Cold Front...

[Matt Johnson]

Looks like we might have a little cold front coming through saturday night and into sunday. Friday night and saturday night look like good times to hit the ice. Just a heads up. Look to move slightly deeper on sunday if you are heading out. Fish will also hold tighter to structure as well. Downsize too. Enjoy the weekend!

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[mark n]

I'm glad you brought that up Matt.

Being pretty new to this sport in general, I spend a significant amount of time at this site picking up pointers. One thing I have been wondering is how barometric pressure variences and or fronts effect the bite in a neg/poss way. I do keep an eye on my guage, and if the BP climes over 30.2 I pretty much figure the bite will be real slow, or "challenging". A lengthy discussion or even debate on this subject would be very enlightening to myself and others I'm sure. I sure hope you opened up a can of worms Matt. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

"Proud pappy of a 3 month old LX3"
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And with that....I'll pass

[This message has been edited by mark n (edited 02-12-2004).]

[Matt Johnson]

Yep, the pressure can effect the fishing, but there are also other things to look for. If you have a cold front but no clouds, you will experience different fishing patterns then when you have a cold front with overcast conditions. Same goes for wind following a cold front. All of these things can change the way you target fish after a cold front comes through.

I like to slide into deeper water once a cold front passes by. Fishing before the front can mean great fishing, but as the front moves in and afterwards you can experience some low points, but that doesn't mean you still can't catch fish.

If I'm fishing a saddle or hump in 25 feet of water for crappies the day before the front, then once the front moves in and afterwards I will move off towards adjecent deeper water and work closer to the bottom. Also might want to check the main basin flats as well, assumming that the main basin is nearby. This time of year I like to focus on mainlake structure, thats where you will catch your bigger fish. And by targeting these mainlake fish you might have more trouble locating fish after a front moves in. What I like to do is go the opposite side of the structure that I was fishing before the front. Often times I've found fish relocating to the opposite side of the structure and holding tight to the bottom. Crappies will typically come through suspended either slightly off the bottom or higher up on normal conditions, but after a front I catch my bigger crappies tight to the bottom, and most times I have to downsize my presenation or even go to a single hook with a tiny minnow or single maggot. I will slow my action to an almost motionless sequence, and I'll throw in a few twitches every now and again. Very light biting fish at this stage.

If you are fishing a large flat with a few pieces of obvious structure, then I would check to see if the crappies are roaming the basins after a front. These crappies typically are not heavily feeding after a front, they are just wondering nomads and can be hard to catch until the front deminishes and fishing becomes more stable, then those crappies will relocate over deep structure again and you can expect their first feeding frenzy to last slightly longer. If you hit that right then you will catch some fish.

Smaller crappies will stay pretty close to the structure they were on before the front moved in, they are not effected as much as larger fish. A lot of the fish you mark higher in the water column after a front will be smaller fish, and you will experience negative fishing. The fish will rise to the bait, stop, look, and often times hold without biting or they will drop back down. Happens all the time. And then you will get a few biters out of the group as well, but the slabs typically won't be there. Holes and pockets are good examples of areas that you will experience similar situations to these. Locating those larger slabs takes more time and effort, and that means looking in areas where you normally don't look for. Like mainlake flats or the deeper basins.

If you are fishing a hole in 30 feet of water and all you are catching is 7-9 inchers, then you might need to search the mainlake flats. Although sometimes the mainlake flats might only be 25 feet, the larger crappies still roam those areas chasing forage and feeding in the open water. Slight changes in bottom contour will attract crappies on the mainlake flats, as will any slight depressions or humps. Doesn't have to be big, only a foot or so can make all the difference in the world.

When I target larger crappies this time of year I look for deeper structure first. Then I try to figure out what part of the structure the crappies will utilize, and what part of the lake they came from when they slid onto the structure. That way you can figure out what the crappies next move is, and where they plan on returning to once spring approaches. This time of year is a good time to start paying attention to detail now that the slabs have moved on to new areas away from first ice spots, and not long afterwards will they relocate towards the direction for potential spawning areas. Once those larger fish relocate they will feed heavily, and late ice can mean a lot of big slabs.

Here's a couple deeper water slabs...

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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First Choice Guide Service

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Iceleaders
Catch-N Tackle and Bio Bait
MarCum
Stone Legacy

[This message has been edited by Matt Johnson (edited 02-12-2004).]

[CrappieJohn]

Danny...There is a saying to that effect, but if you live by that you are going to miss out on some good fishing. Better to live by a more current adage....the best time to fish is anytime.LOL I have places that I fish very often with the wind from the east and do well regardless. What I look at is that the easterly winds precede a drop in temperature and a rise in the barometer. The east winds occur when the low pressure is actually deepening ( or ahead of a storm) and that is usually pretty fair for the bite. I don't pay much attention to wind direction unless it coupled with velocity are going to make boat control difficult.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[danny berg]

Isn't there and old saying that goes: Winds from the East fish bite least, Winds from the West fish bite best. ?

[fishnutbob]

Matt, Nice fish I just wish you would stay off my lake unless you call me. Get those photo's posted. Thanks Bob