Smallmouths and fall cold fronts

To hear a lot of anglers tell it, cold fronts are about as bad as anything can be as far as bass fishing is concerned. That might be true (maybe) with largemouth and it might be true (sort of) for spring smallies. It is not true, however, when it comes to fall smallies. In fact, fall cold fronts actually turn them on.

Exactly why is something a lot of us disagree about. I think it’s because sudden cold weather triggers a response in them that says it’s time to feed up before winter arrives. If I’m right, that means all the talk about frontal bass wanting small, subtle, slow moving baits isn’t true. What they really want is something to eat — a lot of something to eat — and they’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

So anyway, there’s a cold front that’s supposed to blow across much of the country this weekend and early next week. We need to take advantage of it.

The bait I like the best for the conditions we’re experiencing right now is a hard jerkbait. There are several good ones around. I’d say you should pick the one you have the most confidence in and go for it. Natural colors seem to work best for me, but if the water has a little stain to it you might want to consider something with chartreuse or red on it.

It’s important to keep your jerkbait moving. Slow pulls and long pauses are usually not the ticket in October and early November. Short, sharp jerks followed by very short pauses are much better. These are feeding fish. There’s no reason to tease them. Force them to make a decision.

I also like spinnerbaits for fall cold front fishing. Double bladed models are good but so are single spins with big, hammered Colorado blades. Again, keep them moving.

Nothing I’ve said means that you shouldn’t try a jig, especially if there are a lot of crayfish in your lake or river. Jigs have always been a staple for me, and I suspect they always will be. Browns, green pumpkin as well as peanut butter and jelly are always good. That said, black and blue works darn near anywhere.

When you’re picking a spot to fish, it’s important to pay attention to the shad or whatever other forage is in your lake. In some places around the country they’re already back in the creeks. In other places they’ve just started to move and you’ll find most of them still in open water, but near the creek mouths.

The importance of analyzing your local conditions cannot be overstated. In some of our northern states there’s already been a hard frost and guys are wearing long underwear when they’re out on the water. Here in Tennessee, however, we haven’t even come close to having a frost. That makes a big difference.

Right now is the time to get going. If you wait more than a couple of weeks, you’ll probably miss some of the best smallmouth fishing of the year.

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Battling fall cold fronts

There are two times of the year when cold fronts have a dramatic impact on fishing and one of them is right now – during the fall season.

Like the spring, fall brings in a lot of fronts with cold Canadian air pushing deep into the south. This can cause a severe change in water temperature as well as air temperature and leave the bass in a funk.

Those fronts are usually accompanied by heavy north winds that really diminish surface temperatures and can cause the lake to “turnover” in a short period of time.

Also, the lakes are usually lower because of dry summers or winter drawdown that begins in the fall. Low water diminishes the shallow water cover and most lakes get ultra clear.

All of those elements will affect the bite dramatically.

But you can still catch ‘em.

Of course, catching bass ahead of a front can be easy. But after the front passes and we get those windless, bright sunny days, the bass go into neutral mode.

There are two ways to attack the problem; fish smaller baits with slower presentations that antagonize the fish into biting or use reaction baits with erratic presentations that trigger reflex strikes.

My problem with finesse tactics is the fish can be anywhere and you have to fish painfully slow while searching for them.

Of course, that’s not my style, so I choose reaction baits that effectively fish the depth, cover and water clarity effectively. You can cover water faster and locate bass sooner with those presentations than you can with finesse baits.

However, you’ve got to match the lure to conditions. It’s difficult to fish a jerkbait in mattered grass, yet if you’ve got a clear rocky point it can be a good lure to make bass bite. It has a lot of erratic action and stays in the strike zone longer to trigger a neutral fish into biting.

You also can use spinnerbaits and crankbaits, but you have to use them with erratic retrieves and make sure they bang into the cover. A crankbait that crashes along the bottom and pauses periodically or a spinnerbait that rips through grass and changes speeds can trigger a reaction from a passive bass.

I also like walking topwaters like the Strike King Sexy Dawg that has a lot of erratic action but stays in the strike zone longer.

Look for baitfish, too. The bass are focused on shad so you have to be around bait to find the fish. Keep in mind that the baitfish won’t be very active early in the morning but they will get more active in the afternoon as the surface temperature begins to warm and the bass start chasing them again. That’s why the afternoon bite tends to be better during these brutal cold-front periods.

Stick to shad-colored lures and the more natural colors in the clear water. You can use baits with a little more color in stained water.

You’re not going to get a lot of bites, but by working lures with erratic action in those areas where you see shad, the bites will come.

Remember, it’s all about the attitude!

Kevin VanDam's column appears weekly on Bassmaster.com. You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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