Good Thing? or Bad Thing?

Blue skies smilin' on me

Nothin' but blue skies do I see

Bluebirds singin' a song

Nothin' but blue skies from now on

I never saw the sun shinin' so bright

Never saw things goin' so right

Noticing the days hurrying by

When you're in love, my how they fly by

Blue days, all of them gone

Nothin' but blue skies from now on...

From the perspective of Irving Berlin, who wrote this song in 1926, and Willie Nelson, who did a recording of the tune, which went to the No. 1 spot on the country music charts in 1978, "Blue Skies" probably was a "good thing." But any angler who ever has had to battle those conditions on the water undoubtedly considers them a "bad thing."

As we all know, bright, bluebird skies often follow major cold fronts. One popular explanation often bantered about as the reason for the seemingly subsequent tough bite is that "the bright light hurts bass' eyes." Dr. Hal Schramm, noted authority on bass fishing and the science behind it, concedes that bass have neither eyelids nor an iris to regulate light getting into their eyes, but he's quick to point out that, unlike anglers who can't find shade while fishing a deep ledge in the middle of a lake, the bass can move. "If the bright light really 'hurts' their eyes," he said, "the bass can move into aquatic weeds or the shadow of a log or a bluff bank. Moving deeper also reduces light."

Some anglers also argue that the change in barometric pressure causes discomfort for the fish. Cold fronts usher in high pressure behind the low pressure that draws the fronts in. As explained by Dr. Schramm, "Except for infrequent events like hurricanes and tropical storms, barometric pressure usually ranges from about 990 millibars, or 29.2 inches of mercury, to 1030 millibars, or 30.4 inches of mercury. Any way you report it, the result is the same--the change in barometric pressure after a cold front is only a change of about 4 percent."

This kind of pressure change, according to Schramm, would equal about what a fish experiences when it moves 16 inches down in the water column. "And if the pressure change does make the bass uncomfortable, all it has to do is move up a few inches in the water column...," he said. "Maybe it's just the pressure change that turns bass off, but it's a pretty safe bet that the 'discomfort factor' isn't what changes the fish's feeding behavior.

Neither is it very likely that the chillier air that accompanies cold fronts the culprit. "A single night of temperatures 15 to 20 degrees below normal doesn't change the temperature of the whole lake or reservoir," continued Schramm.

Is it even true that bass don't bite after a cold front? Schramm doesn't think so. "Tournament catch stats don't show rises and falls with cold fronts or barometric-pressure changes," he noted. "It doesn't matter what the weather pattern is; tournament winners keep catching 25-plus-pound sacks."

To Schramm's way of thinking, there is one way some cold fronts may adversely affect fishing and catching. "With the typically cooler temperatures and a strong north wind that follow the cold front, it's hard to control a bass boat in 3-foot waves," he said. "And if it's winter, the cold is painful for the anglers, which impairs their fishing efficiency. Yes, anglers (unlike bass) do feel pain," he concluded.