cold front

[oil painter]

Am going out sun.a.m.wondering how front affected fishing? I am fishing crappies with out of town guests b/4 game dont expect great success but hopeful to get some biters not sniffers! I am planing on fishing deep water hole has anyone done any good today?thanks for the info.

[Borch]

I'm just getting ready to head out. I'm expecting a tough bite. But you can't catch them unless you go fishing.

[oil painter]

GOOd luck hope you smack em!!!let me know how you did.

[Realtor Boy]

been doing much better in the shallower water before dark, about 8 to 10 feet, then once the sun goes down I move deeper, been doing that all year now and been having very good luck, that is for pannies anyway.

[harvey lee]

I have not fished crappies today,but the shallow bite has been very good around the area I fish.I have been from 9-13fow.This front will probably slow things up a bit.Good luck tommorrow as you never know.I have had no luck in the deeper (25-35fow) water for 3 weeks.Shallow has been the ticket for me.

[knoppers]

was out from 4:30 till 8 tonight, lots of fish on the LX-3, but not much for biters. I would have to say the cold front shut them down. I had a shiner down for walleyes or pike, and I caught two pike on my crappie line and nothing on the shiner.

[Borch]

Well it was slow for me tonight. I did catch a dozen or so crappies with about half of them in the 9 1/2 - 10 1/2" range. The bite was very light and I had 10 lookers for every biter.

I'd guess that tomorrow will be a little better than today being it being a little further from the front's passing Friday.

It sure was nice hearing the lake making ice. Lots of cracking, popping and booming. The only time I don't like that is when it pops right underneath me.

Good Luck!

[Northlander]

Very slow for us today for Pike. Only 2 flags all day.

[mpester]

Fishing was good for me. I hooked a 22" walleye at 1 PM while I was setting the depth on my tip-up. I did not even have any bait on the hook! Since I do not try for walleyes very often, that one was my biggest here in MN. How heavy would a 22" walleye be when she is full of eggs and fat. I let her go but she looked to be about four or five pounds. When it started getting dark, I had crappies and bluegills hitting on every drop. I hooked two smaller walleyes when I had a bait fall past all the bluegills and crappies. I do not think the front hurt the fishing on the lake I was on.

[oil painter]

Maybe 3 1/2 4 lbs good for you am glad you smacked some fish. I was planning on going out today with ouy o towners but they decided to sleep in and lay around til the event tonite.WHY any one would rather lay aruond than fish is BEYOND ME but oh well. by the middle of the week the fish will be cutting holes just to be caught,they will be so hungry and bored!!!!

[The Grebe]

We were on Mille Lacs yesterday and it was a tough bite for us initially...a perch here, a perch there. We talked to a couple of the fellas that had permanent houses and they said they had been going great guns, right up to the time the cold front moved in, then they shut right off.

You could see them down there with the AquaView, but they wouldn't bite, for the most part. We did coax a number of them into giving themselves up, the biggest being 13 1/2. We had several others that were close and then some that were a little smaller. I think it did turn them off, but not all the way. We only got 1 walleye about a 12 incher.

[iffwalleyes]

Cold fronts have been the store of my winter this year. Just about every weekend I have gotten out I have had to fight one of these things. But this past weekend the fishing was decent for my group. Marine_Man picked up a 10# walleye and a 6# his dad got a 9.5# walleye and I got a 4 and 3#. So quality replace quantity in our case.

[fishinalot]

We were on a good perch bite on Mille Lacs for the past few weeks. We were up on Sat and only caught a few, they really shut down!

[Random guy]

A bunch of us musky/pike guys were talking about this yesterday and we relized that many BIG pike in the winter have been caught after a cold front, normaly the only fish we caught all day but big fish, no little guys. In fact my biggest pike came after temps dropped to the -20 mark. It was the only fish for two days. Anybody else see this cold front condition with pike or other species?

[CrappieJohn]

Could it be that the larger prey species like pike/muskie are not as ill-effected by cold fronts and have learned that hunting right after a front yields good eating. Sunfish, crappie, perch and a multitude of smaller rough fish seem to be very lethargic following the onset of the cold, cold fronts. Maybe the pike are simply finding that the small fish are slower in reacting to predator presence during these periods.

[oil painter]

I think you might be on to something! over the years {to many} Ive noticed during soft water that some times the only thing that will bite after a cold front is gators!I dont really fish them but I know they bite. If their food is lethargic what a great oppurtunity to feed!!! Makes sense to me! I have used a fly rod for sunnies and craps, used live bait for walters,and have found the bite pathetic! I have noticed the same d8uring hard water except you can usally coax a few biters not sniffers.My bet is tues will be a good bite wed. better and thurs great! To bad I have to work I cant test the theory

[Bkchero]

Hi, new to your forum. I am coming to St. Paul from Ft. Lauderdale (yes its warm here) to visit relatives and hopefully get out in the ice w/my stepson and bro-in-law. Are any of the lakes you all are talking about in here close to NE St. Paul area, and if so, have the ice conditions improved with the cold front passing through? Any fishing reports would also be nice. I have no idea what lake we might fish on, my bro-in-law is also checking around to find safe ice and hopefully decent fishing, but any help you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thanks and good luck to all of you out there.

[knoppers]

from what I heard they are driving fully loaded semi's on the ice here in wascea. but don't believe that, the ice is fine, lots of area lakes to enjoy, the cold front just shuts the fishing down a little, but not enough too not go out. they bite very well today for me, and it was a post front.

If your from the south, you must try ice fishing, its a must, and its something you can tell your grand kids about.