Barometric pressure???

[Sean]

I was just wondering what everyone thought about this. I know it effects Bass but what about Mackeral, Snapper etc.... Coments welcome

[Lucky_Phill]

Bill Corten will have more to say on this.

I believe he has even mentioned this in some of his Bush'n'Beach articles.

He certainly fishes by the pressure. Slow drops are better than fast tappering ones, etc etc.

I tend to fish when the " Domestic Pressure " gets high....

[clutter]

Yeah Phil,
I fish when I can. If I waited for the right moon phase, tide, pressure wind etc, I'd never get out. Woops, forgot the main one, the wifes say so.
Clutter.

[mackmauler]

If it does its only temporary, sooner or later they will get hungry

[rick k]

There are enough people who know what they are doing, who believe in barometric changes to almost convince me that that is the key.

Almost.

What I want to know is, how does a fish know what the atmospheric pressure is, and that it has changed?

The total atmospheric pressure is the same as about 10metres of water.

A high is accepted as 1020 hectopascals or some such. A cyclone is 900 and something or less, so the max difference is about 40 hectopascals out of around 1000. Or 4%, lets say 5%.

A fish would experience the same pressure difference if it swam up or down in the water by 5% of 10 metres, which, unless I have messed up, is about 50 cm.

So, for a fish to know that the barometer has changed by the difference between a cyclone and a high, it has to know its depth to within a few cm.

I don't think so. They must be picking up on something else apart from the pressure.

[Lucky_Phill]

Fish are amazing creatures and are completey different to us humans.


How does a Shark sense vibration in the water up to 2 kilometers away ?

How does he detect blood in the water when it is only 4 parts per million ?

How do those fish breath underwater ? ???

The freshwater fishoes here will swear on the pile of Bibles tha the old Barometric Pressure will affect fish and fishing.

I will endeavour to get Bill Corten to post a reply to this one here. He may enlighten us all, again hey Bill ?

[Lachie1]

Old wives tale that i was told since i can remember is "1020 cod aplenty" which refers to barometric pressure and murray cod. Works in the western rivers i know.

Cheers, Lachie

[PAUL_SIMPSON]

i have a friend who had a barra in a fish tank and he started to notice over the years that when the barometer was rising the barra would feed and when the barometer was dropping he would stop feeding,so maybe there is some merit in fishing by barometer pressure.worrked for my mate and me

bream reaper

[Brian]

I'm will lucky ......... i find it best when the domestic pressure is on a SHARP rise ........... i don't usually catch a lot but survival skills are fined tuned

Now if i can work the domestic pressure and the barometric pressure to activate at the same time the fishing should be tops

[Bill_Corten]

Hello everyone

Lucky Phil and many others who have fished offshore enough have come to realise to realise the impacts of changes in barometric pressure on fish bite activity.
For some reason species that are caught offshore like snapper, pearl perch, jew, red emperor, sweetlip, mackerel and most others except perhaps parrot and yellowtail kings are less active when there is a reasonable drop in barometric pressure.
Obviously they are more sensitive to pressure change than a species like winter whiting which will bite on any pressure gradient, but it is one of those quirks of nature.
A lot of people won't fish offshore in a north west wind, not because they are superstitious, but because they are aware that wind from that direction is associated with a dropping barometer and that a weather change is on the way. Their catch level will be low so they prefer to stay home. This is very common during late winter and through summer.
A little while back, we had a lot of strong northerlies and the barometer was low for a while and the fishing was remarkably poor by normal standards for that time of year. A couple of trips in a row our catches were nothing to rave about as were some others who I respect and I can measure performance against. It was at the stage that I stopped heading out because it wasn't worth it until the barometer rose again.
Well, a good south easter came through and hung in for a while. There was one day during this period where the wind dropped out and the barometer was as high as you could get here in summer (1024) because a small high was sitting just off the coast from us. The fish were biting their heads off at spots which just prior to that were not performing although the sounder clearly showed their presence and our patience was well and truly rewarded.
For those who have some doubts it is worth keeping a record of these things in a log or diary of some kind and making your own observations in your local patch. A drop of a several points overnight can really have a negative impact on the fishing, but there is always someone somewhere who will still jag a good fish like a snapper or a wahoo on these days.
My own philosophy is if the barometer is below 1012, just stay home, otherwise head out if the weather is ok to fish in, even though the barometer may be down, but lower your fishing expectations to suit the circumstances.

Hope this is of some help

Bill Corten

[Lucky_Phill]

Your input is very much appreciated Bill.

cheers......................see ya , you know where ! 8) 8) 8)

[mackmauler]

What was it the other night Phill, any one making there own atmospheric pressure changes to bring about buggs cobia I see the action didn't last allnight, must of been a wind change hey 8)

[rick k]

you can all relax, I have found the answer in 'The Users Guide to the Australian Coast' by Greg Laughlin.

On page 147 he states that for every hecto-Pascal increase in barometric pressure, the sea level will decrease by approx. 1 cm.

Its clear; there's less water in amongst the fish!

This is a pearler of a book, if a bit heavy in places; perhaps your local librarian can hunt it up for you; tell them it is isbn 0 7301 0515 6

He's written a shorter one with some interesting old wives tales in it, amongst other useful info, called 'The Complete Book of Australian Maritime Weather.

Here's one given all the macks that have been caught on the bay;

Mare's tails and mackeral scales make tall ships take in their sails.

According to Greg, the mackeral sky, as it is called, consists of tiny ripple like formations of cirrocumulus clouds, and mare's tails (cirrus) often precede an approaching warm front with veering winds and impending rain. If the clouds thicken and fuse then the proverb tends to be particularly reliable.

Rick

[bugman]

Mack,

I was lucky. I slept outside on the back floor while Phil and Two Dogs had there snore-off and fart-off competition down the front.

Am I forever grateful.

[Lucky_Phill]

I never heard me snore once ???