Spring Barometer Readings
It's overlooked. Barometric pressure is
usually overlooked by the average angler who's planning what days
to fish this week or next, but it can be important. Especially so
in springtime. Spring is a time of the season when barometric
pressure can make or break a fishing trip. So, I'd like to give
you a few pointers about barometric pressure and how to deal with
it. This article will help you most if you have "flex
time" that allows you to fish any day of the week. Then, you
can basically avoid barometric highs if you find, like I do, that
such periods are tough times to catch bass.
It's also deceptive because
anglers often get the urge to make a few casts when it's
"good" weather that's comfortable for us (bright, dry,
clear skies) but this same high pressure pattern that's so
favorable to us often means poor fishing. Meanwhile, the arrival
of wet, stormy weather will cause many anglers to decide to stay
home even though such inclemency, as uncomfortable as it is to
us, can yield a bounty of fish!
Pre-frontal conditions. When the
barometer is falling, you will usually have non-westerly winds.
This is usually a good time to fish, but it usually also means
some wet weather is on its way into your area. Southerly or
southeasterly winds are usually harbingers of wet weather that
will usually pass through quickly (albeit sometimes dramatically
with heavy downpours and lightning). Northerly or northeasterly
winds usually indicate slower-moving larger weather systems which
will take longer to pass, and often trigger protracted feeding
sprees before it's arrival.
Just before the wet weather arrives, it will be preceded by a
"front" (an abrupt change in weather) which can often
trigger feeding binges by bass before and during the frontal
passage. Keep in mind, however, that fronts can be dangerous,
especially ones with high winds and lightning -- not to mention
getting soaked and possibly sick.
However, if you want to fish in one, it can be good to
position yourself on a shore that has the wind blowing into it --
which often means the northwest shoreline. Try to get the wind
blowing "into" something such as a small bay, a point,
a dropoff where a shoreline flat slopes into deeper water for
example.
Post-frontal conditions. Fair
fishing will usually last for a brief period after the wet
weather passes -- especially near mouths of feeder creeks. You
should continue to do fine with the fish if the wet weather
"tails off" gracefully without brisk westerly winds
clearing the front out. However, if the wind quickly turns west
after the front passes, this means that a high barometric
pressure system is being pushed/pulled into the void left by the
recently-departed low pressure wet weather. On such a west wind,
you can sometimes expect this to cause the fish to get
"lockjaw" and pull back (either out to the nearest deep
water or into the closest heavy cover). This will often last 2-3
days before the west wind subsides and the barometric pressure
stabilizes near normal.
In between fronts. At this point,
the barometer and the weather may stabilize for a few days and
you can usually expect the fishing to stabilize also. As the
barometer starts dropping again for a day or two in advance of
the next wet weather coming your way, fishing will improve! Then
the whole cycle of pre-frontal low pressure, precipitation and
post-frontal clearing will repeat itself.
 The odds are in your favor. Just like in the
lottery, it's a game of chance where you can win some and lose
some! Fish don't always follow the same game plans we do, but the
average springtime angler's odds are better to be on the water
just before, just after and during the arrival of wet weather
(when the barometer is dropping, bottoms out, and then slowly
rises). Remember, you will find that "just before" and
"just after" mean exactly that! If a low pressure front
comes through in the morning, it may already be "too
late" if a stiff clearing wind is blowing through by
lunchtime!
Five day forecasts. Five day
forecasts are the best (and only) tool to help you plan ahead for
when to fish or when not to. The five day forecast lets you
see what is coming a few days from now. Although the weatherman
may not be exactly right for any single given day, although it
may not exactly happen as they predict it...the "big
picture" including the passage of fronts, the lead-in before
them and the clearing trend after them should be obvious if you
pay attention closely.
Where to get it on the Net. One
good place to get a five day forecast for your area is by
clicking here to get All Fishing Info for Any State, including
weather forecasts, tide predictions, solunar tables sun rise/set,
moon phases/rise/set and lake/stream conditions. Here you will
find a local five day forecast for your area from
Wunderground.com. Simply click on your state, then click on
weather. This will whisk you away to the weather web site at
Wunderground.com. Now click on your local area within the state,
and you'll get your five day forecast.
Get it delivered by email.
Weathertrac.com is another weather web site which will
automatically email you a five day weather forecast for your zip
code every morning. Simply click here to be whisked away to Weathertrac.com's
email page. Once there, enter your zip code (or the zip code
of the spot you plan to fish), enter your email address. If your
browser supports it (most do), it is far better to click on
"HTML" rather than "text" email. The HTML
email will have visual weather images in it whereas plain text
email will not! As they say, the picture is better than the
words.
Well, that's all for now folks!
Hope this article helps you plan when to go fishing versus when
to enjoy other springtime activities (sleeping, eating, etc.).
Sure, you can "tough out" a high pressure day by going
deep into thick shallow cover...if the fish went in there...or
you can move out deeper...if you have a boat and you know where
the fish might have gone...but odds are you're still going to
have stubborn "lock jaw" bass to unlatch during high
pressure post-frontal conditions in spring.
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