Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Water Temp change/drop effect

After several weeks of mid 90s temps it's cooled off to 70s/low 80s starting a little over a week ago. We fished last Thursday and got one fish in five hours. We started with Ned Rigs which have worked well on this lake and others in the area. Ended up trying all kinds pf baits. I caught the one we got after about a half hour of fishing on a Ned Rig but that's the only fish and bite we got. Talked to some other guys at the dock, same story. One of them said the water temp had dropped six degrees in a short period of time.

Yep I’ve found radical barometric pressure changes can really make or break even the best of fishing spots.

Water temp always play a part it’s getting hotter and no rain so it’s starting to play the to hot game.

A falling barometer usually improves the bite.

Bass are cold blooded and so are their prey items. As bait becomes less active after a cold snap, I look for bass to suspend where the water is oxygen-rich and they can hold and wait for food to be carried to them. I’ll look for them to be on the lee side of a point with water deep enough to be more oxygen dense.

When this happens, I use lures that I can fish slowly at depth. Swim baits, flukes with weighted EWG hooks, heavier spinnerbaits with Colorado blades, deep diving crankbaits, deep diving/suspending jerkbaits, and some baits than are typically associated with other types fish (mainly walleye) like snap jigging blade baits, jigging spoons, and jigs tipped with Gulp! minnows.

If they are suspended closer to the bottom, drop shotting can be very effective. Try wacky rigging a senko with a weighted hook or Nikko rig it.