Fishing in Changing Weather Patterns

The last ten days have proven global warming has a way to go as a sweatshirt and light gloves are required to fish the early mornings. Rain for two days followed by a windy blue bird day has even the most seasoned bass fisher second guessing themselves. If the lake you fish has decent smallie action in the 10 to 15 foot range, go deeper to 15 to 25 feet. The fish are still there, just less active. If the water is clear, stay with smaller more natural baits ie gulp minnows, worms and cray fish. Wait an extra ten seconds longer than you normally do. For large mouth, slow the wacky worm or texas rigged bait down and be patient. The strike zone is shorter, instead of bass attacking from ten feet away, they will ignore a bait that is eight inches from them. Change cadence, colours and bait often to see what is going to trigger a strike. If six feet or less is your way to fish, keep moving and put the bait in the spots you think the bass will hide. Drop it straight in the pockets and leave it. If there's no action after ten seconds move bait to the edge of the cover then back to the boat quickly to pitch to the next spot. Figuring out a pattern in these conditions can be more satisfying than catching 50 fish on a hot fishing day.