In the winter, I have to choose my fishing days based on the weather. Northwest and northeast winds howl with every passing front, and finding a day to fish becomes difficult. Add to the wind the fact that the fish tend to get lockjaw - they quit feeding - right after a cold front, and you have the makings for a very miserable, boring day.
So - I choose those days where the wind has calmed and the front passed several days before. The high pressure has started to drop and things are getting back to normal - as normal as they can be in the winter.
Fishing a Cold Front
I like to fish the leading edge of a cold front. The pressure is dropping, and the fish sense that drop. They know by instinct that a blow is coming and that the water will be stirred up causing them more grief when they feed. So - I find that the fish really do feed up before a front. That's part of the reason they have lockjaw right after a front - they're full!I chose two days to fish last week. One was several days after the last cold front went through. The other was the very day after the next front went through. On the first trip, we had a good day. We caught two 27 inch redfish and as many ringtail porgies as we wanted to catch. The water was lake calm, and the temperature moderated quickly. Obviously, as you can see in the pictures, there was no wind on either trip.
On the second trip, we still caught some ringtails, but the other fish had shutdown completely. I fished next to my good friend Captain Dave Sipler. He had a paying party, and for the two hours I was close to him, they did not put a fish in the boat. It was by all standards a very tough day.
This weekend another front went through. Today is a bluebird day, and the wind is still blowing. The forecast is for that front to back up and hit us as a wet warm front later this week. Those ore the days I will want to be on the water - overcast and cloudy - possible rain - but less wind and less high pressure. It should be a great fishing trip!
