By Scott Norton
If you are a weekend warrior on the lakes, then you will feel that it only rains when you fish. The cold fronts came in wave patterns and were consistent from week to week. If you got to fish during mid-week, then the bites were better. Beds are being sighted the first week of May and still the cooling trends continues. You can combat these situations by playing the elevation game that I talk about so much.
Many anglers are fishing in the Georgia and South Carolina areas until it turns on in Western North Carolina. Those living further south play it the same way after the spawn funk happens. If you decided to stay local and battle it out, then you have been battling wind and cooling trends. I have had most of my luck with blade baits and spinner baits, which are known for catching fish in the wind.
Bass seem to be backing down to deeper water in brush piles when a cold front blows in. When you catch the sun coming out they will move up into the lay downs. Even if this continues, they will have to move up in spite of the cool weather. In these situations keep moving around where you know there is fish and rotate through baits until you get your first clue. Once you get a clue like depth and mood of the fish, then you build off of that information.
When planning for a successful day look for warming patterns as the foundation of that plan. Check for wind and overcast because this will help the mood of bass. If you are stuck with blue bird skies in the post-front cycle then you still have options. Bass stop feeding once they are on their beds, so mood does not matter. You can have a great time catching bass off beds. They will come in waves so you will have bass in pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn if you find yourself in a good situation. This is that time period where you can really hook into big ones with numbers. Make sure you use subtle baits on calm days and aggressive baits on winding days.
Scott Norton is a Western North Carolina native. Born in Asheville, N.C., he is a long-time hunter, angler and weekend warrior.