I agee that we need this rain. But at leastit could have waited until I finished a badly needed mow job on my yard.

Im not sure what effect barometric pressure has on the way salmon or steelhead ite. All I know is that today the bite was off. I was on the water for 4 hours. I finally hooked 1 springer and it threw the hook at the boat. I saw 2 fish landed for 4 boats the general area I was fishing. The 2 guys that caught the salmon said they were biting really light. I have to agree, I thought the salmon that I hooked was a smolt pecking away at my eggs. Boy was I surprised when I set the hook and that smolt grew up fast.

 

I've found that a changing barometer has little if no effect on Steelhead. A good freshet can really turn steelhead on, especially after a long dry period but if the barometer changes and it doesn't rain it makes little difference in the bite. It's the fresh rain in the river that gets the bite going. Bass,on the other hand are effected alot by barometer changes and a falling barometer can be a great time to go out and hit a fantastic bite.

 

Today we crushed the summer steelies and chinook jacks. 7 steelhead and about the same number of jacks. So much for the effect of a falling barometer.

 

A buddy of mines dad (a crusty old salmon fisherman/farmer) said the bite improves when the barameter is rising. I don't have any personal experiance to back it up though. He watches his barameter like most people watch the time clock at work.

When Pilar gets back in town he may be able to answer this one.

 

From my experiences, I agree with Jigman that the steelhead bite isn't much affected by the barometric pressure. Chinooks do seem to bite a little better on a rising barometer than a falling one - but there are more important factors affecting the bite.

RT

 

It seems to turn sturegon off the bite. I've gone out and nailed them in an area when the weather had been stable, and a few days later as a big storm was rolling in, we could not hardly get a bite.

They were jumping like crazy between deluges, hardly a bite. The change seems to turn them off. My buddy did well once but it was after several raining days.
There, I'm no longer a lurker.

 

I have to agree with Jack, RT, and Jigman above. I've kept a detailed fishing journal for years and one of the things I did write in there was the barometric pressure and if it was falling, rising or steady. After several years I quit paying any attention to the BP because it didn't make any difference to my catch statistics. Water temperature and river level have a much greater affect on whether fish will be willing to bite in my opinion.
Mark


www.firstcastjigs.com

 

this morning, i was looking at my catch record (everyone keeps one of those, right?)which only covers the fishing i've done in the last two years. all of my fish (a whopping six!) were caught on a rising barometer, falling or steady river levels and either a full or new moon. at various times and in various places, i've heard that all of these factors can help put fish on the bite.

 

Its a scientific FACT that barometric pressure affects fish....ALL fish, whether it be a largemouth bass, crappie, walleye, or our beloved Steelhead. this subject has been researched extensively, by a number of resources. case in point, a good friend of mine works for the Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game.
his job, not a past time, but his job, is to monitor steelhead populations in the great state of Alaska. he studies their movements, habits, the works...he does this by helicopter fly overs,(redd surveys) scuba diving in the river, and fishing for them, he spends alot of time fishing for them, 6 days a week.
he concludes that the fact the barometric pressure changes shut fish down, to a screeching halt, no bite, and very little movement in the river. after the pressure has stablized either up or down, for a period of 8 hours or more, give or take, the fishing picks up. most of you know that fishing rising rivers seldom pays off, but after they crest and start to drop the fishing picks up dramaticaly, and new fish arrived in from the estuary, with the rising water level.
this is not to say you won't catch one during a barometric pressure change situation. but this was an answer to a post whether it affects fish(Steelhead) and it most certainly does.

Fuzzy
Silent Approach Jigs

[ 06-27-2001: Message edited by: Fuzzybutt & Angel ]

 

Barometric pressure effects bass and Salmon but doesn't effect Steelhead

a fish is a fish....yek I can even tell when it's changing in these old bones

Why wouldn't it????

For years my Dad always kept track of this and swore it affected Steelhead (other fish too) and their behavior,it needs to be stable or not drasticly rising or dropping.

After the river has stableized and is dropping hasn't the barometric pressure done the same

just my .02.....Os

 

everyone has their own ritualistic tribal dance and grunt scheme as to how to catch fish. if you don't think that barometric pressure matters, you can stop reading now. if you do think it matters, here's a link to check and see where it is and which direction it's heading: http://www.fishinginoregon.com/or/or_weather/PortlandOR.html

i think it makes sense that barometric pressure affects the bite because it has been proven that the pressure affects our moods. the reason you're happier when it's sunny out has more to do with the pressure being high than with the amount of sunlight hitting your retinas. the reason you're more depressed when it's raining is because the pressure is low. as a test, watch your mood change with the next weather system that comes barrelling through our area. it tends to hit me 6 to 8 hours before the weather actually hits. it depends on how strong the weather system is as to how strongly it affects my mood shift.

i was talking with a friend at work about it and he did some research on the subject while he was in college. for steelhead, steady is the key. for salmon, rising or steady. i don't know where exactly he got his info, but i tend to believe him. you can choose to believe me or not about it.

now, here's how i see the whole thing:
when the rains come, the barometer drops and the rivers rise. fish don't bite. when the rains stop, the barometer rises and the rivers crest and begin to drop. fish bite. because of the relationship between the weather and the barometric pressure, fishing a cresting or falling river means you're also fishing when the barometer is rising or has steadied up.

just my buck and half on the subject.

 

Bass:
Rising barometric pressure = fish shallower water (love dat topwater baby)

Falling pressure = look for cover and structure in the deeper water. Usually go for the deeper (variation of 4 feet from the average depth) that is near shallower water.

ex: Fishing 4 feet deep = move to the deeper water in that area that's around 8 feet, and then move around accordingly.

I haven't put enough time into this for an anadromous fish study, but I 100% think they are affected as well, but they also have so many other contributing factors as to why they are biting or why they are not, regardless of barometric pressure.