Interesting question for everyone...

[fishuhalik]

so i'm one of those guys that looks at just about every fishing report on this site, & i've been noticing a pattern. it's no big secret that weather greatly affects fishing success. i've noticed over the past 3 weeks that almost every report has mirrored my success/failure. 2 weeks ago i had a fair day on a lake up by grand rapids for pannies, a friend did ok on big sandy by mcgregor for tullies, & another guy had an average day on a lake in the metro. mill lacs was average. last weekend it was incredible. i had lights out fishing tullies on big sandy by mcgregor, a buddy had a day to remember fishing crappies & sunnies on the same lake up by grand rapids, another guy had one of the best days of the year on mill lacs for eyes, & the cats were actually biting good on horseshoe for the first time in months. this weekend was slooow all around. we were on the same lake by gr & were only able to eak out a couple limits by finessing em with tiny jigs & they were biting really light. weeks prior we were getting them on big jigging spoons. other reports for several species mirrored pretty much the same.

here's my question. what was the common denominator? does anyone know of a HSOforum to find old barrometric reports by the hour? there has to be some reason that the reports are so similar all across the state, & i'd really like to try narrowing those days down & trying to pedict them!

[ClownColor]

If or when you figure that out...please call me!

Then again, if I new I was going to have a bad day of fishing...wait, it's still better then a good day of work right? Maybe the unkown is better...LOL

Try wunderground, lots of good data there and you can do a weather history per day/month/year and city.

good luck with your findings!

[griff321]

NOAA has it.

I was wondering if anyone can recommend any apps or computer programs for like a good fishing journal where I can try and figure out patterns that have worked in similar situations in years past.

[DTro]

I've tried (and purchased) several fishing apps and the best one so far is Fishin' Buddy. I really like it.

Weather most definitely plays a big role in fishing. Ill try to post some data from last summer I have.

[going4it]

Weather underground has their data under the history tab.

[Knoc]

Weatherbug has the barometric pressure to your location which is live.

[McGurk]

This site has the last week of readings on it, along with a number of locations in MN:

Graph Barometer

[CAMAN]

I use the barometer along with an App called Barograph in my Galaxy Nexus to track pressure.

Last 24 hours...

(Those spikes on the left side are from when I was driving in my truck, and changing altitudes)

Highs, Lows and Average of the last 7 days...

[Finns]

Solunar table maybe?

[Slabasaurus]

fishuhalik, I've noticed the same thing over the past month or so. The reports on this site have been a pretty good indicator of how my own experiences have been.

I keep an excel spreadsheet that has all sorts of data on it... the interesting thing I've noticed so far this year has been how relatively consistent the weather has been on the weekends, no matter where I'm fishing.

I use wunderground for the history data, as the barr. pressure graphs can really shed some light while correlating it to your own data. I make sure at the end of each month to download the snapshot of the prior months barr. pressure for the locations I fish just in case.

I have noticed that the solunar table 'peak' times are more noticeable when the pressure is high or rising.

[fishuhalik]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! One of these days I'll check some of that out & see what I come up with. I like your idea slabasaurus of putting everything on a spreadsheet.

[hanson]

You can really start crunching numbers if you want but "generally", approaching front (low pressure) = good fishing. Need to be fishing before the front comes through so watch the weather reports and get out there when its coming. Sometimes the best fishing is when the dump is hitting the fan. Once the storm (front) has passed, high pressure pushes it out. In the winter, that means no clouds, bright sun, and cold temps and you are in for a long day.

You can watch barometric pressure readings as well but a falling barometer is generally good.

What day did we get our snow in the Cities last week? Bet the fishing was lights out before it. Pretty much the biggest weather system we've seen all winter.

Another one of my factors is wind direction. South wind in the winter is a low pressure system moving in. Guess when you should be fishing? North or NW wind means what in the winter? Brrr... cold.

What I've concluded is unless you are the most flexible person in the world, its difficult to plan fishing around the weather. However, when you have a great day fishing, try to understand what may have caused it.

[20lbSloughShark]

I have not noticed a pattern much. Pike seem to act like hunters, they work with the weather, not around it. Pike eat when they are hungry. Often when people complain of a slow bite I have my record breaking days. I have noticed pike will eat anything on hot, humid, sunny days.

[Stick in Mud]

Well, considering (I assume) that I'm the buddy who had the lights-out walleye fishing on Mille lacs, I assume it has everything to do with my skill level/fish-finding capabilities/perfect sense for what the fish want.

If that's not it, I have no idea.

[FrontenacPike]

fishuhalik

Check out the app called "FishNotes by Jimmy Houston". I read about it in a field and Stream or Outdoor life magazine. The app is a little pricey @ $9.99 but you can always uninstall in the trial period and not be charged. After reading everything you want to log and track I think that app would be just the ticket for you.

The app logs

species, weight, length, water temp, times, conditions, water clarity, weather, moon phases, bait, equipment, latitude/longitude, picture & video of fish, voice notes. The app also includes a full HSOforum to let you manage all your data.

Since it is unrealistic to enter in all that data when you are on a hot bite, the app has a quick save button. It will record your lat/long , weather, and specie. Once I get home I use the computer to enter in all the other data.

Screen shots

Picture of the HSOforum

[bulldog45]

I really think that the pressure changes affect how the fish bite, but what you should really look into getting is a solar lunar book from gander or cabelas, or you can "like" Pete Maina on facebook. Most of his posts are about the best times to fish, which are based of the solar lunar table. I went out and got one, and that thing is for real.

[DTro]

Just a note about FishNotes. I used for a year and promoted the heck out of it. I was excited to have my data on a secure server and able to log all my fish.

Turns out it was pretty buggy and I had issues accessing my data at the end of the year.

I found Fishin Buddy at 2.99 to be significantly better at everything. Especially at exporting the data.

[Stick in Mud]

I haven't downloaded any of these apps, but from what MANY of my friends have said, I second what Dtro says.....the Fishin' Buddy is a great bargain and does everyting that you'll want a fishing app to do.

[LMITOUT]

This only goes back a week.