Fish the Falling Barometer

Normally magic time, but a steady/rising barometer shut the fishing down.

Large winter storm systems cause big swings in atmospheric pressure. We measure that pressure change with a barometer. In my experience, atmospheric pressure changes seem to have a tremendous impact on how sluggish or aggressive the fishing activity can be. We've got another storm moving in this weekend and it aims to bring more snow into the state. A swinging barometer could also make or break your ice fishing trip, so I put together a look at the temperature and barometric trends this weekend.

A winter storm brings a low barometer Saturday morning.
High pressure moves in for Sunday with colder temps.

I don't pretend to know much at all about ice fishing and the exact reasons why the bite is or isn't good. It always amazes me to sit next to your buddy just a few feet away when they're reeling them in and I haven't had a bite. Fish often relate very closely to structure and that can place you right on top of the hot hole, or too far away and in the middle of a featureless and fishless abyss. That's not to say you wont still catch a few fish cruising by in those locations, but often the action is slow. I do believe that weather effects the bite and I tested this theory this past Wednesday.

Heather with her first ice fish :)

We had mostly sunny skies and a relatively high barometer. Ice thickness was right around 12" of clear stuff, but the winds had whipped up and it was very chatty ice popping and cracking throughout the trip. I located some sunken Christmas trees in a flat with 10' of water. Once I located the active hole around 2pm, the fishing was pretty steady. Within 1 hour the barometer dropped slowly I had landed 10 small White Crappie. From 3pm to 4:30pm the barometer dropped quickly and I landed 50 more fish from that same hole. As sunset approached (5:26pm) I expected the typical increase in fishing activity. I only had a few bites from 4:30pm until dark and landed only one more fish. The barometer was steady during that time.

Blue sky, falling barometer and plenty of fishing action.

If you're fishing the falling barometer, Friday afternoon and before daybreak Saturday morning will be the best times to fish. Sunday afternoon/evening will also be a fair-to-good bite by the barometer. Saturday afternoon looks slow and steady, and Sunday morning the activity may be very sluggish.

Dusty got a little happy with the ice auger. Good work!

Good luck, and maybe I'll see you on the hard-water Saturday. Hopefully we'll both have a pile of fish!

One Last Hurrah

Iowa hunters have one last chance at filling a tag and the freezer with venison for the 2013 hunting season. The weather wont make it easy though as another storm takes aim at the state but then again, the weather has been pretty wild all season.

From thunderstorms with hail during the rut to near record cold temps and freezing rain in late season, the weather challenged hunters and their quarry.

The best deer hunting conditions boil down to two scenarios. The best in my opinion is associated with a falling barometer, cold temps, cloud cover and some form of precipitation. The other is a rising barometer, bitterly cold temps and light to moderate wind. Strong wind in any scenario tends to drive the deer to thicker cover.

Closing weekend for the January late doe season will feature strong wind on Saturday and near record Spring-like warmth on Sunday. Friday night and all of Saturday look to compile the best conditions in a hunter's favor. Sunday, temps warm substantially and the winds back down and game movement will slow way down.

I'll be ice fishing Sunday and with a slowly falling barometer the fishing action should be a lot better than the hunting. Some of the best ice fishing conditions occur when the light levels change surrounding sunrise and sunset. I've also found a dropping barometer to be good for fishing in the open water, but I haven't tested this theory much on the ice. Expect good fishing conditions Saturday morning and Sunday from sunrise to 10am and again the hour or so before sunset.

Good luck and stay safe!