Fishing Post Frontal Conditions

    Normally, you will have water levels going up or down in a short period, muddy to heavy stained water from rains and the barometric pressure changes.  Under these conditions, normally after the front has passed, you will have post front conditions.  If the front has moved on out, you will have a clear sky and high winds from the tail of the front.  This normally gives bass lock jaw.

    They will move very tight to cover.  Water will normally be murky or muddy and that will hold bass right on cover.  So typically, the best advice for post front is to fish vertical.  Like boat docks, trees or any other structure.  Target shallow  water structure in areas that hold bass this time of year,  like boat houses near channels or creeks or in the backside of the riverbank.

    When your fishing tight to cover, you want a lure that will fall right next to the cover and using a lighter bait will stay in the strike zone longer as it passes the bass.  Which under these conditions, the strike zone can shrink to 3-5", so you almost have to hit the bass on the nose. 

    So make repeated casts to the same target letting the bait fall next to it.  Bass will often be suspended on the cover and not on the bottom as the bite often comes on the fall.  Repeated casting to the same cover is very important.  The bass would have eaten before the front ever hit (they feel the barometric pressure changing and that lets them know) so they are not aggressive at all.  You are looking mainly for a reaction strike.

     Basically all you are doing is aggravating the bass until it hits your lure.  Iif you toss your jig to a post and it falls past the bass once, chances are she won't take it.  But if you do it a 2nd and 3rd time, you increase your chances a lot that the bass will nail it.


    Use lighter jigs with a big bulky profile and rattles since visibility is not prime.  Also pitch big 1/2-3/4oz spinner baits to the targets.  Just let the big blades flutter down next to the cover and wait till it hits bottom, then raise the rod and let it fall again next to the cover, then bring it back and do it a couple more times.  It's the same idea that is used with the jig, just keeping a bait in their face.  The spinner will give them a different vibration and a different profile.

     Run bright crank baits into the holding cover.  This is not the strongest post front trick because they will run a certain depth and if the bass are not at that depth with that small strike zone, they are not going to move far to hit it.  But if you find bass close to the surface on the structure, a shallow crank in orange or chart can be good as gold.  Reel it steady and run it into the cover, kill it and reel again. Repeat the casting to the same target.


    As far as fish on the graph, keep the fish ID off at all times.  Too much clutter in the water and other things that show up as fish.  Plus, it takes away from the better returns you get when it is off.  All you want your sonar for, is to see the bottom contours and hardness/softness.  It will show balls of baitfish without the ID.  When you find them, you can bet the bass will be near.

    But you still have to find out what area in the water column the bass are holding.  For example, the thermo cline is the ideal water conditions for bass to hold in.  It is the area where the oxygen content will have the best ppm (parts per million) and the other factors are good.  Some units can be turned up to see the thermo cline on the sonar.  It will be a thin gray line that is normally representing 2-4' of height in the water column.  If you find the thermo cline is from 8-12', then target cover and structure that is at that depth for the highest percentage of bass.

    Now if you are fishing shallow water areas, cover or a lake where a thermo cline is not present, then you don't have to worry about the thermo cline.  Just try and figure out what depth the bass are holding on the cover.  Then, use lures that will stay in that depth.

    The Carolina rig is an awesome tool for locating deep-water structure.  It will let you feel what is down there (hard, soft, rock and so on) and it is a super alternative to crank baits.  If you have been fishing a deep-water area and catching bass on a crank on some structure and they stop, then you have probably caught the aggressive bass.  Try swapping to a Carolina rig for a deep-water presentation that is slow and has more finesse to it.  The heavy sinker will allow you to present a subtle plastic presentation down deep and keep your line tight so you can feel everything.  It's also great in high winds.

    But a Carolina rig is not the bait for bass that are suspended in the water column.  It is a structure type bait.  If the bass are on the structure, it is a great choice.  If they are suspended above the structure, a bait that can be worked through that depth is better, like a crank bait or jerk bait.

    If you had post frontal conditions, and the rain and cloud cover was still around, the above choices will work during or after a front.  Bass will be tight to cover either way most of the time.  After about 3 days from a front passing, the bass will be back to their normal routines.