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The following is a copy and paste. It is [#ff0080]NOT[/#ff0080] my article but informative. I can attest that some of the best fishing I've had is right before a storm system is approaching and the barometer is dropping.
I have known for a while that the barometric pressure affects fishing, but I always forget how. Every time I want to use the barometric pressure to figure out how fishing will be, I had to spend a while researching the subject. NOT ANY MORE! I put together a cheat sheet that I will start referring to. Here it is:
[ul][li]High Pressure (30.50 +) = Clear Skies = Fishing Medium to Slow = Fish slowly in deeper water or near cover.[/li][li]Medium Pressure (29.70 – 30.40) = Fair Weather = Normal Fishing = Test lures, baits, and techniques to see what works.[/li][li]Low Pressure (29.60 -) = Cloudy/Rainy Weather = Fishing Slows = Fish slowly in deeper water or near cover.[/li][li]Rising Pressure = Improving Weather = Fish Slightly Active = Fish slowly in deeper water or near cover.[/li][li]Stable Pressure = Fair Weather = Normal Fishing = Best time to test lures, baits, and techniques to see what works.[/li][li]Falling Pressure = Degrading Weather = Best Fishing = The fish will attack anything you throw at them. (well, pretty much)[/li][/ul]
So, what is the best barometric pressure for fishing? Answer: When it’s between about 29.90 and 30.90 and the pressure is rapidly falling. This is when you will find the fish most active and feeding.
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Good info, thanks for sharing!
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[quote lovetofish]. I can attest that some of the best fishing I've had is right before a storm system is approaching and the barometer is dropping.
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I can go along with this.
I have a fishing log
that has a place to add barometric pressure (Rising Pressure, Stable Pressure, Falling Pressure)
I don't know how to come up with this so I just leave it blank,
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Wow. Who knew?[bob  ]
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This is just one factor of many that determine the feeding habits of fish. Time of year, time of the day, water temps, moon phases, or even the wind patterns can play a part in this process. Sometimes one factor will out weigh the others so watch for patterns that are producing active fishing and make note of those patterns.
If I waited to the right weather pattern to be blowing in to go fishing I would miss out on a ton of other times that have produced very well for me. While the full moon phase hurts some fishing it help us very well when we are chasing the walleye in the early summer months by extending the twilight effect by rising just after the sun has set.
Fish have to eat just like every other animal to live. They may lay low for a little while but they will eat again and sooner than most people think. The challenge is to find what they want and how close you have to get it in front of their face for them to grab it.
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I also tend to believe in success rates based on B.P., and have had better activity on days where a storm is on the way, or just starting....I've especially noticed it at places like Strawberry (at least on ice), at the Gorge trolling, and Mantua (on ice).....I no longer fish for a couple days before or after a Full Moon also, as my records show I'm just going for a boat ride or a hike on the ice on those days....But what if a guy just has a Saturday to go and it's a Full Moon or wrong B.P.? I'd go anyhow, as you're still fishin'....Maybe those days find a small creek in the mountains....those little trout will always cooperate....Guluk....
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Ive noticed that fishing can have a big influence on my B.P.! Slow days and my B.P goes up, and when the fishing is good, there is nothing better for your B.P than a good day on the water! lol
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These are rules that are constantly broken by the fish. I only use BP and moon phases as a guideline as I try to establish a pattern for the day. I've had way too many good/great days catching lots and/or big fish when they weren't supposed to be biting. When I used to watch the moon phase too much I found it affected my attitude more than it did the fishes and I didn't fish with the right frame of mind. "Dang full moon/rising BP, the fish aren't going to bite today!" You'll miss bites and other opportunities with that mindset.
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Hey Joe, do you by chance subscribe to In-Fisherman? They post a Solunar calendar in their magazine that also shows, minor and major times of the day when catching is suppose to be the best, like today those times are: 12:09am-2:09am and 12:31pm-2:31pm. Also they tell you when to fish by Moon phase, this week they are saying the best time to fish is during the Full Moon and a couple of days after the full moon. Since I've just started to subscribe to In-Fisherman, I don't know if this is normal or not but I've always heard the same thing you stated, catching is poor for several days before and after a full moon. I know at times all this info talked about on this thread can help pick which days to go fishing but I followed all this advice for over a year, several years back and while at times it seemed to be spot on, I also fished at times when everything did not alien and it pointed to it being poor catching but I did good. So IMO, if you want to go fishing a certain day, go, but it you don't catch fish, look at the charts and blame it on one of them but if you do good, then who cares what the charts say[  ].
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Quote from one of the greats, Lefty Kreh: "There's more BS in fishing than a Kansas feed lot."
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Once again, . . .
http://midcurrent.com/science/the-pressure-myth/
Read the science. Facts. In part,: How much do fish respond to these day-to-day fluctuations? Consider that a normal value for barometric pressure is about 30 inches. Strong high pressure is about 30.70 inches. A powerful low, such as during a hurricane, can reach down to 28 inches or less. The difference between these two extremes (2.7 inches of barometric pressure) is equal to about .09 atmospheres. The barometric pressure difference from a simple passing cold front is only about .06 atmospheres.
. . . a fish naturally changes pressure around itself by making movements associated with feeding, swimming about, avoiding predators or trying to loose a hook. A small move can result in a relatively large pressure variation. For example, going up or down just 3.28 feet will decrease or increase the pressure on a fish by 1/10 of an atmosphere. One tenth of an atmosphere exceeds any reasonable change that might occur due to a fluctuation in barometric pressure. Equally important, when barometric pressure rises or falls, it can take more than a day to equal the change in hydrostatic pressure that a fish experiences in seconds during its normal up or down movements.
A changing barometer is related to weather changes, which changes other factors. The pressure change itself is not a factor.
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Hey Curt -- I do get In-Fisherman, and do often look at their tables....but I don't "go - no - go" based on those....Matter of fact I don't even know how they come up with those specific times, esp. when they can do their predictions so far in the future.....Just by Moon Phase? I don't know....or are they somehow predicting B.P. based on previous year's weather patterns, or combining the two? Anybody know? ...... I do know, that given a choice, I would rather not go fishing on at least that 4 day Full Moon period.... I do keep a journal, and have re-read too many times the trips I've done in that said F.M. period, and have made notes to myself, like "don't go again on a Full Moon"....But like everyone else, I still try once in a while, or go at the invitation of a friend.....and then I write my note again! ....Not sure why, but for me this Full Moon period seems to affect my salmonid fishing more than panfishing.... I agree that there are many other factors that can determine a 'good' or 'bad' (catching) day of fishing, so I'm just trying to balance all those....I actually have a 1948 calendar called "Wylie's Fishing Calculator"...it showed major and minor times, by day and hour, mostly based on moon and sun, but then it had a calculator to factor in other variables of Wind, Barometer, Sky, and Water...So fishermen have always been trying to figure out "Best Times" to go.....Guluk....and let's go fishing..
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