Not sure what happened here....but fishing was slow this morning, really slow. Wind blew out of the north for like 20 or 30 minutes this morning real early. I was shocked when I looked at my computer but I went out and confirmed it, straight out of the north. It turned around back out of the south so I went out to Lavon.....lots of shad and sandies but I couldn't figure them out...went home skunked. Pressure all over the place, crazy wind readings...

And this is why it did that:

1st run at fishing based on this theory. Got skunked at a place I drill them yesterday just before the front. I was there today from @ 5:30 - 8:00 - Jigs, minnows, NADA.

Nice steady drop within the range. Water was just a tad more stained than yesterday but that was about it, of couorse aside from the front that came in yesterday.

Now this is one trip so I am gonna see how it shakes out.

http://www.usairnet.com/weather/conditions/?station=KGPM

D
a
t
e Time
(cdt) Wind
(mph) Vis.
(mi.) Weather Sky Cond. Temperature (�F) Relative
Humidity Wind
Chill
(�F) Heat
Index
(�F) Pressure Precipitation (in.)
Air Dwpt 6 hour altimeter
(in) sea level
(mb) 1 hr 3 hr 6 hr
Max. Min.
24 19:50 N 8 10.00 Partly Cloudy SCT090 57 34 41% NA NA 30.26 NA
24 18:50 N 7 10.00 Clear SKC 59 34 39% NA NA 30.24 NA
24 17:50 N 9 10.00 Clear SKC 61 34 36% NA NA 30.24 NA
24 16:55 N 7 10.00 Clear SKC 59 32 36% NA NA 30.24 NA
24 15:50 N 8 10.00 Clear SKC 57 34 41% NA NA 30.27 NA
24 14:51 N 10 10.00 Clear SKC 55 34 44% NA NA 30.29 NA
24 13:50 N 12 G 20 10.00 Clear SKC 54 32 44% NA NA [color:#FF0000]30.30 NA
[/color]24 12:50 N 15 G 23 10.00 Clear SKC 52 34 50% NA NA 30.31 NA
24 11:50 N 12 G 18 10.00 Clear SKC 48 34 58% 43 NA 30.34 NA
24 10:50 N 10 G 18 10.00 Clear SKC 46 34 62% 41 NA 30.34 NA
24 09:50 N 9 G 21 10.00 Clear SKC 43 32 66% 38 NA 30.35 NA
24 08:50 N 14 G 23 10.00 Clear SKC 41 32 70% 33 NA 30.34 NA
24 07:50 N 9 10.00 Mostly Cloudy BKN022 37 30 75% 30 NA 30.33 NA
24 06:55 N 12 G 16 10.00 Fair CLR 37 32 81% 29 NA 30.32 NA
24 06:50 N 9 10.00 Mostly Cloudy BKN022 37 30 75% 30 NA 30.32 NA

I had a super tough day today in my location, in 6 hours pressure changed 8 points, started at 30.20 went to 30.24 and peaked, then went back down to 30.20. all in 6 hours time. caught 1 fish, and Im sure I presented baits to probably a hundred crappie seen on sonar.

Does anyone know if there is a website to go to to see past days barometric pressure. I would love to be able to look back at past days I fished to see what it was on the days I did good and the days I did bad.

Ok Im gonna put this to the test in the morning. Hope the BP is in the thrill zone.

Intellicast is another site to find the same data.
Search for your local city, then click "Past Observations"



The following site has historic data:
http://www.pwsweather.com

Click "View Station Map"
Zoom in and click on closest station
On the popup that appears, click "Archives"
Go to the table at the bottom and click "daily", "weekly", etc.

I put this to the test last night on LL. Around 3pm-5pm the Baro pressure was dropping like a rock .2-.5 every hour. I still wanted to go fishing so I went ahead and went out. I started fishing around 530pm-545pm and was KILLING the fish. All were in 5-8 FOW on brushpiles.

I started thinking to myself, Tarponfly doesnt know what he is talking about. So I looked up the baro pressure around 7:45pm after catching 15 keeps and low and behold, the baro pressure, after dropping like a rock, leveled out around 30.17 and dropped .1 or held steady . I know it's not the rule but it seemed to be fairly accurate. Thanks Tarponfly for the info. Its great help to us.

*I'm not a professional fisherman, this is only what I encountered.

While I completely agree with the attitude of just go fishing as often as you can, it's also good to know what to expect. We look at conditions like temperature, wind and cloud cover when considering how and where to fish. Why not consider the barometric pressure?

When I can find and catch fish on any day of the year at any time of day or night, then I might believe that I am a good fisherman. Until that day I'll keep learning from folks like Tarponfly. Thanks again for sharing a tool that may help me put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Weatherbug...as much as I hate the application, will give you really localized data as well. It doesn't give history really, but it gives live wind speed, and there's a lot of "neighborhood" stations so you can usually find one really close to your spot, instead of depending on the readings at the airport or whatever.

I'm really considering a home weather station....they have data exports that I could host on the internet and present in a format that makes a little more sense on a smartphone, and I could do more granular data that way.

I live like 5 miles from Lavonia Park and I have no trees or anything to skew wind speed numbers.

something like this...if I can find one cheaper than $300:

http://www.amazon.com/Davis-Instruments-...rds=vantage+vue

He must be right. I could not even get sandies to bite yesterday. I could see them on the graph but all I caught were two little 8 inchers.

I'm going to get a barometer and keep it with me. When it's outside the range, I'm staying at the house.

not only does the air pressure need to be considered, but how fast the change occured. If the change was drastic in a short time, it likely has more affect. sooner or later the fish will adjust and must eat, so maybe when crappie are caught on very high and low pressures it is because the pressures have been at the levels for an while.
just a thought.

Ive been skunked many times on bluebird days right after a cold front when the barometer is on a fast rise. Im hard headed but finally learned ....I rarely even go on these situations anymore.. a couple days after front when the pressure has leveled out, things get a little better. So stabilized pressure seems to have a big role in the feed pattern.

It is agonizing to sit over a pile of crappie, literally bouncing the jigs on thier heads, for hours with no bite. If you scare one, you might get lucky and get a reactionary bite.

PNSP, I have nothing against learning. I watch crappie fishing shows and youtube videos to pick up tips on the days I can't fish. Plus I have bought videos and books on the subject.

It's just that catching doesn't mean as much to me as being on the water fishing. If I'm catching I consider that to be a bonus but it's a good day whether I catch anything or not if I'm on the water.

So I don't mind not being able to catch the fish I see on the finder. I will simply try different lures and techniques to get them to bite and if that doesn't work I will switch to an ultralight combo and try to get the bream to bite. And on the days everything absolutely refuses to bite I'll slow troll with my trolling motor, looking for new structure and brush piles to set as way points.

So I'm not going to stay home just because barometric air pressure indicates I will not catch anything. I will still go out and enjoy it when I can, regardless of what I catch.

Now I will admit now that I am older, extreme heat and cold will keep me from using my boat. On those days I often fish from my slip, where I have a heater for the cold and fans for the heat.