(Editor's note: "Catching Bass with Dustin Wilks" airs five times per week on Sportsman Channel – 2 p.m. ET Sunday, 4:30 a.m. Monday, 6 a.m. Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and 5:30 a.m. Saturday. The six-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier provides BassFans with additional insight about each episode in these submissions.)
My show airing this week was shot during a spring cold front with a 10-degree drop in water temperature. We have all fished under such conditions, but what is the best approach?
I’ll share my thoughts, but first I'll go back in time.
I’ve fished many days in spring or late winter when we’ve been annihilated with cold fronts. At Okeechobee many years back, we awakened to frost on the boat. Everyone knows those Florida fish just shut off when a cold front comes through, right?
The temptation here is to slow down and downsize because fish are inactive, right? Looking back, just the opposite is often better – fishing faster. While it is true some of the biggest fish hunker down in thick mats and the only way of getting them is punching a big tungsten weight down to them. What happens when that bait falls through the mat? Yes, there is crazy speed, as the bait crashes through and a reaction bite often ensues.
About 50 anglers in that tournament, including, me were all fishing eelgrass flats. I noticed everyone was fishing slow and nobody was catching anything. I picked up a lipless crankbait, fired it out, reeled it fast, jerked it out of the weeds and started catching them.
I say that faster is better will work often because everyone who fishes knows there really are no rules to fishing – just a collection of past experiences that might point you in the right direction.
Fast forward to this week's show, a 10-degree drop in March. My first bait choice was a 5/8-ounce Yo-Zuri Rattl’N Vibe. The same thing happened a few minutes into the trip that occurred almost 20 years ago at Okeechobee, when I ripped the Vibe out the grass and got my first bite. I caught a few more on the lipless, then switched to a bladed jig with a Culprit Incredi-Slim trailer and got more reaction bites in dormant lily pad stems and cypress trees throughout the day. The first bite that day was key in letting me know there were fish in that creek.
When bass are active, soft plastics, topwaters or spinnerbaits often are the answer for me. Warm, stable conditions have bass hunting – think cat and mouse. Think about a sneaky plastic worm falling out of sight in some cover and then reappearing. A feeding bass that spots this motion can’t stand it and will seek it out and eat it. When a bass is inactive it will literally pay it no mind. When it is tough, I’ve found something has to surprise them, and be right in their face to get a bite. Thus heavier weights and faster baits, depending on water conditions, of course.
Something to think about as you watch this week’s episode – maybe we should fish fast during cold fronts.
