Barometer rising or falling?

[maddogg]

Does anybody watch the barometer and check when they have the best luck?

[Baetis62]

Falling has been better for me.

[DR.SPECKLER]

I like it falling.low 29.it was 31 something today and all dinks were biting.low pressure had keepers biting earlier this week.

[Rebelss]

I always do. Fish usually put the feedbag on when a front is moving in. I notice it a lot more on soft water, though. Highs, which mean clear/clearing never have shown much for me. 🐟

[hnd]

So i have kept a log for walleye fishing open water and ice fishing (mostly pan fish but some game fish trips).  every trip i record.  I've done this since 2007. 

I recorded the barometric pressure and whether it was rising or falling for 10 years (over 500 events).  and what i found was that it didn't matter on eyeota.  So i stopped recording it.  go fish.

[Ramp 23]

What I have found , I log almost every time out , is as long as it’s moving , the bite is better than if it’s not . But so many other things come into play also .

[Ramp 23]

What I have found , I log almost every time out , is as long as it’s moving , the bite is better than if it’s not . But so many other things come into play also .

[Neil McCauley]

I love a nice high pressure system just because of the sunny calm weather. But dropping pressure is amazing fishing. If a big storm is impending the water can become like it's caffeinated.

[Hillsfisher]

It does not matter.  A change in air pressure has such little influence underwater, let alone under a foot of ice.  Water pressure is sooo much more than air.  Basically, if a 300-pound man was sitting on top of you, would you notice if he picked up a can of beer?  A huge change in air pressure is a few feet change in the water column which fish do all the time.   Not saying that fish do not respond to weather changes, but it most likely results from winds, light intensity, temperature, etc... 

It is simply a nice excuse to have when we do not catch any fish.   Must have been the pressure....   

[bullpine]

I have noted that when the fish suddenly start biting on a cloudy day with a falling barometer, it is oftentimes followed by a snow flurry and the fish then stop biting, maybe not completely, but pick up again with the next flurry.

[Rebelss]

It does not matter.  A change in air pressure has such little influence underwater, let alone under a foot of ice.  Water pressure is sooo much more than air.  Basically, if a 300-pound man was sitting on top of you, would you notice if he picked up a can of beer?  A huge change in air pressure is a few feet change in the water column which fish do all the time.   Not saying that fish do not respond to weather changes, but it most likely results from winds, light intensity, temperature, etc... 

It is simply a nice excuse to have when we do not catch any fish.   Must have been the pressure....   

Haveta disagree with ya. Science has proven for many years that fish, birds and many mammals are affected by a change in barometric pressure. Fact; not conjecture. As the barometric pressure changes, there is a direct effect on that partial pressure of oxygen. So just as that pressure of oxygen in our blood decreases when we go to high altitudes, it also decreases when the barometric pressure drops during a change in the weather. Lower air pressure pushes less against the body, allowing tissues to expand. Expanded tissues can put pressure on joints and cause pain in humans and mammals. The same is true for fish. Don't you remember studying that in biology 101?
A good parallel/another example are high and low tides caused by gravitational pull exerted by the moon, which ties in with atmospheric pressure. You've seen high and low tides, haven't you?

[Hillsfisher]

Sorry, science has proven that pressure does NOT affect fish.  I am a physical scientist by trade for over 30 years and have run pressure data loggers on the surface and underwater for many years to monitor water levels.  I have a logger in the water which measures water and air pressure, the other logger in is the air just recording the air pressure.  I then subtract the air pressure to just give me the water pressure and translate that into water depth.  The changes in air pressure have very little influence underwater.  If a fish is at ten-foot depth and moves to fifteen feet, it experiences more pressure change than a major storm.  Fish shift depth so often throughout the day that they are experiencing pressure changes so often, greater than changes in whatever is going on overhead. 

Check out- https://midcurrent.com/science/the-pressure-myth/

When we have a change in pressure other things are changing as well, and things that will have an effect on what fish are doing.  Such things as precipitation, wind direction and speed, light intensity (bright sun or cloud cover), temperature, etc...  Because there are many things going on all at once it is difficult to pull one out and say that is the overall factor dictating what fish are responding to.   However, pressure change is not likely to be the dominate factor. 

 Tidal influence on water has nothing to do with pressure.  I have conducted research involving tidal influences on groundwater aquifers in carbonate rock in the upper midwest.  So yes, I am familiar. 

[stripernut]

It is all about light intensity in my experience... Very often when the Barometer is falling clouds are rolling in and the light intensity changes, it was not the drop in pressure, but a drop in light that turned on the bite... I have been watching this for years, even a big cloud passing the sun can start a short bite (we have even seen it at night with a full moon). Ice fishing I have watched as the shadow of some tall white pines pass over a spread of tip-up, as the shadow passes, flag up...

[Iceassin]

In my experience, ice fishing anyway, steady or falling pressure (30 or less) with overcast skies the bite is better for pannies.  But, I have found that Pike prefer those bright, sunny days. Seem to see more flags a flyin'.

[gofish]

falling, cloudy days, day before a storm moves in

[Rebelss]

In my experience, ice fishing anyway, steady or falling pressure (30 or less) with overcast skies the bite is better for pannies.  But, I have found that Pike prefer those bright, sunny days. Seem to see more flags a flyin'.

That's cuz fish don't have protruding ears. Sunglasses keep falling off. Why do you think they call them Walleyes?

[Neil McCauley]

It is all about light intensity in my experience... Very often when the Barometer is falling clouds are rolling in and the light intensity changes, it was not the drop in pressure, but a drop in light that turned on the bite... I have been watching this for years, even a big cloud passing the sun can start a short bite (we have even seen it at night with a full moon). Ice fishing I have watched as the shadow of some tall white pines pass over a spread of tip-up, as the shadow passes, flag up...

I've definitely found this at least with first light and perch. As soon as that sun peaks over the horizon they start biting.

[Iceassin]

That's cuz fish don't have protruding ears. Sunglasses keep falling off. Why do you think they call them Walleyes?

Good grief 

[BlueDuck]

I have been fishing for 70 years now.  Thought about why and when all that time.  There have been many times when I thought I was on to something, only to prove it wrong sooner or later.  Now I just go fishing.

[Raquettedacker]

I have been fishing for 70 years now.  Thought about why and when all that time.  There have been many times when I thought I was on to something, only to prove it wrong sooner or later.  Now I just go fishing.

  X2👍👍👍👍

[DR.SPECKLER]

Yup.go fishing any opportunity i get.

[dubob]

Caught a bunch of nice perch on Tuesday under a high-pressure system.  Went back to the same lake, same 'X', using the same lures & bait on Thursday and caught 1 perch apiece under a rapidly falling barometer.  Checked a dozen other folks and all were experiencing the same paucity of caught fish.  So much for all y'all's theory of good fishing on a falling pressure.   

[Hillsfisher]

Snitch- My guess is that it was a timing thing.  A lake where I fish often it is an early and late bite, the rest of the day the fish close their mouths.  Dunno why... It is like that everyday regardless.    I by no means am claiming to know why fish bite or do not.  I wish!  There are so many factors involved, but I will stand by my statement that pressure has little to nothing to do with it.   

[bullpine]

Caught a bunch of nice perch on Tuesday under a high-pressure system.  Went back to the same lake, same 'X', using the same lures & bait on Thursday and caught 1 perch apiece under a rapidly falling barometer.  Checked a dozen other folks and all were experiencing the same paucity of caught fish.  So much for all y'all's theory of good fishing on a falling pressure.   

Paucity of fish. LOL  Never ever thought of using that word in the same sentence as fish, but actually since we get skunked on a regular basis it is very precise. 

[FishGut]

Barometric pressure changes affect my knees long before I can see what's going on with the fish.

[Iceassin]

Barometric pressure changes affect my knees long before I can see what's going on with the fish.

 

[sebago2jigtima]

x2 

[maddogg]

Thanks for all the comments. I guess there is no true answer to the question. I'll have to do like I always do -Depend on luck.

[Rebelss]

        


https://weather.com/sports-recreation/fishing/news/fishing-barometer-20120328

[Hatandboots]

So it is probably closely related to the barometer reading, but what about lunar cycles? I got a fishing calendar that suggests the best time to be fishing depening on the lunar cycle, and It seems like the days it suggests will be good have been good, and bad ones have been bad.