Snow vs. sun

[802livin]

I got out early this morning on a local pond. I set up my 5 tip ups and I was non stop, I had between 20-25 flags and ripped through 2 dozen shiners from 6:30am-9:30am. During that time it was cloudy and flurrying the whole time. Around 9:30 the clouds cleared and the sun came out and then not a single flag from 9:30-11. It was funny too cause around that same time other people started to show up as it slowed down.

By the time I left at 11 there were 6 other groups of people and I only counted 5 flags from all of them from 9:30-11.

I have a barometer app on my phone and it held at 30Hg the entire time. Not sure how accurate it is but I assume had something to do with how quick the bite stopped.

Who else has experienced this what seemed to have been a light switch being turned off?

[Rangerboats391]

exactly what happened to you, happens alot , post front or prefront, barometer moves up and down, so many variables can turn them on or off, even hourly, nice job getting out early 

[MassBass85]

Same as you we got out really early today. We got some bites early but that was the end of that. We probably ended the last 4 hours of the day without any real bites. The groups around us didn't seem to be doing any better.  During open water season I definitely see a pattern of poor fishing immediately after a front comes through. I pay attention to the barometric pressure but more in how it plays out over the course of a few days or a week. I don't pay attention to the actual numbers, only the rise and fall trends. If you look back at this week you can see a very sharp drop Monday night when we got that snow, followed by a sharp rise Tuesday and then Thursday into Friday from this past storm another drop, and we're currently in the "trough" after the drop. Usually if I am able to pick when I can fish this wouldn't be it lol. I'd have picked Monday or Tuesday probably and then right before the snow yesterday. I had a bad feeling about today just cause of past experience with weather trends and unfortunately I was right. But that's fishing, we go when we can and you just never know when a fluke day or that bite of a lifetime might happen. It's still fun to be out.

[stripernut]

I have posted about this a few times and I feel it has more to do with light level than barometric pressure. All a fish has to do is move an inch or two deeper or shallower to create more of a change in the pressure it feels than what the air pressure can generate. If I am out fishing a "Blue Bird" day with high pressure (no clouds) a trick that I have used successfully many times now is to line up my tip-ups so that the shadow of some big pines will cross over them and often as the shadow passes I will get a flag. Nothing is 100% but it works often enough that it worth doing when possible. Many times over the years when a passing cloud blocks the sun the bite will turn on. I first notice this over 30 years ago shore fishing for laker with a bunch of guys on the Quabbin. It was a bright and sunny day with a few clouds (high pressure) and the bites would only happen when a big cloud would pass, then it would be dead till the next one. As many of you know when I bass fish at night (open water) I often talk about how on a moon-lit night the bite will be VERY slow, but with just one passing cloud or the shadow of a hillside, the bite is back... Barometric pressure and cloud cover are often "keyed" together, but the morning, evening bite happens whether it is high or low pressure. I will not say barometric pressure plays no part, but I do believe its part is small and that the cloud cover it predicts has way more to do with the bite/fish behavior.

[MassBass85]

I have posted about this a few times and I feel it has more to do with light level than barometric pressure. All a fish has to do is move an inch or two deeper or shallower to create more of a change in the pressure it feels than what the air pressure can generate. If I am out fishing a "Blue Bird" day with high pressure (no clouds) a trick that I have used successfully many times now is to line up my tip-ups so that the shadow of some big pines will cross over them and often as the shadow passes I will get a flag. Nothing is 100% but it works often enough that it worth doing when possible. Many times over the years when a passing cloud blocks the sun the bite will turn on. I first notice this over 30 years ago shore fishing for laker with a bunch of guys on the Quabbin. It was a bright and sunny day with a few clouds (high pressure) and the bites would only happen when a big cloud would pass, then it would be dead till the next one. As many of you know when I bass fish at night (open water) I often talk about how on a moon-lit night the bite will be VERY slow, but with just one passing cloud or the shadow of a hillside, the bite is back... Barometric pressure and cloud cover are often "keyed" together, but the morning, evening bite happens whether it is high or low pressure. I will not say barometric pressure plays no part, but I do believe its part is small and that the cloud cover it predicts has way more to do with the bite/fish behavior.

I'd agree with this too. They usually correlate very well. I actually log my open water fishing trips and I'll keep a record of both pressure and the cloud cover.



If you line up the pressure and cloud cover trends for this month you can see the days with large pressure drops also were completely overcast. Like you said, even if a hurricane rolls through the fish only have to move inches in the water column to compensate for it. I've had amazing days fishing bluebird skies too though it just depends. I think on those longer periods after a front where you get pretty consistent conditions for 3 or 4 days they'll start feeding more consistently even if there's lots of sun.

[TheJigginJerk]

I have posted about this a few times and I feel it has more to do with light level than barometric pressure. All a fish has to do is move an inch or two deeper or shallower to create more of a change in the pressure it feels than what the air pressure can generate. If I am out fishing a "Blue Bird" day with high pressure (no clouds) a trick that I have used successfully many times now is to line up my tip-ups so that the shadow of some big pines will cross over them and often as the shadow passes I will get a flag. Nothing is 100% but it works often enough that it worth doing when possible. Many times over the years when a passing cloud blocks the sun the bite will turn on. I first notice this over 30 years ago shore fishing for laker with a bunch of guys on the Quabbin. It was a bright and sunny day with a few clouds (high pressure) and the bites would only happen when a big cloud would pass, then it would be dead till the next one. As many of you know when I bass fish at night (open water) I often talk about how on a moon-lit night the bite will be VERY slow, but with just one passing cloud or the shadow of a hillside, the bite is back... Barometric pressure and cloud cover are often "keyed" together, but the morning, evening bite happens whether it is high or low pressure. I will not say barometric pressure plays no part, but I do believe its part is small and that the cloud cover it predicts has way more to do with the bite/fish behavior.

I agree that low light conditions are what trigger fish to feed. I don’t think it’s possible for fish to feel barometric pressure changes under water the pressure.

[CoryTDF]

Just returned from a 4 day trip and we had every kind of weather you could think of. The best day we had was cloudy and snowing all day. Next day was sunny and much slower. After that it was a mix of everything. I did notice that when the sun was up and out the bite did seem to slow. Never really got a reading on the pressure but the sun/snow thing did seem to make a difference.

[mikez]

One thing I believe strongly in is the 2:00 pm bite.
I've gotten crap from guys about it all being in my head but after 40 years of ice fishing I'm totally convinced it's real.
In reality it's a the stretch between 1:30 and 2:30 pm, but the number of times flags go up between 1:50 and 2:10 pm is amazing. Over the years the number that have gone up right at 2:00 would surprise you.
On a busy day with lots of perch or pickerel flags you won't even notice it. They go up all day.
It's the slow days where the 2:00 pm bite is noticeable. I usually do well first thing in the morning with a lull through late morning/early afternoon. Then the reliable 2:00 bite will almost always provide at least one flag, if not a flurry. And it's all across the pond, not just my traps. It's nothing I do differently.
I never quit on a day until after 2:00 pm and if I have to get a late start, I make sure all my traps are set by 1:30.

[lowaccord66]

I dont buy into bite windows at all.  Fish are instinctual and can be triggered to feed almost any time.  I think there are periods where it's easier to catch sure.  Keep in mind my perspective is different then most because I use traps only 2 or 3 times a season and watch all my fish interact with the jig on livevu or livescope.  More often than not its 15 jig changes later I'll find something that triggers hits and will catch.

I have fished with guys that say "oh there isn't a bite here after 2 9r 3" then when you ask how often they test that...you find they had one slow afternoon and never fished an afternoon again.  Wicked typical of people that jig lakers.  May be my favorite thing.  Lake empties at 1-2 and I'm out there picking away alone. 

[Ryan51993]

I do know one pond that only contains bass that slows down drastically around noon and completely stops after 2PM reliably time and time again. I think its because the hill next to the pond really limits the last couple hours of sunlight. Another bass pond I fish in the same area seems to fish very well after 3PM. But for the most part I think that limiting yourself to only fishing what you consider perfect times and conditions makes no sense and will actually make you a worse fisherman. The fish don't care what you heard/read/think they're out there trying to eat to survive.

[jethro]

I dont buy into bite windows at all.  Fish are instinctual and can be triggered to feed almost any time.  I think there are periods where it's easier to catch sure.  Keep in mind my perspective is different then most because I use traps only 2 or 3 times a season and watch all my fish interact with the jig on livevu or livescope.  More often than not its 15 jig changes later I'll find something that triggers hits and will catch.

I have fished with guys that say "oh there isn't a bite here after 2 9r 3" then when you ask how often they test that...you find they had one slow afternoon and never fished an afternoon again.  Wicked typical of people that jig lakers.  May be my favorite thing.  Lake empties at 1-2 and I'm out there picking away alone.

Exactly, I have a bunch of buddies that say the bite is best at mid-morning- 10am or so. Well, how convenient that 10am is about the time when people are finally all set up, have checked their bait for at least the 1st time... the late comers finally get there.. coffee and breakfast is over, etc. It's like they don't know how to do math or something. Has nothing to do with the time of day, has everything to do with it being the most productive time of the day for the humans.

[BASSQUATCH]

Sunrise to sunset , had busy days all day and had slow days all day. My favorite times are 6am to 10am and 3pm to sunset.  But I'm there ALL day and have caught fish in all hours of the day.