Cold Spells in the Winter
There is probably nothing that changes the location and patterns of bass more than an extreme cold spell during the winter in the south. The north Alabama area is subject to all kinds of weather in the winter it changes daily as we progress from January to early April in this part of the country. We see it warm to extremely cold all winter long so adjusting, from one day to the next can be the key to consistent catches this time of year. Just in the last week we have gone from 70 degrees to the 20’s and finding fish and getting them to bite will not be easy until the weather stabilizes again.
Some of the reasons for this are the obvious issues, like water temperature as it can drop 15 degrees in the shallows during this kind of temperature change moving the fish off their patterns as they adjust their bodies to the colder water. It also moves the bait fish and as the bait goes so do the bass, so a key can easily be seen on your electronics if there is no bait fish generally you can assume there is no bass in that area. Its also common that cold front are followed bye high pressure and as we all know high pressure shuts down fishing of all types for at least a day in most cases. The extent of it just depends on the area and how drastic the change is!
Some of the changes bass make can be typical, first they follow the bait, next they look for warmer water, so they generally move deeper as the mid-range water depth is generally warmer than the deep or the shallow and they always suspend for some period after drastic weather changes. Getting fish to bite in this case is mostly all about forcing a reaction bite; this forces you to do a lot of bait changing from size to color but it also is about locating bass and getting the bait in front their eyes to temp them. Many times, small easy baits like 1/8 oz or smaller jigs are baits they react too as you can put this bait on their nose especially of suspending fish.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
www.facebook.com/FishGuntersville
Email: bassguide@comcast.net
Call: 256 759 2270
Capt. Mike Gerry