Barometric pressure

[lrrpinman]

Is it better to fish with a Low or High pressure system?

[bigbad401]

with a changing pressure. From what I have read and seen, any system that has been at a place for a day or two will be less of a bite than a changing pressure, either high to low or low to high. But the best is high to low. But you will get a lot of different answers with this question.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Neither really.. its best to fish with the pressure steady for a period of days and or the pressure falling slightly.

[roadkingclasic56]

I agree with Deitz. It has been my experience that fishing improves as long as the weather pattern is stable, be it high or low pressure. The fish seem to get a funk when the weather changes. A day or two before moving into a low pressure from high seems to be the best.

[Darryl Raate]

go fishing when you can. the fish bite...or not bite...when they want to? I'm going fishing...when i can...regardless.

[bikeoutback]

On Mille Lacs this past weekend and we caught nothing Friday or Saturday. Only thing we heard around shore from the guides, workers, bartenders and other fisherman was that bite head been pretty bad for a few days due to the high pressure. Sunday morning we didn't fish as we overslept but at breakfast heard the bite had hit hard that morning when the pressure dropped.

[fishermatt]

Last time the Barometer was under 30 (which was at the tail end of the big snowstorm on Christmas weekend) we caught 27 walleyes. Since then (with high pressure around 30.5 every day since then) the best we've done is 8. It's starting to get better now that the severe cold has gone away. This week will most likely be he Best fishing week of January so get out if you can!!

[BobT]

go fishing when you can. the fish bite...or not bite...when they want to? I'm going fishing...when i can...regardless.

Same here. I don't let the weather dictate my fishing...well...most of the time anyway. The weather may prevent me from going out but that's about it.

[lovebigbluegills]

This was posted by Honda4life in the Metro Area forum a year or two ago, and I thought I'd post it here also, so it'll be a little easier to find for future reference.

These guidelines seem to be fairly accurate per my experiences.

Just wanted to share this if you guys havent seen it. pretty helpful info.

Pressure Trend

Typical Weather

Fishing Trends

Suggested Tactics

High

Clear skies

Fish slow down, find cover or go to deeper waters.

Slow down lures and use baits more attractive to fish. Fish in cover and in deeper waters.

Rising

Clearing or improving

Fish tend to become slightly more active

Fish with brighter lures and near cover. Also fish at intermediate and deeper depths.

Normal and stable

Fair

Normal fishing

Experiment with your favorite baits and lures.

Falling

Degrading

Most active fishing

Speed up lures. Surface and shallow running lures may work well.

Slightly lower

Usually cloudy

Many fish will head away from cover and seek shallower waters. Some fish will become more aggressive.

Use shallow running lures at a moderate speed.

Low

Rainy and stormy

Fish will tend to become less active the longer this period remains.

As the action subsides, try fishing at deeper depths.

[bogwalker]

Low pressure is always the best.

[fish-a-man]

so with that post from honda4life, what would be considered a normal pressure?

[BobT]

That's just it. I love it when there is information like this but no reference to base it on. On a similar note is when someone refers to deep water vs. shallow. Define what deep water is or provide some reference to measure by. Deep water might be 10 feet on a lake with a maximum depth of 20 feet but on Lake Superior the term deep water takes on a whole new meaning.

What we view as low pressure under normal circumstances could be considered high pressure during a severe storm.

[Double A]

My preference is to fish when the pressure drops into the 30.2 to 29.8 range. (Or Monday through Saturday - which ever comes first)