How Water Temperature Affects Bass Fishing

How Water Temperatures Affect Bass Fishing

Water temperatures can be the key to finding active fish on any freshwater fishery. The key is to understand how the water temperature affects what the bass are doing and what there feeding patterns are when the temperature changes. All weather conditions have a big affect on the water temperature, wind, cold fronts, sun, cloudy conditions all affect the water temperature and with just a few degrees of change in it can change how the bass react! Your job is to adapt to the water temperature change, so you maximize your fishing day.

First of all, the ideal feeding temperature for bass is somewhere in the upper 60-degree range, of course this will change with lake locations as northern lakes are different from southern lakes. The key is where the lake temperature is on the scale of its ideal temperature. Below the ideal temperature will slow the bite but will be positively affected by the sun warming the water; where above the ideal temperature has a range of about 10 degrees where it will stay ideal until it hits the 80 degrees plus temperatures then it will slow the bite. Your job is to determine how it affects the bite on your lake and adjust your baits from faster to slower presentations. Water temperature change can be a factor throughout the day as the sun or wind change the water temperature.

In colder conditions the natural elements like rock, sun, and structure changes the temperature, areas that get wind are different than areas that do not. The warming part of the day in cold temperatures are much easier to catch bass than the cooling part of the day. In the hot of the summer the opposite is true as the cooling part of the day like early morning or nighttime make it easier to catch bass; shady areas like boat houses shade along the banks and tree over-hangs all cool the water making it easier to get bite as compared to the bright sunny warmer areas. Structure like grass or stumps under the water all create shadows and have a cooler side and the bass will move to that part of the structure. Use the natural keys when the water temperature is affecting the bite and you will catch more bass.