Fishing barometers. Are they Accurate?

[wildmaninal]

I've always heard that if the wind is blowing out of the east that the fish wont bite, haven't always let that stop me from fishing though.

Been tempted to buy a fishing barometer, thinking it might help choose a good day for fishing. I've read an article in the past on how the pressure change from weather can mess with the fish and make it where they wont bite. I mainly fish for bass.

Anybody use a barometer or rely on a barometer?

 

[rolmops]

Re: Fishing barometers. Are they Accurate?

I was given one a long time ago for a birthday.
They do work.It is old knowledge that when pressure drops (a front or a thunder storm coming in) the fish will start biting.With rising pressure or high pressure ,the fish will not feed.
That is of course a generalization,but in general it works.
Any old barometer will do.The only difference between a "fish" barometer and a regular one is the printing on the side.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Fishing barometers. Are they Accurate?

Never heard of a fish barometer. But I grew up with the knowledge that the day after a storm isn't good for fishing, along with a hundred other old (true or false) yarns.
Another is, if you see a skate, pickup and move, nothing will bite.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: Fishing barometers. Are they Accurate?

Thanks for the chiming in guys. I really didn't know that they had a barometer for "fishing" until I seen one at K-mart a few days back, they were on clearance. Seemed like the ones I seen had different settings , don't know nothing about that. I didn't pick one up yet but I plan on it, maybe I need to pick up 2, one for the boat and one for the house.

My brother is the one who doesn't believe in fishing when the wind is blowing out of the east. Seems like I caught a few when the wind was coming out of the east.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Fishing barometers. Are they Accurate?

I got a new neighbor this year. He got off early one day and beeped me.
"Where is a good spot to go fishing?" He asked.
"In the river" I replied.
I didn't know he already taken off early, much less already on his way out of the creek. He thought there was a mysterious secret spot as all fishermen believe. Not to start a thread war, I know some spots are better than others. But hereabouts, just to go out, relax and have something hit ain't hard to do.
I told him to drop his line in and he will catch something.
When I got home two hours later, I saw him across the creek not 100' from his pier catching sunnies and perch.

Just thought I'd share.

 

[BF]

Re: Fishing barometers. Are they Accurate?

I was thinking about this over the holidays this summer. The bite really went away for a couple days when the weather was really fair (high pressure cell I guess).... I know there is some lore about using barometers to predict bite etc...

But... what I can't get is how a change in barometric pressure can have such a big change on fish behavior ?! There are such huge pressure changes on fish as they change their depth, I wouldn't imagine that a bit of pressure +/- on the surface of the lake would be a big amount (?). After all, even if a high pressure goes by, doesn't that feel the same to a fish as when they are 6" or something deeper in the water ??

Maybe their lateral line organs (pressure sensors) are like a bunch of eardrums, and when a pressure system hits, it throws them all out of calibration a bit?? Anyway, I do think there is a lot of folklore that isn't true, but I also think it's amazing that there does seem to be some thing to do with pressure that can really turn off the bite. Like I said, it seemed like a good example to me a month or so ago.

 

[rolmops]

Re: Fishing barometers. Are they Accurate?

I was thinking about this over the holidays this summer. The bite really went away for a couple days when the weather was really fair (high pressure cell I guess).... I know there is some lore about using barometers to predict bite etc...

But... what I can't get is how a change in barometric pressure can have such a big change on fish behavior ?! There are such huge pressure changes on fish as they change their depth, I wouldn't imagine that a bit of pressure +/- on the surface of the lake would be a big amount (?). After all, even if a high pressure goes by, doesn't that feel the same to a fish as when they are 6" or something deeper in the water ??

Maybe their lateral line organs (pressure sensors) are like a bunch of eardrums, and when a pressure system hits, it throws them all out of calibration a bit?? Anyway, I do think there is a lot of folklore that isn't true, but I also think it's amazing that there does seem to be some thing to do with pressure that can really turn off the bite. Like I said, it seemed like a good example to me a month or so ago.

The big effect is not necessarily on the fish.It may well be that something in the food pyramid changes its behavior with a change in air pressure.Maybe the fish react to that.
I do know for a scientific fact that with high barometric pressure the water surface pressure goes ways up.When air pressure goes down the surface pressure goes down as well.This allows much more water to change into vapor.(chemistry 101)
The result of this is that lots of flying insects loose their air worthiness above the water and they crash onto the water surface where in turn they become a basic part of a feeding frenzy.
All of this is just my theory of how air pressure influences fish behavior.The truth is that is has no scientific base,it is just a fairly well educated guess.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Fishing barometers. Are they Accurate?

Pressure don't stop the fish from biting but it does dictates how active they are. High pressure just make them lethargic and less likely to chase fast moving lures. No matter what the barometer is, if you put a bait in front of their face, they will bite. North and East wind don't matter much unless the weather is cold which will make the water even colder and make fish less active. In cold weather if the wind blow from the north then you would want to fish the northern bank and fish eastern bank if the wind blow in from the east. These banks will be protected from the cold wind and they receive more sun, so they're generally warmer and you will find more active fish there.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: Fishing barometers. Are they Accurate?

Well we have some interesting input here.

I picked up a barometer today, found out about the "settings" I was talking about, this is to calibrate it to the local weather channel barometer.

I also wanted to share this article I found on this other website the other day.

http://www.bobberstop.com/barometer.html

This one sentence here: "When the barometer is low, the bite is off, as the fish will spend most of their efforts on equalizing their air bladder and pay less attention to eating."

Interesting stuff. Makes you wonder how the pro fishermen keep catching them no matter what the weather condition is, but like Gonefishie said "if you put a bait in front of their face, they will bite". My uncle also says the same thing, I'm just looking for the days were I can bring in 4 or more (keeper) bass in from one outting when fishing by myself.