The bite switch! Barometric Pressure

Have you ever been out on the lake and the bite is sooo good one day and you go back to your spot the next day and the bite is gone? You use the same presentation as you did the previous day and nothing works. Then you switch up and try something new. Still no bites. One of the leading causes of this is due to barometric pressure. All anglers have heard of this at one point or another.

Barometric pressure also know as atmospheric or air pressure is the weight air pressing down on everything on earth, including fish and anglers. Understanding this important piece of fish behavior may help you catch more fish.

Along with altitude, high- and low-pressure weather systems will affect the barometer. There are also two daily fluctuations due to heating from the sun, which peak around 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., and bottom out at 4 a.m. and 4 p.m. The smallest change in barometric pressure can cause big variations in fish behavior. When the pressure changes everything in the water either sinks, suspends, or floats to the top. When there are changes in the pressure it acts like changes in gravity, upsetting this delicate balancing act on a regular basis. Such rises and falls are compounded because objects weigh less underwater, which makes them more prone to ups and downs.

The bass are way more in tune with the environment than most of us fisherman know. They have very sensitive pressure sensing system. For example their lateral line. Its is used to detect movement and vibrations in the water and they are easily able to pick up changes in the atmosphere. It works like a chain reaction. A light drop in pressure will cause the tiniest of particles of sediment and other debris to float up off the bottom of the lake and rise higher in the water column. Plankton are the building blocks for the food web. They can regulate their buoyancy with built in mechanisms like little air bladders. When these tine little creatures are caught off guard by quick changes in barometric, it pushed them out of their comfort zones and sparks a feeding frenzy among bait fish. Well we all know what comes next! The bigger game fish like largemouth bass to join in on the chomp. Most fish will strap on the feed bag with these slight pressure changes.

This is a great time to have an awesome session if you are an aggressive fisherman like me. Time to put the finesse goodies away! I am a top water fisherman and this is a great time to dance a popper over the feeding flats or ripping a crank bait along the weed lines will cause a huge vicious bite!

Keep in mind that some of the best fishing is when the pressure has been steady for several days or more. Extended periods of fair weather will allow the bass to find the best blend of conditions like water temp, oxygen levels and other factors. This will cause the bass to fall into a predictable feeding routine.

A moving barometer needle means different weather systems are coming and it will affect fishing. This means low pressure systems like cold fronts may shut the fishing down but in late summer a cold front may drop the surface temps a few digits and may cause the sluggish slabones to cause a bump in the feeding.

Also try downloading a barometric pressure app so you can watch on the daily!!

This is the one I use: Barometer Plus