m
Any Bass fisherman who has been around awhile knows full well how outstanding the fishing can be right before and sometimes equally as good after a windy thunderstorm.
Big thunderstorms on the water can be incredible to watch. They can roll in with such immense power and light up the sky for miles. As a matter of fact they can be down right scary, but if a Bass fisherman learns how to understand the effects these big storms have on fish, they quite possibly can experience some of the hottest bass fishing available.
The varying geography of the country often dictates how thunderstorms develop and how long they can last. Everyone has seen the weather radars on TV weather showing the wide and expansive storms the blow across the central plains states. These sweeping storms posses different qualities than the storms that blow up quickly in the southern states. What these storms do share in common are plenty of moisture, instability of the atmosphere and something to help the storm lift such as coastal or sea breezes as well as land surface heating. All of these situations tend to create a perfect recipe for fantastic fishing as well as danger.
Talking to a couple of ol bass fishing veterans on blow up storms. They all have seen their share of monster thunderheads blow through and experienced the type of explosive fishing that can be had. Its a strike while the iron's hot situation.
Often what happens is it will be a hot sunny day with hardly a breeze to sudden high winds and even cooler temps. These quick blow up storms don't last long and before you know it will be sunny again and even hotter than it was right before the storm. You have to act quickly to take advantage.
Wind is the key element that causes fish that have been inactive all to suddenly turn on. The barometric change, cooler air and darkening skies are all positive impacts as well, but after the rain cools the surface, the wind creates currents that mixes up the waters surface and stirs up the bait.
Here is exactly what happens and what to look for in this scenario. With the help of your Hummingbird Fish Finder you will want to search for grass beds in shallower water exposed to these high winds as well as main lake points with good exposure as well. When the winds blow it causes the particles that the baitfish feed on to get stirred up. Therefore when the baitfish become active so do the bass looking for an easy meal.
With the use of a good Hummingbird Fish Finder equipped with GPS, you as an angler can now mark and save spots on all your favorite lakes with these key features (main lake points, grass beds). This way once you know a good storm is brewing you know right where to go and are immediately ready for the quick burst of fishing action.
Once the storm is blowing in and you are located on a key spot to take advantage of the up and coming conditions you also need to know the best way to present your baits to these newly active bass. With the nature of blow up storms being fairly quick and explosive, you as a fisherman should approach your techniques the same way. With less visibility and bass becoming aggressive its a perfect situation to power fish with baits such as spinnerbaits and crankbaits. And do not be afraid to offer larger baits as well to these pre-storm active bass. Hummingbird Fish Finders produces some good technology with their "weathersense" equipment that can be quite beneficial in taking advantage of this sudden hot bite.
Of course no fast and furious bite is worth the possible dangers these mega-storms can produce. Therefore all veteran anglers will tell you to use your common sense and take cover if things are coming on to strong or you have a long run to find cover. Using the 30-30 rule is a good tool to use out on the water. If it's less than 30 seconds from the time you saw lightning to the time you hear the thunder, than you could be in trouble. If you haven't heard thunder for close to 30 minutes, your safe.
