Much has been made about fishing before storms, but over the long run the best days to catch big fish are often during the most boring, stable weather patterns.

This especially holds true in the dead of winter. Cold storms will more often than not send the bass into hiding. Warm, calm days will bring them out to looking around, and maybe eat.

There are exceptions of course. In February and March, when the water has warmed up a little bit already, a heavy tropical storm can trigger a feeding frenzy. When I look back at the 50+lb limits that came in the boat, almost all of them came before big weather shifts in early spring.

But it's not early spring yet. And weather.com is forcasting highs in the low 60s this weekend for much of the state. So go out and get one when you can!

Some data for amusement for the first few months of the year, though it may or may not contradict what I just stated.



http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7161-weather.gif

I think I've caught 3 limits over 40lbs. One was during a cloudy day with maybe a couple sprinkles, one was during a good storm with rain all day, and the last was during a stable weather pattern, clear and sunny. Other than those two days when it was cloudy and or raining, my best days have been during stable weather patterns.

Rob or Nico, have you guys noticed that any of the lakes you fish, fish better during a storm or during stable weather? I have noticed that on some of the lakes I fish.

Jake J

http://calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/jakej/

Nico has been downright giving away some of the best info in trophy bass for the past few weeks. I read all the fishing magazines and websites and it does not get any better than this. True!

As far as certain lakes on certain weather conditions - yes! Yes some lakes bite on storms and others bite on sun. Yes some lakes bite during certain times of year on certain types of weather pattern. It takes a long time to figure these things out. You have to go and put in the time and get skunked and burn gas and be willing to fish from shore, float tube, kickboat, electric only, and big lakes! There's not that many people that do it. Most of the people who do read this site.

Nico and I fish anywhere within 100 miles of the bay area give or take, and there are at least a dozen lakes in that range worth considering for big bass. If you learn them all you have the option to select from the most likely location for the given day/weather/time of year. This is what Nico and I talk about all week. Where to go! It's the hardest decision with any trip.

Tournaments are fun but they just pull you in directions you may not want to go. I fished the Delta a lot this fall/winter and also in 2007 when I was living in Fremont. It's harder than any of the lakes to figure out in terms of what condition to look for. Right now I'm on a Delta hiatus as a result. I don't have enough time to put my finger on it. Lakes are easier but they take time too.

This weekend we'll be at McClure for WON. There are much better places to be than McClure for this coming weekend. For one thing, McClure got 16,200lbs of trout in the last two weeks. The fish will be plugged and swimbait bites will be super hard to get. You don't have to be a McClure expert (we sure aren't) to realize that. But we'll be there for the competition because it's fun too.

Bottom line is that year after year, season after season, you have to pursue it, watch it, learn it. Then fine tune it and adapt to changes in water level and lake condition. Then every trip pick the high percentage place to be. Then you start catching the really big ones :)