fishing after/during cold snap?

[fishboy1]

Was looking at taking a half day off on Friday.
Whoooooieee! 5 degrees Thursday night/fri am warming up to 25 degrees.

Where I come from, fishing practically stops when we get a good cold snap. Only way to catch anything is live bait at the bottom of the deepest hole you can find.

How do fish typically respond to a cold front cycle here in TN?

thanks.

 

[gil1]

You might try someplace where the water is warm despite the outside temps. The Gallatin Steam Plant (near you) hold lots of gamefish (striper, hybrid, sauger, largemouth, smallies, crappie, etc.) because the discharge from the plant is warm. More baitfish than you can shake a rod at.

 

[fishboy1]

Timeless,
does that mean we should sleep in and fish later in the day?

Gil,
Is it worth stopping for a bucket of minnows, or should we cast net or sabiki some shad at the steam plant?

 

[gil1]

Timeless,
does that mean we should sleep in and fish later in the day?

Gil,
Is it worth stopping for a bucket of minnows, or should we cast net or sabiki some shad at the steam plant?

Now I knew where to go, but I sure as heck don't know what to do once you get there.

Seriously, I only fly fish out there, so I don't know what to tell you. I see folks tossing jigs, spinnerbaits, rattle traps (the usual largemouth suspects) all the time, but I've never actually done it out there.

Some folks use live skipjack for big stripers at night or low light. I don't think I've seen live bait otherwise, although I imagine folks use it for sauger and crappie at the steam plant. Let's let the real pros chime in.

 

[Radar]

Fish don't quit feeding during cold weather . I used to ice fish up in Mi. during the entire winter months and caught plenty of fish.
First ice and last ice were always the best times to fish , but also the most risky to walk on the ice .

 

[OldHunter]

Our weather is so unpredictable around here. A really significant cold snap will shut the Crappie down for me.
However I fish a certain way and never try to find them. They don't stop feeding they just get to elusive for me.

I like the Steam Plant advice if you can find a spot thats not covered with boats.

Good Luck!

 

[OldHunter]

Just a follow up:
My Dad always told me to fish the first day the temp hit 50 degrees after a cold snap preferably during the first 2 weeks in February.

On one trip following that advice I caught 30 Crappie that weighed 45lbs. I also had to break 1/4 inch of ice just to get out of my slip.

It has been awhile since that day but I still go by that advice
and more times than not have a nice mess of large Crappie to show for it.

 

[A.K.A.]

Just a follow up:
On one trip following that advice I caught 30 Crappie that weighed 45lbs.

Those 45lb crappies I'm sure were a world record! LOL! OK it wasn't very funny but I tried.

 

[Oldschool]

We shallow up as it gets colder, for crappie. I know this sounds crazy but they will stay shallow in cold weather. I am talking 4 ft or less. Just slow your presentation down to a crawl. Dig them out of the mud!