.  But I had hopes that the two days of very warm, windy weather we had before today would have raised water temps at least above 40 degrees (there was ice on the river before those two days), and that those warmer temps would hold for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, and maybe the bass would still be active.

I was surprised when we took off, and the temp gauge on the boat read 38 degrees.  Fishing is always tough when it's that cold.  We stopped at one possible wintering pool, and got nothing.  So we headed farther upstream, coming to a pool where Mitch and Hog Wally had caught fish before.  it was a 25 yard stretch of bank with mixed mud and rocks, sheltered from the current by a jutting rock outcrop.  On about my second cast with a hair jig, I hooked a nice fish, which turned out to be the biggest of the day, a fat 17.5 inch smallmouth.  Then we started catching spotted bass, and for a while the action was steady, mostly on the hair jig (me) and the Hi-def Craw.  We caught about a dozen spots, including one that was better than 16 inches and another that was almost 16.  Mitch then caught a nice 16 inch smallmouth on a crankbait, surprising me a bit with the water that cold.  Finally the action stopped.  

That ended up being the only good spot we fished.  We caught a few more spots here and there, but with the temperature continuing to drop, it was tough to bet bites.

But it really shows that I was kinda right.  A cold front in itself just doesn't affect river bass quite as much.  As much as I would have liked to have been fishing during the warm weather the day before, I was really glad to get out, even in weather with temps in the mid-30s and cloudy, with just enough wind to annoy us.  Looks like the next few days are going to be pretty rough.

[Norm M]

 That front dropped freezing rain on me over night . What a mess , there were still ice related accidents until early afternoon .

Every access spot I checked left me doubtful that I could get out without a tow , so I figure to try again tomorrow . The tow trucks were kind of  busy clearing accidents .

 I originally was up at 5 AM the air temps were in the 30's, a few hours later in the 20's .

 I was hoping that the rain and warmer temps that preceded the rain would get rid of more ice off the river so I had more spots to fish . I figured if the smallmouth did not cooperate I would switch gears to pike or walleye . That is still the plan for tomorrow .

 

  I think severe cold fronts tend to affect the fisherman more than the river smallmouth . It can get us both physically and mentally and get us off our A-game . When you need every edge you can get in winter fishing that often leas to a skunk . Good to see you overcame the obstacles .

 

[Mitch f]

IMHO, That trip would've been a no-go without Hog Wally's River pro jet boat , because the water was pretty skinny! Nice to fish with great fishermen like these two. We ran into Smalliebigs up river and he was catching em from the bank!

  It was fun to get out and fish before the ice storm hits. 

[Mitch f]

 

I added some trees in the background and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between these and the real trees

 

[timinmo]

Great trees Mitch.  Those winter time fish often have spectacular color.  Judging from your art work Al probably does not need to worry about you displacing him.

[Mitch f]

18 minutes ago, timinmo said:

Great trees Mitch.  Those winter time fish often have spectacular color.  Judging from your art work Al probably does not need to worry about you displacing him.

That's YOUR opinion ?

[Flysmallie]

I know that spot. Saw it on an episode of Blues Clues. 

[Mitch f]

14 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

I know that spot. Saw it on an episode of Blues Clues. 

When you were singing "Mail Call!!!"

[snagged in outlet 3]

2 hours ago, Mitch f said:

I added some trees in the background to hide my honey hole location

I fixed this for you