What's This Wacky Weather Doing to the Bass?

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Here in VA it has been in the 80's for the last three days. What is this going to do to the bass activity? Water temp is only one small factor of "seasonal" movement. The trees are still dropping leaves, the days are still getting shorter....are the bass going to continue to follow "normal" fall patterns regardless of the weather? Will it affect them short-term and as soon as we get a cold snap, throw them into full fall mode? They were still acting like it was summer last week on the lake.



TOXIC

 

[gone bye bye]

I would stick with the normal fall patterns and expect the afternoon bite to last all day now. Look for baitfish in the shallows and trap em or spinnerbait em....



Mini

 

[Tony Payne]

second what Mini said, and add this:



The warmer days will extend the cooling down period... making the "optimum" water tempature last longer (between 54-62, I believe)... this can only be a good thing...



What I think would hurt more would be even colder nights and rain, dropping the temp into the 40s too fast....

 

[mike chip]

hey toxic,

on the potomac we are finding them in 8 to 20 ft of water, in the early morning, worms work best as temp gets up they move up to the first ledge where crankbaits and slow rolled spinnerbaits are best.

mike

 

[mike chip]

hey toxic,

on the potomac we are finding them in 8 to 20 ft of water, in the early morning, worms work best as temp gets up they move up to the first ledge where crankbaits and slow rolled spinnerbaits are best.

mike

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Must be nice to be fishing. Hell, must be nice to be hunting. My boat is collecting dust in the garage and is being used to prop us some interior doors that need planing! LOL I did open my tackle compartment the other day to get a good whiff of garlic and yum.....ahhhhh. Gonna be a long winter.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

On the lake there is still a morning topwater bite going on. That usually is the first thing that goes away in a fall pattern. Man-o-man the baitfish were stacked like cord wood in the bays I fished Sunday!! I mean schools upon schools rolling in big balls. It is strange because I thought they would go to a fall pattern no matter that the outside and water temp may stay warmer longer. I put more weight on the fall lunar cycle and the daylight. I'm fishin like it's summer though. Still scattered. Mike, that is a summer pattern on the Potomac isn't it? Sure sounds like one. I've got no sympathy for you LaMoy!! LOL. Go work on that house.



TOXIC

 

[mike chip]

Hey toxic,

im a different mike i guess,

the bass on the potomac are bunched up tight, we are catching 10 to 15 fish once we find them, most of the bigger fish are staying deep all day, once they stop bitting we just move to the next spot. Our best bait right now is the deep diving bandit in "mistake"

mike

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

LOL I was talking to you AND LaMoy mike.....Tryin' to get everyone with one response. Hmmmmm....the bass outta be in the shallows by now if the weather was right/normal. By staying deep all day, that is a summer pattern (or dead of winter).



TOXIC

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

Dont know about the fish, but the past three days have been heck!! So nice outside, and I was stuck inside!!!



Carlos

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

Fixed the phot Tox. Here is one HUGE dink that Tox caught this weekend. Had to reload the pictures from the cmera.



Carlos



PS if you look reallllyy hard you can see the fish.

 

[Rob LaMoy]

That's it Tox, next time you come up, I'm whippin ya up one humdinger of a wind storm on Champlain to "edumacate" ya proper! LOL

 

[Steve Flattem]

80 degrees?



Wow, it's 14 degrees here this morning, close to zero where we go on the weekends



I wish I had your problem

 

[Gene B]

Saturday it's supposed to be a low of 22 and a high of 37 here in MI. I'll be wearing every piece of clothing I can get on under my hunting suit. I'll look like the Michelin man in camo. LOL



Gene

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Bring it on Robbie!! If you can beat the 50 mph winds and 6 footers that cancelled the Everstart for a day, I wanna see it!! LOL I pulled my rig out that day and "surfed" those 6 footers all the way from the motel to the marina.



TOXIC