Barometric Pressure

[Ice4blood]

I had a guy tell me last night that the key to fishing is the Barometer. So I asked him at what point do you want to fish, what pressure, rising?, falling? He didn't really have an answer, but still insisted it was the key. So can anyone help, or do we need a scientist here?

[bturck]

I'm not a scientist but am offering my 2 cents. Too me a steady barometer over a period of time is always best. Rising and falling generally indicate changes in weather patterns and that I believe impacts fishing the most positive and negative. I've always felt that if the barometer is falling from a steady position it was much better than a rising barometer. Just my thoughts Bill

[only ice]

Bill your right! I like at least 2 days with not much change.

[bturck]

Some days it seems like two days is asking too much doesn't it. To me steady means consistent... Bill

[BK19]

from what i understand (and i am far from a expert) when the barometer is falling plangton (speelling ?) is moving so then the baitfish feed on plangton so they are more active then the fish get going to eat the baitfish, so yeah

[chickeywing]

Last spring, I picked up a cheap barometer. I couldn't establish a pattern. Some days fish weren't biting when they were supposed to be. Some of the best days were when the barometer said fishing should be poor. My father in law's knees seem to be more affected than the fish.

TC

[icehousebob]

I kept notes for a couple years on fishing conditions, including wind direction, temp, cloud conditions, and barometer. Barometer was the only steady forcaster. The most reliable was 48 hours of steady reading. There is a good bite in a narrow window of a falling barometer if you can hit it. On a rising barometer, I won't even go out, except for Northerns. They always seem hungry.

[Random guy]

Now the last few days on Red we have seen flury's of activity during small rises in barometric pressure? When musky fishing if the barometer took off downwards I made the mad dash for the lake, always a big fish day...then a mad dash for shore when the storm hit.

[Finns]

If a storm or bad weather is approaching, isn't that a falling barometer reading? If so hit the water as I usually catch the bigger fish just before a storm. Don't stay to long as lightning can be a problem.

Finns.

[Random guy]

 Originally Posted By: Finns

Don't stay to long as lightning can be a problem .

Finns.

So is an upside down boat. I just smiled at the isurance guy and told him I did catch a big fish before the storm hit. He didn't see the humor in it.

[Lake Trout]

My worst ice fishing days are always when the barometer is high and there is a blue sky.

[Kickin Bass]

Alright, so you guys are telling me the bite when decreasing, increasing, and steady is good? And they do not bite when it is rising? SOmetimes not even when it is falling or steady. LOL. What was the question again? I think every lake is different. It would be interesting to match it up to different types of lakes and see if it varies based on that. Oh yeah and they are fish and they don't like hooks in their mouths, so they tend to not eat hooks. lol. Good luck guys.

[boatfixer]

What do you consider high pressure? Last night I was out, and caught 16 crappies, kept 5, and the barometer was 30.12 and rising.

[Ice4blood]

Thanks guys, maybe I should get one of those cheap barometer's and do my own little experiment. I appreciate the input though.

[delta hunter]

I find rise are the most active during a when the pressure is steady around the 30.00 or above and when is falling. I feel this because the fish have a tendency to get into a rythm and when a low pressure system moves in and cause the pressure to drop to 29.50 or lower, the activite of the fish picks up. But once that lower pressure system, or storm front, passes and the pressure starts to rise the activite level really drops off!! I have had spotty fishing for the past couple of weeks, but the pressure has been up and down almost daily. Now with the High Pressure ridge in place for the next week or so, I'm hoping the fishing will pick up this week or next week! I'm making a prediction that with the next two weeks being nice and cold, I'm predicting that Feb is going to be a good month to be fishing. Same thing happend last year around here. It just happened 2 weeks later last year!

[sodajerk]

I just ordered a hand-held fishing barometer that got pretty good reviews from people that have one.

I'm going to start paying daily attention to this and keep track of what I catch, where I catch it, the weather and the barometric pressure.

I've been keeping a deer hunting log book for a few years, now I'll start a fishing one.

[icehousebob]

My brother-in-law, who farmed for over fifty years, pointed something out to me. He said there are days when the birds are lined up at the feeders, the squirrels are fighting to get at the feed, the deer will be feeding in the middle of the day, and the beef cattle eat like there's no tommorrow,,, that's the time to get out on the lake. Those days usually correspond to the steady or falling barometer. All the critters fill up before a storm hits. That's the falling barometer window of opportunity.