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Editors Note: George Cochran of Hot Springs, Arkansas, has passed a milestone in his fishing career, earning over $2 million in tournament winnings. He’s been a Strike King Pro for years and has claimed two Bassmaster Classic Championship titles and won two Wal-Mart FLW Tour Forrest Wood Cup championships. According to Cochran, “My understanding of weather and its effect on bass at any time of the year has helped my fishing career. Any bass angler who wants to regularly catch more bass must know what various types of weather do to the bass he’s trying to take.” And, the great thing about Strike King’s lures is this company makes lures to catch bass in any situation. To help us get a better understanding of the importance of weather in successful bassing, and how you can change your fishing patterns to react to the weather like the bass do, Strike King has asked Cochran to pick weather situations, tell us what happens to the bass under each weather condition and explain how his fishing changes with the weather.
Part 1: How to Fish Cold Fronts and Rising and Falling Water with Strike King’s George Cochran
Cold Fronts:
Even when a major cold front hits an area, several days may be required for the water temperature to change very much. Shallow water is affected most drastically by a severe cold front. If bass are in shallow water when a cold front hits, they may stop feeding and seem to be almost disoriented for a day or two. These bass probably will be holding very tight to cover in shallow water. To make these bass bite, I may have to present the lure again and again to the bass to make the bass mad-enough to cause them to bite.
However, if the bass are in deep water, they won’t be affected nearly as much by a cold front, and they won’t be as aggressive as they have been before the weather has changed so drastically. So, I’ll fish slow-moving baits like a Strike King Finesse Worm or a Football Jig, or a deep-diving, slow-moving crankbait, like the Strike King 6XD, that can be reeled slowly near the bottom. 
Something else that happens when a cold front hits is that the baitfish the bass feed-on often are stunned or killed by the cold, if they’re close to the surface.
As these baitfish die-off, they begin to flutter to the bottom. I’ll either fish a Strike King spinner bait close to the bottom, reeling it very slowly or hop a Strike King spinner bait off the bottom and let it fall back to the bottom like a dying shad. I also will fish Strike King’s Red Eye Shad, one of the best imitations of a sick or dying shad as it slowly swims to the bottom.
Rising and Falling Water:
Bass follow the water. If I know whether the water’s rising, falling or stable on a lake, then this information can tell me what the bass will be doing on that lake. If the water’s rising, the bass will follow the water and be feeding shallow. If the bass are in a creek, and the water starts rising, they generally will move as far back in that creek as they can. If the weather’s cloudy and rainy, bass will swim-up shallow in rising water and feed. Minnow-type baits and spinner baits fished just under the surface often will produce bass when there’s rising water conditions.
Usually on rising water, the bass are looking to the shoreline for their food. If the bass are in very-shallow water, the bass may be spooked when the lure hits the water surface. Instead I’ll cast a Finesse Worm directly to the bank, let it land on the bank and then drag it into the water. If the water’s rising on a clear, bright day, the bass still will be in that shallow water but will be holding tight to cover on a bush, a stump or a log. More than likely I’ll flip a Finesse Worm, a tube or jig, into that thick cover to get the bass to strike.
When the water’s falling, the bass will follow the water away from the shoreline to the outside of bushes or to the edges of creek channels. As the water begins to fall, the bass become very skittish. By fishing the outsides of bushes with quiet lures like minnow-type baits (The wild shiner), swimming worms or spinner baits just under the surface, I should be able to get some bass action. If the bass are on the creek channels, they’ll be less aggressive. Slow baits like the Finesse Worm and the Ocho will be my best bet for catching these bass.
