Cold Front Bass

[Craig Plummer]

Does saturday constitute a "cold front" condition in this scenario?

http://www.weather.com/outlook/recreatio...pdown_allergies

Also in a shallow lake with lots of vegetation where would the fish most likely be?

a) Thick Shoreline vegetation to hide underneath?

Deapest weeds available?

c) Docks and other apparent cover?

[Griggs]

83 doesn't look much like a cold front. What I would take from the weather though is the low temps. Those low to mid 50s temps might keep the morning bite from being to active, I'd guess the fish will warm up and turn on later.

[SledNeck]

cold front? I would say low 60s or high 50s would be considered a cold front.

[goblueM]

IMO, a "cold" front constitutes a 10+ degree change over a 24 hour period. I just usually call it a front, because "cold" is relative. I don't consider above 60 to be cold in any situation, so... anyways, if it's 83 today and 70 tomorrow, something significant happened in the weather. High winds, change in barometric pressure, cloud cover, wind direction, etc - all could factor into that. Now whether that weather change affected the fish, I don't know. I will say that even in the toughest conditions you can still find the fish in all those locations, its just getting them to bite

[Deitz Dittrich]

I'm with others on this.. not really much of a cold front.. we have had quite a bit of "weather" come through much of the state, but really not much of a "cold Front"..

IF.. and I mean IF>.. there was a cold front on the lake you describe, the fish may(sorry to be so... )may jsut hold up tighter in the weeds.. Fish slower, fish smaller. OR, fish faster and bigger and look for reaction strikes..

[Craig Plummer]

Thanks Everyone.

I guess I just wasn't sure what makes a "front"

I always seem to have tough fishing on those blue-bird sky days after a storm

[Slyster]

Since the water warms and cools SO slowly.. wouldn't the fish behavior changes be more from the pressure and not the air temp after a front comes through?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Cp- look at slys last statement again, he is on to something. Water temp changes pretty slow, the shallower the water, the quicker it changes...surface temps can change pretty quick depending on what quick is to you... But not nearly as fast as air temp can and does...

a true "cold front" has FAR more to do with air and water pressures than it actually does with water temps.

The bluebird skies after a storm is a high pressure system which always.. ALWAYS, seems to follow a storm. High pressure affects the entire food chain, from the very top to the very bottom.. they rely on pressure to affect how boyant they are... The sudden change in that pressure affects them hugely! If thats a word>!~ I have yet to find where this affect was a positive one.

[Hula_Grub]

Cold fronts are generally followed by high pressure- In very simple terms, the high pressure, colder air forces the warmer air up. This uplift cools the warm, wet air, and we get thunderstorms.

The high pressure air has less "space" between the air molecules which is why the sky is so blue after a true cold front. Also, to be considered a cold front, the airmass simply must be colder than the one it is replacing.

[CaptZ21]

I have to agree with Dietz' interpetation more or less. First of all no one has the absolutely postive reason cold fronts seem to affect the bite. Having said that and having a job that involves active study of weather phenonmena I will throw in my 2 cents. A cold front by definition is simply a cooler airmass that is replacing a warmer airmass. There is no defining temp change, so theoretically a 1 degree cooler airmass is a cold front. There will ALWAYS be a pressure, wind, and temp change associated with any frontal passage be it warm or cold, not getting into occluded and stationary fronts now, that is for the next lesson. If you look at a weather map you cn see lines of equal pressure, and the closer these are can help you determine how strong the associated LOW is, and wind force, (closer these isobars the stronger the wind gradient when associated with a Low Pressure system). A front is always associated with a Low and the trough of lower pressure. You can as a rule of thumb tell when a weather system is approaching on our continent since the wind will be eastery to south easterly most times, and switch to NW after frontal passage. A high only affects a front as a force that blocks its movement (the Bermuda High is a classic example) or one that helps push the Low. We have the bright blue skies because the front tends to move out the stagant, poluted airmass as it goes through. Warm fronts tend to move slower and cause thunderstorms at night while cold fronts usually move faster with more day time thunder, all both create havoc day and night. Temperature change can have little effect short term since the lapse rate for temp change in water is affected by the denisty, just as air usually cools as one gets to a higher altitude the water cools as you descend but a minor air change does little to the water. My guess is pressure is the big deterent to the bite. Sorry to be so long winded, but the best answer is to just go out and fish. Good luck

[Deitz Dittrich]

Awesome Stuff Capt! Thanks for sharing with us.. I look forward to reading more of your posts.. Welcome to the FM/HSO Family!

[Craig Plummer]

Great bit of info capt. Thank you