Temperture change on fish

[RockinHerda]

Was thinking about going fishing tonight. Now what I want to know is how much does huge temperature drops and fluctuations mess with their behavior? I know that huge changes in temp can slow the bite down but is this always the case? In your past experiences how did this effect your fishing.

A few days ago it was upper 20s. This morning it I wake up and it's below 27. That's 40 degree change in a few days. And tonight when I'd be fishing it be around 2 degrees. So in one day the temp raises 20 degrees.

I guess I'm just looking for peoples experience when it comes to this. Any information or advice when it comes to fish behavior related to weather and temp would be greatly appreciated to me and I'm sure many others on this site. Thanks!

[sneakydevil]

I know lastnight was a tough bite but w/ some patience and no fear to try somethin new i managed to limit out on nice crappies. They seem to hug bottom very tight...had to flutter my jig about 2" from the bottom to get them to commit. This weekend should progress as the front moves out.

[olbaidhh]

My take is ... if you can hack it, the fish can.

They will bite if they are hungry. It may be a bit slower bite but I would also think that there will be less people and more opportunity for you.

Weather fluctuation like this also affects the barometer. That is a whole other topic that has been discussed here many times.

[TruthWalleyes]

From my experience when the barometer is at it's highest...Go Northern Fishing!!! Super cold days...like today...Go Fish Northerns!!

[RockinHerda]

I'm going to a spot where I normally catch crappie and perch.

[ClasheMan]

I think a buddy and I are gonna try it out also. I don't know what lake to check out, we may do a couple today if we don't get any panfish biting. Haven't had too good of luck w/ the tipups this year, although the last couple times the line jumped the spooler so the slimer took the sucker for about 150 yards without the flag ever going up, that was a looong pull.

[RockinHerda]

What lakes you looking to try? So far this year I've been on duck (before it became the zoo it is now) Kelly Dudley, cedar, horseshoe and french lake.

[ClasheMan]

Well I was thinking maybe trying Tetonka or Horseshoe. I used to do pretty well on perch and northerns out on horseshoe. I'm not sure where to go as of yet, Francis was ok a couple weeks ago but went there last week and seemed to have moved to deeper water. There are also a couple smaller lakes I'd like to try around Elysian/Waterville that I haven't in a while. We drove down to the park at duck and saw the city and decided against that.

[RockinHerda]

I've never tried tetonka in winter. Caught many walleye there in the summer and assume it produces in winter too. Any advice on that?

I've been to horseshoe a bunch this last week and had good luck. My buddy is out now and he says it's really slow at the moment. I think the cold temp and high pressure is causing a slow bite.

[ClasheMan]

I honestly haven't been on Tetonka yet this year. Want to try new water from my usual haunts. Do people still go back to the grass island on horseshoe for the crappies? I've only ever stayed along the eastern shoreline for the perch and northerns.

[RockinHerda]

My dad caught perch near the grass island. All our crappie bites have been on the break of the southern Shore of the peninsula.

[RockinHerda]

Went out last night and managed to get 10 big crappie in a couple hours. Tossed back some beers. Made for a good night. Was a bit slower than normal but with work I managed to get some.

[novy898]

Foung a couple nice northerns on a local lake this afternoon and early evening. But the crappies were few and far between.

[Comit 2]

First of all when the air temp drop this time of year it has nothing to do with water temp. The water temp is already near 32 degrees and isn't going to get colder (it would then be ice). High pressure would have more to do with it. I would say use a smaller bait and slow down you presentation but we are talking ice fishing so I don't see how is can be slowed down.