Barometric Pressure

[Mark Carolan]

Hello. I’ve just recently started to note the barometric pressure hpa on my fishing session and even though it’s only been on 3 occasions so far a trend is starting to show. The results are 1022hpa 20Lb plus of roach, 1015hpa 12Lb plus of roach and finally 983hpa 7Lb of roach. So as you can see with the falling pressure I’m getting falling catch rates. Has anyone else noted there fishing trips Barometric pressure or have anything to share on the subject.

 

[mikench]

I can’t say I’ve kept such a check but my catches are generally in the inverse order. The higher the pressure the worse the fishing.

 

[bullet]

It's something I've been meaning to check up on for a while, but haven't done yet.
I worry it'll be just one more thing to worry about before going fishing, what with all the other factors at play like river height, weather etc.
For a while, a friend got so bogged down waiting for 'ideal conditions' that he hardly went!

 

[peterjg]

I've been unsuccessful when monitoring baromic pressure, too many variables I suppose? However, when fishing deep lakes (12ft plus) with high pressure my results have been consistently poor - don't know why?

 

[Keith M]

Back in the mid 70s while serving in the RN I changed branches and qualified as a Meteorologist & Oceanographer and for a time I was based on a naval base in Northwood (HMS Warrior) and a friend and I started to record the weather conditions in a fishing log whenever we went fishing after our watch in the met office had finished.

We found that the best times for catching were when the air pressure was falling, especially if it had been steady for a while before it had started to fall, or was remaining steady after a fall in pressure; which would usually coincide with the air temperatures starting to rise; and when we usually had a blanket of cloud cover over us.

High pressure usually resulted with clearer sky’s and the air temperatures falling steadily, together with a decline of bites..

However this was not always the case as we used to have plenty of very warm nights with a clear night sky were we could fish in a t-shirt and watch stars and see meteorites moving across the sky and hear the Barbel grunting like pigs all along the river as they sucked snails eggs and insects from under the streamer weed on or near the surface? Whatever happened to these really warm clear nights? You don’t seem to get them any more

I wouldn’t bother to record the air pressures or the air and water temperatures nowerdays although I do very occasionally keep an eye on the weather trends and forecasts on the TV if I’ve booked an organised Angling trip somewhere.
We only recorded the weather conditions in our fishing log then because we had been recording them as part of our job in the MET office anyway back in those days.

Keith

 

[sam vimes]

I don't care too much what exactly the barometric pressure is, I'll go fishing if I feel like it. However, I would generally have low expectations in periods of really high pressure in the height of summer. Conversely, I'd have high expectations of a summer low pressure. Outside of summer, there are too many other factors that can have a huge impact beyond that of just barometric pressure. I'd sooner look to periods of relative weather stability outside of summer.

It's quite easy to disappear up your own backside with respect to meteorological conditions. Throw moon phases into the equation to add a whole new level. I'd wonder how many excellent catches would be missed if every angler only fished at supposedly perfect times.

 

[Mark Carolan]

Back in the mid 70s while serving in the RN I changed branches and qualified as a Meteorologist & Oceanographer and for a time I was based on a naval base in Northwood (HMS Warrior) and a friend and I started to record the weather conditions in a fishing log whenever we went fishing after our watch in the met office had finished.

We found that the best times were when the air pressure was falling, especially if it had been steady for a while before it had started to fall, or was remaining steady after a fall in pressure; which would usually coincide with the air temperatures starting to rise; and when we usually had a blanket of cloud cover over us.

High pressure usually resulted with clearer sky’s and the air temperatures falling steadily, together with a decline of bites..

However this was not always the case as we used to have plenty of very warm nights with a clear night sky were we could fish in a t-shirt and watch stars and see meteorites moving across the sky and hear the Barbel grunting like pigs all along the river as they sucked snails eggs and insects from under the streamer weed on or near the surface? Whatever happened to these really warm clear nights? You don’t seem to get them any more

Keith

Jes Keith they sound like great times.

 

[tigger]

I've had some equally good and bad angling sessions in both high and low pressure conditions.
Some of my best ever sessions have been in the hottest part of scorching hot summer days without a cloud in the sky. Same during winter really, some bright clear skyies on sunny days with temp's just above freezing have been red letter days.
I never even think about the air pressure, if it feels right and I fancy it then that'll do for me.

 

[Philip]

Given the choice I would prefer low pressure to high pressure but there are so many exceptions that you just never know.

This summer I did a bit of Zander fishing and the best conditions were in the middle of the hottest days with the sun at its brightest. Fish dont always follow the rule book.

One things for certain however, if you dont have a bait in the water your not going to catch. .

 

[Mark Carolan]

Given the choice I would prefer low pressure to high pressure but there are so many exceptions that you just never know.

This summer I did a bit of Zander fishing and the best conditions were in the middle of the hottest days with the sun at its brightest. Fish dont always follow the rule book.

One things for certain however, if you dont have a bait in the water your not going to catch. .

Well said Philip

 

[Mark Carolan]

I've had some equally good and bad angling sessions in both high and low pressure conditions.
Some of my best ever sessions have been in the hottest part of scorching hot summer days without a cloud in the sky. Same during winter really, some bright clear skyies on sunny days with temp's just above freezing have been red letter days.
I never even think about the air pressure, if it feels right and I fancy it then that'll do for me.

I know that feeling some days just feel right, but any day spent fishing is a good day.

 

[no-one in particular]

I kept records for a number of years and the information acquired was useful for working out which species was most likely to feed, not just whether the fishing was going to be good or bad. I think many anglers miss this point about taking readings while fishing. Trends will emerge as to which species might be feeding best which in turn can indicate where you are best likely to fish and what for and how, not whether you go fishing or not. I always went fishing if I felt like it no matter what the weather conditions were but I caught more fish when I did by observing my records in this way which I loaded onto a excel program for convenience and speed when working it out before I went fishing. In my opinion the weather conditions will always favor one species over the others whatever the weather conditions are. This can help in the long run to catch more fish as long as you do not mind what you fish for. Knowing that tench might be feeding better than roach say or anything else that swims on a given day is a very useful bit of information before you go fishing; or it could be carp, bream etc.
As to barometric pressure I never worked out if it was the pressure or just the associated weather patterns that influenced the fishing, but some species do feed better in high pressures than others and generally low pressures are best. However, I wouldn't rely on just one condition to fish by, so many other conditions influence fishing, just using one is not a good way of determining it in my opinion.
If your ever not sure go for chub, they feed in anything but even they showed some preferences and certain sets of conditions could mean they were really up for it.
My advice is if you start doing this keep as many records as you can or want to and keep it basic, in time you will find you have a good set of records that could prove useful and it is not like we have much else to do when we are fishing, it is not as if we are busy and don't have the time

 

[keora]

I don't think that atmospheric pressure itself affects fish. It's more likely that weather conditions related to atmospheric presssure are the main reason for changes in fish behaviour.

My barometer is recording 998 mbars this morning, and the outside temperature is 8 degrees C. It's raining and there's more forecast for the rest of the day. The reason is there's a cold front crossing the country from the Atlantic. I wouldn't fish today because of the heavy rain and the fact that my nearest river is up after heavy rain. It should be OK for fishing tomorrow - no rain forecast, sunny, moderate wind and the river levels may be falling.

If there's a prolonged period of high pressure, then in summer the weather is likely to be warm and sunny. In winter, high pressures may result in clear skies, cold nights, frost.

I take more notice of general weather conditions than atmospheric pressures when deciding when to go fishing.

Mark, you mentioned that in three fishing trips your catches of roach had fallen as the atmospheric temperature got lower. It's interesting, and it might be true in the long term. But surveys and experiments involving only a small number of measurements are generally unreliable. Lots of readings are needed before you can come to any firm conclusions.

 

[no-one in particular]

I don't think that atmospheric pressure itself affects fish. It's more likely that weather conditions related to atmospheric presssure are the main reason for changes in fish behaviour.

I have thought that but one thing that belies it is Sea Trout and Salmon. They have been seen to congregate at the estuaries of rivers when the pressure goes low and before any rain has started. So can they sense the air pressure and anticipate the river will rise before it has by air pressure alone? Game fish but still fish but does it mean other fish have this ability, to actually sense air pressure and if so how do they do it and with what?

 

[Mark Carolan]

I kept records for a number of years and the information acquired was useful for working out which species was most likely to feed, not just whether the fishing was going to be good or bad. I think many anglers miss this point about taking readings while fishing. Trends will emerge as to which species might be feeding best which in turn can indicate where you are best likely to fish and what for and how, not whether you go fishing or not. I always went fishing if I felt like it no matter what the weather conditions were but I caught more fish when I did by observing my records in this way which I loaded onto a excel program for convenience and speed when working it out before I went fishing. In my opinion the weather conditions will always favor one species over the others whatever the weather conditions are. This can help in the long run to catch more fish as long as you do not mind what you fish for. Knowing that tench might be feeding better than roach say or anything else that swims on a given day is a very useful bit of information before you go fishing; or it could be carp, bream etc.
As to barometric pressure I never worked out if it was the pressure or just the associated weather patterns that influenced the fishing, but some species do feed better in high pressures than others and generally low pressures are best. However, I wouldn't rely on just one condition to fish by, so many other conditions influence fishing, just using one is not a good way of determining it in my opinion.
If your ever not sure go for chub, they feed in anything but even they showed some preferences and certain sets of conditions could mean they were really up for it.
My advice is if you start doing this keep as many records as you can or want to and keep it basic, in time you will find you have a good set of records that could prove useful.

Yeah there’s so much more to Angling than people may think and you can take it to many levels. I’m a sucker for details but now that I’m a bit older I don’t get bogged down in them so much anymore but I’ll never be able to stop myself from asking myself questions and trying new things to improve my fishing.
My son comes fishing with me now and he’s lovely just being there mucking around and exploring and catching the odd fish. I would never force him to sit down all day and fish those days will come I’m just delighted that he’s enjoying being outdoors and being around nature.

 

[no-one in particular]

I have often wondered why match anglers don't spend more time on this where a few ounces can make a big difference in prizes and prize money. Is the day best spent trying for bream or roach or chub or gudgeon!

 

[no-one in particular]

mm

Yeah there’s so much more to Angling than people may think and you can take it to many levels. I’m a sucker for details but now that I’m a bit older I don’t get bogged down in them so much anymore but I’ll never be able to stop myself from asking myself questions and trying new things to improve my fishing.
My son comes fishing with me now and he’s lovely just being there mucking around and exploring and catching the odd fish. I would never force him to sit down all day and fish those days will come I’m just delighted that he’s enjoying being outdoors and being around nature.

The day will come when he wants to catch more fish and he will want to explore how he might do that and he wont listen to you anymore Dad, because you know nothing your methods, tackle and theories will be so old and out of fashion/date. He might humor you though to be kind if your lucky

In truth I am the same now, I fish when conditions suit me, nice weather and use methods that suit me, nearly always float, and fish where it suits me, just what I fancy, sea, lake or river and the fish are not very important anymore or which species just a bit of icing on the cake. I have come a full circle, I read somewhere there are 7 cycles of an anglers life, I cannot remember what they were but I am on the 8th. But, I am pleased I did everything I did, went through all the cycles, took it to whatever level I wanted to and learned everything I did on the way, I would not have liked to stayed that young kid or became what I am now too early.

 

[tigger]

For me the biggest factor to affect the feeding habits of fish is temperature. Fish usually feed more freely in warmer temp's, becoming kore active. Although there are the odd exceptions, grayling for example. For some reason grayling fishing usually improves dramaticaly after a period of hard overnight frosts. The fish also seem to gather in large shoals in these conditions which can result in some great sport!

 

[Mark Carolan]

mm

The day will come when he wants to catch more fish and he will want to explore how he might do that and he wont listen to you anymore Dad, because you know nothing your methods, tackle and theories will be so old and out of fashion/date. He might humor you though to be kind if your lucky

In truth I am the same now, I fish when conditions suit me, nice weather and use methods that suit me, nearly always float, and fish where it suits me, just what I fancy, sea, lake or river and the fish are not very important anymore or which species just a bit of icing on the cake. I have come a full circle, I read somewhere there are 7 cycles of an anglers life, I cannot remember what they were but I am on the 8th. But, I am pleased I did everything I did, went through all the cycles, took it to whatever level I wanted to and learned everything I did on the way, I would not have liked to stayed that young kid or became what I am now too early.

That’s it MarkG I find myself saying things that my parents once said I’m thinking am I old now am I not cool any more and I’m sure my son will let me know pretty soon.
Just keep fishing and take your enjoyment from what ever aspect of the game full fills you