High Pressure Weather

[Wetswinger]

Yesterday, standing on the boat ramp at a local lake, I had an interesting conversation with a man about the effects of a high barometer. Fishing was slow for everyone there. He stated that he rarely went lake fishing when high pressure was in place but with holiday week this was his only chance. I wonder if what he mentioned was correct. I know off the beach in the Sound I prefer grey, drizzling weather. Could this also be true on lakes.? What opinion do you all hold.?

 

[bobduck]

I once heard Denny Rickard say if the barometric pressure is under 30 you might as well stay home. As far as I'm concerned being out there is always good regardless of high or low pressure. For winter steelheading I prefer the grey drizzly weather too. For everything else I don't even pay attention except to dress accordingly.

 

[SurfnFish]

for lakes stable pressure vs rising or dropping...this time of year over night temp drops cool the lake and scatter the fish...for rivers, no diff

 

[Hillbilly Redneck]

I've heard (don't really remember who told me this) the barometric pressure affects larger bodies of water. Seems this had more to do with steelhead fishing, and that smaller rivers like the Stilly would be less affected than the Skagit or Sauk. Pretty sure the barometric pressure would have very little to do with me deciding on which river I fished on a given day however.
I don't know if this is really true or how it translates to stillwater and lakes.

 

[Tom Butler]

Like the solunar (sp.?) tables, I have not observed any correlation of pressure change to fishing success in the rivers and lakes I fish. Go when you can.

 

[krusty]

Barometric pressure and moon phase are very useful excuses for a skunking (if you're fishing alone or the other assholes on the lake are getting skunked too).

There's plenty of other far less nebulous stuff that keeps me from fishing as much as I'd like.

I do know with certainty that I'll have a great day of fishing if I remember to hang three onions on my belt and yell at clouds.

 

[Shad]

Barometric pressure and moon phase are very useful excuses for a skunking.

There's plenty of other far less nebulous stuff that keeps me from fishing as much as I'd like.

There's no doubt these things affect fishing, but there are far too many variables at work to allow us to identify any reliable patterns, so yes, we should go fishing when we can.

Generally speaking, in this part of the world, an East wind means sustained, high pressure, which makes fish suspend in the water column and bite poorly (except when it doesn't). A full moon often causes fish to feed through the night, when it's safer for them, so during daylight hours, they often bite poorly. Again, unless they don't. I thought I was on to the patterns a few years ago, but I've since had great days of fishing when I figured it would suck, and I've also had terrible days when I figured it should be "on."

Go fishing when you can is definitely the right mantra. Sometimes you win big (catch lots of fish) and other times, you just get a nice day outside, which you really need!

 

[Billy]

You may or may not catch fish on high pressure days but you definitely won't if you don't go!

I've caught some of my biggest fish on slow days so always worth going! I don't worry about pressure or moon phase...

 

[Wayne Kohan]

Fish have to eat to survive, no matter the weather. I believe in one of his books, Tim Lockhart mentioned that the best chance for success is to stay out there for a long time, fish gotta eat eventually. Go fishing and don't worry about it.

 

[Smalma]

While a big fan of fishing when there is an opportunity, have never caught a decent fish without getting my fly wet!

That said I pay attention to such things as wind direction, barometric pressure, solar lunar tables, cloud cover, etc. all which potentially impacts my fishing success. I like to stack things into my favor.

To the topic at hand, I have found that high pressure can affect my fishing success, more so in cold water (winter) than in warm water. My theory is that in winter there are sporadic hatches which seem to be affected by the bugs accumulating temperatures days and that a day or so into a high-pressure system it is not uncommon to see a hatch triggered but the following days the seem to be less bugs for several days. During the winter if there are say an expected 5 days of high-pressure, I opt to fish day 1 and 4 or 5 while in the spring/early summer I expect more or less consistent fishing all 5 days. If I find myself fishing on a slow day I often resort to presenting suggestive patterns on aggressive retrieves or troll hoping to trigger reaction bites (this has saved more than a few days).

Some of my best fishing has been at the front edge of a storm front which can produce some short but intense fishing.

Curt

 

[5 Weight]

Yesterday, standing on the boat ramp at a local lake, I had an interesting conversation with a man about the effects of a high barometer. Fishing was slow for everyone there. He stated that he rarely went lake fishing when high pressure was in place but with holiday week this was his only chance. I wonder if what he mentioned was correct. I know off the beach in the Sound I prefer grey, drizzling weather. Could this also be true on lakes.? What opinion do you all hold.?

I have experienced epic fishing on rivers and lakes when pressure drops ahead of weather change. Once long ago while fishing a Wyoming stream a thunderstorm was rolling in and the fish were all over my streamers. One large Brown literally beached himself in front of me chasing my muddler. Once the rain,thunder, and lightning started,it was over. When I,m floating a lake under blue skies, I pray for the clouds and rain to roll in. Although I may eventually take cover, the fishing usually gets great. I can’t speak for beach fishing since I haven’t been out there when a front rolled in.

 

[Buzzy]

I have experienced epic fishing on rivers and lakes when pressure drops ahead of weather change. Once long ago while fishing a Wyoming stream a thunderstorm was rolling in and the fish were all over my streamers. One large Brown literally beached himself in front of me chasing my muddler. Once the rain,thunder, and lightning started,it was over. When I,m floating a lake under blue skies, I pray for the clouds and rain to roll in. Although I may eventually take cover, the fishing usually gets great. I can’t speak for beach fishing since I haven’t been out there when a front rolled in.

Low pressure thread drift: I had a somewhat similar experience at Lake Lenore fishing from shore for the lake's Lahontan cutthroat. Three of us had met at damsel point, the fishing was consistent, every third or fourth cast one of us would hook up. The weather was deteriorating to the west, we started hearing distant rumbles; as the thunder got louder, the bite got better. At times we had doubles on and it seemed like almost every cast we hooked up. Pretty soon, we were getting static electricity zaps on our casts. Kris bailed first, Randy next with me right on their tails. It had started raining and we could see the the sky brighten with lightning beyond the cliffs across the lake.

 

[Tom Butler]

Low pressure thread drift: I had a somewhat similar experience at Lake Lenore fishing from shore for the lake's Lahontan cutthroat. Three of us had met at damsel point, the fishing was consistent, every third or fourth cast one of us would hook up. The weather was deteriorating to the west, we started hearing distant rumbles; as the thunder got louder, the bite got better. At times we had doubles on and it seemed like almost every cast we hooked up. Pretty soon, we were getting static electricity zaps on our casts. Kris bailed first, Randy next with me right on their tails. It had started raining and we could see the the sky brighten with lightning beyond the cliffs across the lake.

More drift, during the recent eclipse fishing was off the charts good.

 

[krusty]

Yup, low frequency vibrations like thunder drive stillwater trout into a bloodlust feeding frenzy.

On one notable outing with my old man (who was a renowned and widely feared flatulator), triggered a veritable salmonid bite festival when he unleashed a lengthy series of post chili/Schmidt animal beer staccato farts sitting in the bow seat of our ancient rowboat.

 

[krusty]

Yup, low frequency vibrations like thunder drive stillwater trout into a bloodlust feeding frenzy.

On one notable outing with my old man (who was a renowned and widely feared flatulator), triggered a veritable salmonid bite festival when he unleashed a lengthy series of post chili/Schmidt animal beer staccato farts sitting in the bow seat of our ancient rowboat.

Thread drift; ....and he could actually modulate his gaseous emissions such that they resembled short sentences, though my mom was less than impressed with the one he claimed to say "I love you".

 

[Wetswinger]

Yup, low frequency vibrations like thunder drive stillwater trout into a bloodlust feeding frenzy.

On one notable outing with my old man (who was a renowned and widely feared flatulator), triggered a veritable salmonid bite festival when he unleashed a lengthy series of post chili/Schmidt animal beer staccato farts sitting in the bow seat of our ancient rowboat.

God, I miss animal beer. Especially the one with the bear looking into the copper mine pit..

 

[Wetswinger]

Thread drift; ....and he could actually modulate his gaseous emissions such that they resembled short sentences, though my mom was less than impressed with the one he claimed to say "I love you".

Could he do the Star Spangled Banner.?

 

[krusty]

Could he do the Star Spangled Banner.?

Sadly, his 'voice' was forever silenced by hemorrhoid surgery before he could make such an attempt. Blessed with an incredible range and perfect pitch,, he'd been working on "A doe, a deer" from the Sound of Music right up to the very end.

 

[Bambooflyguy]

The barometer didn’t screw me today…..17/25 all on midge emergers! I started fishing around 1:45 and didn’t have a fish until 4:06…..when the sun went behind the trees the lake came alive! Brrrrrrrrrr!! But fun!!

 

[troutpocket]

If high pressure means bright sun and no wind…..I agree those aren’t ideal for lake fishing. But as others have said, fish gotta eat. There’s probably going to be a flurry at some point.