Pressure Systems and their affects on fishing.

[deadeternity]

Sam, you very well could be right on the money about that theory. I normally know when the weather and fishing is conflicting by the way my neck and back hurt. I always seem to have less success when my neck and back are hurting, it sounds weird but presure, moisture, and so on can have positive or negative effect on the way animals and humans feel. Coldfronts suck horribly for me, migraines, back pain, and neck pain. Runs in the family unfortunately. There is that open window though when poor weather to us means better fishing. So lets just say get out and fish.....

[Sam Ubl]

[quote=deadeternity;6031]Sure, wind can break up light levels in the water when it causes waves but fish dont like sunlight, and they dont like their air bladders being pressured by a high barometric system. We don't like eating either when our stomachs hurt or we feel sick or pressured.

Hmmm... What if it doesn't hurt their stomachs? What if the pressure bloats their swim bladder and they are forced to move around, perhaps bring the deep basin residents higher in the water column, thus offering fishermen more ample opportunities to reach these fish that otherwise, may be seriously hard to locate?

Makes you think?

Thoughts?

[deadeternity]

I have noticed a pattern even lately with fishing salmon and, throughout my life in general. Moon phases and weather patterns both effects fishing. Lake Michigan Perch for instance have taught me alot about weather and fish behavior. There are days you can't buy a bite, and most of the time those are the days when the sun is out,the sky is blue, and everyone this is not fishing feels great because it is a nice sunny day. But as soon as the sun sets the fish turn on for about an hour like someone flipped a light switch on. But for fisherman our ideal conditions would have something to do with low pressure and overcast skies or cloud cover. On these clear and sunny days fish activity for me has picked up around sunset and at night. Sure, wind can break up light levels in the water when it causes waves but fish dont like sunlight, and they dont like their air bladders being pressured by a high barometric system. We don't like eating either when our stomachs hurt or we feel sick or pressured.

Lately with salmon I notice the peak of activity is the half hour before sunset going into a half hour after dark. That time period of one hour has been best for me. I could be casting till my arm falls off for hours with little or no action and once the sun sets behind the buildings of downtown Milwaukee my reel has a screaming drag and my rod is bent. And lately, I noticed the fish activity pickup with this full moon phase we have had. Monday was the full moon and I slammed fish that night, last night was another good night. Lure choice is critical also but it still has alot to do with the weather and moon phases. It is a known fact of fishing that documents show that the 3 days before and after a full or new moon show the most fish activity and, trophy fish always seem to be caught most at these times.

If you want my favorite bit of advice that Al Lindner once said, the best time to go fishing is anytime you can get out and go. Don't worry to much about the moon or weather unless there is something wicked brewing in the air. I have fished NE winds and coldfront conditions and slammed fish before. You can always play your odds right but all of us have seen days that are ideal that left us scratching our heads wondering why the fish were not biting so good......

[BigMusky]

I have noticed that fishing styles change depending on pressure and do not discount the old adage...fish bite best when wind from west and fish bite least when wind from east. The reason for this is a west wind is low pressure system approaching and from east is generally high pressure system approaching. I think the key to game fish during high pressure is stable high pressure and a general light south wind. I believe they really shut down as cold front or high pressure moves in, but then will progressively become more active as it stabilizes.

In the fall, you often get those indian summer days when there is a high sky and although this is generally associated with poor musky fishing, it should not be during this time of year. You do have to adapt your fishing technique though for success.

Do not forget to check your lunar tables because although you can not notice an visible change in weather, this window does still exist in middle of day.

[Sam Ubl]

Many know and understand how barometric pressure systems work, but if you don't, maybe this thread can help you with some good insight, assuming it's provided.

Pressure is seperated by (H) and (L) or high and low. To understand the difference is simple, a Low pressure system generally creates overcast skies with precipitation and storms, where as a High pressure system relates more to bright blue bird days of sun. So another way to think of it if you're a waterfowl hunter, (L) pressure days are best for low flying birds and (H) pressure days are the high flying days or basically, the day you go pheasant or bow deer hunting instead.

This may be a little too technical, but scuba divers know that as you go down to greater depths, the water pressure increases. In fact, the increase in pressure is 14.7 psi for every 34 feet of additional depth.
This pressure is in addition to the normal atmospheric pressure at the surface. The pressure limits the depth to which unprotected divers can go, and the pressure causes lots of problems. The point is that as you descend deeper into a fluid, whether it be water or air or whatever, the pressure increases. And if you go upward toward the surface, the pressure becomes less. I POSE THIS QUESTION: As air pressure is heavy and pushes down on the earth like a heavy blanket when the pressure is high, water should subsequently be pushed down as well, such that perhaps water levels should slightly rise, even if un-noticable. Would this have any effect on fish suspension in the variable water column. Will fish suspend higher in high pressure systems and visa-versa.

Generally, I think of fish sitting on the bottom on bright sunny days, and suspending in the dark and on overcast days. The same for feeding activity, that being less on sunny days, more on overcast days and nightime.

As a musky fisherman, I tend to pay a lot of attention to the Baro Pressure daily, and relate that to the time of year and the differences it might make in my success rate for that particular day/outing. Generally, I lean towards low pressure days as my favorites, especially if I can beat the rain/storm by a couple hours to reap the benefits of pre-frontal windows of opportunity. However, lately, I have been on a hot pattern on a couple of our SE WI musky lakes that has only been showing it's true colors during (H) pressure days. Such that, today, as soon as I get out of work, I'll be on my way out to Pewaukee Lake.

Any insight? What are your opinions. Other species react differently, what do you target and what kind of weather patterns do you favor or lean towards?