AboutJack Gaither Expertise I have been bass, crappie, brim and catfishing for over 60 years. Most of my recent experience has been on the Apalachicola R. in Fl. panhandle, Dead Lakes and Lake Seminole. I can answer many questions on places to go and some ideas on tactics especially for largemouth bass in these waters. I can`t tell you what fish will bite but can give some lures and methods that have worked well for me over the last 33 years in this area. I am also well versed on boating safety and small boat handling.
Experience I am not a guide nor a writer or publisher of any magazine on fishing. All of my ideas would come from my experiences and those of fishing partners in local bass clubs in Panama City, Florida.
Organizations Basmasters. Past member (25 years) and instructor in boating and navigation classes in the United States Power Squadrons.
Publications ST. Andrew Bay Power Squadron local publication "Stuffing Box"
Education/Credentials United States Power Squadrons courses in Piloting and small boat handling, celestial navigation, trouble shooting on outboard engines and other non eletronic equipment in boats.
Question do fish bite better when the barometric pressure is falling or on the rise?
Answer Drew, First I must make a couple of assumptions. One is that you are talking about either bass fishing or perhaps some of the pan fish such as crappie and bluegills etc.
Making this assumption leads me to another one, that is you are talking about fishing in the U.S.A. somewhere. When we make these assumptions then the question becomes more about where in the U.S.A. you are and how you are fishing.
Most bass fishermen believe that the passage of a cold front bringing high pressure and clear skies means that bass will be holding closer to cover than at other times. But then this is much more pronounced in the South with the Florida strain bass. Their northern cousins do not seem to be as affected to the same extent. Often just before the passage of a cold front the barometric pressure is low or falling and often the fish will tend to feed more aggressively but when the wind moves to the northwest and the skies clear they tend to move closer to cover and often must be teased into biting. A day or two after the passage of a cold front with the wind out of the north or northwest the pressure will become relatively stable and the fish will often become more and more active as time goes by. That is unless another cold front comes through.
I have caught crappie after the cold front passes but I have not done well on bluegill etc.
If you talk to different fishermen you will get different answers about pressure. A part of this depends on where they live and fish. Some People fishing in the far northern states or Canada find increasing pressure a good time to fish but in the southern states a cold front is considered a bad time to fish. I'm not sure that last statement is correct. I don't know if there is a bad time to fish except maybe in a lightning storm. Even there I have found fish feeding while such a storm was crashing around me. I hid out under a heavy growth of bushes on the bank of the river but continued to cast out in the river and catch fish. I don't recommend this but I couldn't do anything else as I was miles up the river and certainly did not want to try running back in that storm.
To be sure the barometer affects the fish but not all in the same way. I would not not go fishing on a high barometer or a rising or falling one just because of the pressure. To me a good time to go fishing is when ever you can go. But slow down and fish close to cover under a high or rising barometer.
Not being a scientist about all I can give you is what I have experienced and read from other fishermen. And they do not all agree so what can you do but go ahead and go fishing whatever the barometer is doing.
I hope this has been some help. Thanks for calling on me to try to answer your question.
I am
Jack L. Gaither (JackfromSeminole)
Lake Seminole, Georgia.
