Barometric pressure and fishing

[Ed B]

Pretty nasty out with wind and rain and waves. If you were fishing right now would you postition yourself based on the barometer or the conditions? Barometer in Newport reads 29.87 right now.

http://www.maineharbors.com/cgi-bin/...=KUUU&alt=ri07

[Mike P]

29.87" is close to "standard atmosphere" at sea level, which if I remember correctly from my flying days is 29.92". Is it rising, falling or steady?

[Ed B]

Looks like barometric pressure fell slowly from a high of 30.02 inches of mercury, based on observation at TF Green airport. This change in pressure calculates to a water depth change of about 2 inches.
In this amount of time we have gone from a nice day to a nasty and rainy one, a windshift from SW to SE and throughout 2 complete tidal cycles with water variation of about 3.5 to 4.5 feet each time.

What to do at 29.87 ???

Ed

[Mike P]

Local conditions for me are, 51 degrees, wind SE at 13 with gusts to 17, barometer 29.71" and falling. Moon a few days down from full. If I had the ability, I'd probably head out to a back bay or inlet location, north facing, adjacent to a bridge, 3 hours into the ebb current Easterly winds here are tough in the spring, so I'd want the warmest stage of the tide, 3-4 hours into the ebb, 1-2 hours into the flood. A fluctuation of a couple of degrees in water temps can make a difference. Bays are warmer than the ocean. Plenty of times I've had a bite going in the early flood, felt the change in water temp thru my waders and had the switch thrown.

[Ed B]

Interesting Mike P. Early season at an inlet, at a bridge where there is usually some water restriction and higher current flow. Trying to find a little warmer water and get out of the snot of the Southeaster.

[DZ]

There are times like these:

The solunar tables tell me that the fish will bite, but the moon is full and fishing sucks.

The night is "black as coal" in mid June, but the wind is east and the fishing sucks.

There is a front coming in: SW hard, then hard NW, but the bass are no where to be found.

It's 11pm as I put my trash barrels out - I can "smell" the bass in the air (I live a 1/4 mile from the surf), 3 hours later without a hit (but plenty of casting practice) I hit the sack.

The Block Island shad bushes are in full bloom but I can't find a bass.

Excerpt from "Black As Coal":
Conditions were perfect. The tide pulling hard, the plugs pulsating and working nicely in the current. All of my tricks were not producing - the drop back, the dart, and the agonizingly slow retrieve with the needle that stripers can't resist. None of them worked. I then said to myself "You know Dennis - sometimes they just don't bite". It's nothing that you do wrong. Not the conditions on which to lay blame. Sometimes they just don't bite. But why is that? Just another surfcasting mystery to solve on another night, another tide, maybe tomorrow, maybe next year. I'll figure it out eventually, I have to. They are my passion, these nights "Black as Coal".


And then there are these times:

Second day of a cold front, bright full moon, wind howling NW at 25, good night for me to sleep in... - my partner calls me in the morning: "Where were you last night?"
(I hate those morning after calls.)

Two weeks of no bass - middle of August, 12 noon, temp close to 90, cows swirling in 5 feet of water taking my poppers while I'm getting a wicked bad sunburn.

Like everyone, I have my set of "preferred conditions" when I'd like to be chasing Roccus. But I've been around long enough to know that there are always exceptions to my "general rules", and as I always say - "Bass don't read my general rules".

A good set of conditions at Montauk might suck on the Cape.

So get out there and cast - pay attention to what the barometer says but don't overlook wind direction, moon, current, tide, bait, flowers in the backyard, your olfactory, etc, and don't let them govern the times you fish.
Be flexible.
And, as Ed B says , everything is interrelated, there are so MANY variables. How they affect each other is a piece of the puzzle. Just add one more thing - Confidence - with it you'll be a much better fisherman.

DZ

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by DZ

And, as Ed B says , everything is interrelated, there are so MANY variables. How they affect each other is a piece of the puzzle. Just add one more thing - Confidence - with it you'll be a much better fisherman.

DZ

SW winds and a falling barometer have almost always seemed to work well for me locally - but the older I get the more I have learned to never say 'always' I generally try to avoid a full moon with no cloud cover, too, but then I've also had nights where the bass didn't turn on until the full moon rose - right when I was getting ready to leave - go figure

Overall, I have to agree with EdB - the other variables probably have a bigger impact on the response of the food chain than just barometric pressure alone.

I had to nod my head to Mike P's Vineyard experiences - the one thing that does get me a little wound up is a fast moving squall - and I've had some dandy nights on one side or the other of them - but when the static charge in the air is discharging through your guides when you touch them, it's God's way of telling you to get the hell out of Dodge, muy pronto