Sunday, March 22, 2009

Cold Fronts, Put A Damper on Missouri Bass Fishing

Spent a beautiful day bass fishing at "Truman Lake!" The weather has been relatively warm, with several northern fronts, one after another, hitting us here in Missouri, every 2 or 3 days. The bite really starts getting good, and then another cold front. Makes it tough to consistently catch a significant amount of any kind of fish.

Started out the day trolling and caught a nice striper of about 23 lb range. We also caught 11 white bass trolling, till about noon. We then proceeded to pursue Mr. Line side after lunch and we started off , pretty good on the jig n pig, had 3 , three lb bass in an hour.

About 2 pm, I tied on a suspending rogue caught an 8 pounder, right off the bat. Thought that was the ticket but it was a slow ticket. I stuck it out and fished the rogue hard on the windy points in about 10 - 15 feet of water. I practically had to stop it and let it sit for a long time before the bass would take it. Then they would just suck it in and sit there. This actually is a norm for bass that are in a cold front situation!

I would raise the tip of the rod till I felt resistance. Then I would set the hook. The water temp was down from last week , 45- 50 degrees with the warmer water in the coves where a creek or river was running in. We did a lot of run n gun, and the afternoon bite was the best between 1 - 3 pm, after that it was done as far as the rogue bite and then we went back to the jig n pig. In summary, we caught 1 nice striper 23 pounder, 11 white bass, 7 bass, with the biggest one weighing about 8 pounds!

The day was about 68 degrees for a high, with a pretty hard wind from the north! We didn't try the whites after the bass bite stopped about 3 pm. We just headed for the truck and then back to the house. We did have a wonderful day, though! A little windy and the wind out of the north was pretty nippy , but we had the clothes for it so all went well. If the weather will stay warm and stabilize. the fishing can only get better. The bass can't make up their minds , to spawn yet, and that is a good thing. During the spawn they tend to get lock jawed until post spawn, and then It will only get better again!

So hang in there and keep plugging away, for the best spring fishing is still YET to come! Take care, and good luck , keep your hooks wet and lines tight. We will see you out there, and remember to boat safe, and enjoy the "Great Outdoors!'

If you enjoyed this article, make sure and check out the archives, and to ensure you don't miss the latest updates you can subscribe and stay up to date with the latest fishing here in the Missouri lake region! See Ya!

2 comments:

Basspastor said...

We don't get to many 8lbers up here in Minnesota. The State record is 8-15.

Kenny Breckenridge said...

Hello and welcome, Basspastor! I am not real sure on the exact size of the Missouri record Large Mouth, but it is 13 lb and some odd ounces. Which in reality is not even close to a world record. I do believe however that we do have some 20 lb class bass. I may be wrong, but I usually use 14 lb test line and I get it broke sometimes.