(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
The weatherman seems to have it out for anglers. The week before a tournament can be beautiful, but as blastoff approaches things take a turn for the worse. Usually that means one thing: A cold front.
“The most challenging condition that we face as anglers is a cold front,” said Pete Gluszek. They’re particularly harsh during the spring, when bass are trying to move up. Just about anywhere, and particularly in the case of Florida-strains, catch rate goes down, and average size does, too. You have to be mentally ready to taper your expectations.
Gluszek’s first instruction is to keep all forms of cover honest, but that grass patterns tend to be the most affected by these fronts. Accordingly, he’ll look to other patterns and cover, such as wood, rocks and current. He starts off with reaction tools. The “absolute best” for triggering fish that are in a negative mood at this time of year is a lipless crankbait. It’s not always the same one day to day, or even hour to hour, so he keeps a clip on his line to change them out until he finds the right one. It could be a matter of different sounds, wobbles, colors or sizes.
He fishes his lipless lures on a 7’10” Cashion Icon cranking rod. The extra length helps with casting distance, but more importantly it allows him to keep the tip up and work the lure very slowly in shallow water. Also, when fish hit the bait and knock slack in his line he can keep the pressure on them. He primarily uses 10- to 20-pound fluorocarbon, but will switch to 20-pound braid when he needs to pop the lure free from heavy vegetation.
His second reaction bait choice is a jerkbait, another great tool for bass that don’t want to bite. “It’s going to stay right in the fish’s face,” he said. Again he uses a clip for rapid changes – he may want to go from a silent version to a rattling model, from a small one to a large one, or change color. “It’s different every single time and I have to find that trigger.” He fishes the jerkbaits on a 7’ medium-action Cashion Icon using 12- to 16-pound Gamma fluorocarbon.
When moving lures simply don’t generate enough bites, the natural inclination is to go to slower-moving drop baits. For many anglers that means jigs or creature baits, and Gluszek uses them, but he’s more apt to employ a finesse technique.
“The one that I find the most consistent for me in cold front scenarios is a shaky-head,” he said. Usually that means a 3/16-ounce model, but sometimes he’ll go down to 1/8- or up to 1/4-ounce. It’s more subtle than other options, an easy meal for bass that don’t want to chase. Also, it’s relatively snag-proof, so he can drop it right next to pilings and other cover to tempt bass that are holding tight.
One key element of this is a 7’ medium-heavy super-sensitive spinning rod. It aids in strike detection, particularly when there’s a nasty wind blowing, and allows him to move bass away from cover quickly. His main line is almost always 10-pound Gamma Edge braid, but he doesn’t always use the same leader. “My leader material will change,” he said. “It’ll change a lot.” It can range from 8-pound fluoro in super-tough conditions, up to 16 when he’s fishing around metal or zebra mussels or barnacles. Usually he ends up in the 10 to 12 range.
If you want to get more insight into how Gluszek survives when early season cold fronts attack, including some of his favorite lipless baits and preferred colors, check out his full on-the-water video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
