Had 29,5 yesterday. Low! I figured it wouldn’t be a great day. And it wasn’t. What do you find you do best in? Rising barometer? Falling barometer? No pressure? High pressure? Steady barometer?

Personally, I never look at the barometer. I just go fish when I can and let the fish tell me if they want to bite. That being said, you can always find interesting trends by associating data to any event. You may get some interesting comments on the thread.

I kept a fishing journal for a year; fishing mostly for large mouth bass.

Cloud cover was the primary independent meteorological variable on overall likelihood of fish biting. The more cloud cover, the better.

For example, yesterday we had low air pressure, but hardly a cloud in the sky.

In general, fish like stable conditions. If the water level, the water clarity, and the air pressure have been stable for four days or more, the fishing will tend to be good.


I don't fish in lightning or thunderstorms; but I did notice a trend of really good fishing the 4-5 hours just before a front approaches as the cloud cover increases. If the front is extreme, the more likelihood of bigger fish being triggered to bite.

With that being said, there are more important variables than weather conditions.
Confidence. Having faith that you are throwing the correct lure in the right location.
Certain times of the year can be very good; in particular a 2-3 week window in the post spawn late May/early June.
Fishing pressure. Weekday fishing will tend to be better than the weekends
Night fishing can be very good, especially in the summer.

"90% of the fish are in 10% of the lake"

Fishing can be as simple or as complicated as one wants to make it.

I'm a firm believer in the barometer pressure...when fishing for giant northerns / muskies.

My grandpa had it down to a science. We wouldn't walk out to the boat if the pressure wasn't right. I would be allowed to fish the docks and banks. Did I catch fish, sure, but they weren't big. When the pressure was right, we'd hop in the boat and start casting. He and I boated many nice sized northerns and muskies together.

As for bass, they're a different breed. They like things stable as stated above. They seem to like the cloud cover as it allows them to be more "covered" and stealthy.

Bluebird skies and high pressure make it tough.

There are some on here that will not go fishing if it is between a certain number or falling or rising too fast. That is not me. I NEVER pay attention to the barometer. It is directly related to the weather conditions but not related to whether fish bite or not IMO. For example, low pressure = rain, clouds and wind which equals fish roaming and more of a chance for schooling fish (whitebass and bass) with low light conditions. High pressure = no clouds, sun and no wind and so fish are generally not schooling as much and hugging bottom and cover. I prefer high pressure most of the time because it puts the fish in the cover where I am looking and they aren't roaming all over the place.

true that!
90% fish in 10% of the water. or, they are always biting somewhere and someone will figure them out. I go when I can and we can usually find something. I like the comment above by CCTX

Steady barometer ! Big swings affect a fish's swim bladder, once it stabilizes , normally ok to find and catch fish. Boyles Law has some applications with regard to swim bladders.

Being an older bass guy- when the winds turn from the east, I put it on the trailer !

Agree fully!
I wrote a post about lure types, namely lures that flaunt their stuff like large spoons, wide lip crankbaits, noisy surface lures and large blade spinnerbaits to more subtle moving/acting lures such 7" T-rigged worms, drop shot, Carolina rig and small soft plastics on light jigheads.
The correct lure in the right location involves choosing the right action and presentation for current conditions including weather conditions and time of year. What you cast and how lures are worked make all the difference IMO, barometric pressure (change) notwithstanding.

Besides that, I can't build a fish location pattern based on BP.

If I have the luxury of choosing when to fish, I'll go when the barometric pressure is falling, which often happens shortly before a storm. Some of my most amazing fishing days have been in such conditions. Likewise, I'll avoid fishing if the barometric pressure is rising. Big puffy cloud days seem to be better than 'bluebird sky' days.

But, more and more I find that I don't get the luxury of picking and choosing my fishing days any more. Most of this summer was just too hot for me to take the boat out at all, so barometric pressure was irrelevant for me. Nowadays, my kids school schedule seems to determine my fishing days

Rising barometer for me.

THIS!

Yes it does effect the fish. I can tell you as well as my customers when I call it when we catch them.

A moving barometric pressure is ok but if you can catch it between 29.50 - 29.90 and 30.00 being the very top you will be catching them. If you are around them and have a productive bait.

I have watched cows for years and point this out to the customers many times. Cows are up very good chance you catch some fish. Cows laying down .... Well you best just go mow the yard. IMO

Just a couple of months ago had one of my lady customers and we had scratched out a few and I told her the Barometric press was killing us cause it was high.

She had heard me say this before. I said if it starts to drop and we get under 30 we will catch them. A hour or so later it dropped 6 points and got us at 29.98 and she hit 6 fish in 10 cast with big fish of the day.

It continued to drop to 29.93 and we had more fish in that hour than all day.

If you are not watching it you are missing a key to catching. I check it several times a day even when I hunt.