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Fish Bite and Wildlife Activity
#11667052
06/14/16 07:52 PM
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Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 557
Lloyd5
OP
Pro Angler
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OP
Pro Angler
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 557 |
My grandmother, the greatest fisherman that ever lived, told me that if the cows were up and feeding the fish were biting, and if the cows were laying down chewing their cud the fish weren't biting. She fished in stock tanks so there were generally cows around to watch. That's not my case.
But it makes a kind of sense that all wild life could be activated by similar stimulus to feed, whatever that stimulus or stimuli might be. If that's the case then we don't need to know the actual stimuli if we can observe wild life behavior and correlate that to fish biting behavior. Sort of like fish bite when the barometer drops, that's pretty much a given in my experience, but I'm not convinced it's actually the change in atmospheric pressure that causes the bite, it could be (and seems logical to me) that something else is also going on, but it really doesn't matter if it's a false correlation or not since it is consistent.
So, I've recently begun trying to see if the two tie together, wild life behavior and fish bite that is. There are two main animal kingdoms that I can readily observe in my area, birds and squirrels. I sometimes see other critters, but not often enough. Squirrels I can watch and hear with some regularity. Birds I can watch, and mostly hear, regularly as well.
I'm wondering if anyone else would be interested in trying to make similar observations. It won't be scientific, more anecdotal and fraught with variables, but could be that if there is a correlation it will show after multiple observations in different locations by different observers. If you can, and would, please respond with any observations, positive or negative or otherwise, and maybe over a period of time there will be some trend uncovered. This may take a while so just pop in any time over the next year or so.
What I'm doing is listening to the general frequency of birds actively calling and the activity of the local squirrel population. I'm mentally noting that and comparing it to the number of strikes I get. I know, I know, it's not ever going to be dispositive, but it's still interesting, at least to me.
Thank you.
Lloyd
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Re: Fish Bite and Wildlife Activity
[Re: Lloyd5]
#11667247
06/14/16 09:27 PM
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,844
pearow
Extreme Angler
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Extreme Angler
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,844 |
Lloyd: that's good to observe. If you have a barometer handy you might see how the readings coordinate with your observations. I remember Tarpon Fly, who was(maybe still is) on this forum, used to observe barometric pressure while fishing. He had pinpointed some barometric observations as to when fish bit and when they didn't, according to pressure readings. Anyway, if the cows lay down ,for example, because of high pressure, then we might could conclude some sort of specifics to animal behavior and fish behavior. I have a barometer I take with me but I'm usually too busy fishing to make periodic readings-p-
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Re: Fish Bite and Wildlife Activity
[Re: Lloyd5]
#11679540
06/21/16 10:57 AM
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Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 557
Lloyd5
OP
Pro Angler
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OP
Pro Angler
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 557 |
One problem with observing squirrels vs fish bite is that squirrels are late risers. They generally don't get up and about until mid-morning.
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Re: Fish Bite and Wildlife Activity
[Re: Lloyd5]
#11680073
06/21/16 03:51 PM
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 8,404
TarponFly
TFF Celebrity
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TFF Celebrity
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 8,404 |
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Re: Fish Bite and Wildlife Activity
[Re: Lloyd5]
#11681276
06/22/16 03:06 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,130
hook-line&sinker
TFF Guru
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TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,130 |
The challenge is always finding the fish first, questioning if you should continue looking for new water or change tactics (fish deeper or slower or shallow or fast or change lures/bait) or do you wait for them to pass by.
I have found the feeding and activity correlation (fish to land based wildlife) is more in line with whitetail deer but with one big difference. Temperature variations (air verses water) On any given day there is a 20 to 30 degree swing in the air temperature but with water only the surface temperature changes so the fish can move into deeper more stable zones far out of reach to most fishermen. I hunt and fish the same way most of the time. I go looking for game by still hunting, moving slowly through likely areas and paying very close attention to every living thing. I use the same approach to fishing but most of the clues to where the fish can be found are under water and out of sight. To be consistently successful at fishing you really have to know the biology of the fish you are after and spend countless hours on the water to learn the specifics about their home where they live.
This is why people with the resources will pay a guide to put them on the fish or game.. the guide has put in the time and effort to learn what is required to consistently produce day after day..
>)));> Wishin' I was Fishin' <;(((<
“Personnel is the most vital and important aspect of any industry. If you’re just going to grind them up, it’s not going to end well for anybody.” SCOTT REINARDY
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Re: Fish Bite and Wildlife Activity
[Re: Lloyd5]
#11690368
06/27/16 12:02 AM
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 106
theflyguy3
Outdoorsman
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Outdoorsman
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 106 |
Today down here in Florida I noticed a correlation between the two.
Usually along the banks there are many birds along the bank feeding on the baitfish, but today they were nonexistent. Also, the gator that typically hides itself in the water pretty well (probably for feeding), was clearly visible on the surface just hanging out and watching me. Calm, no wildlife activity, no visible baitfish or sunfish, and lastly, no bite.
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