Thread: How Does the Passing Front Affect the Bite

I have done well before fronts and during fronts, and I have done poorly as well. When I did poorly, I always chalked it up to "I never found any fish." If you KNOW there are fish in a particular spot, they can be caught.
I do know this, on more than one occasion, I have slayed the fish and a rain storm come about (not talking about a drizzle) and the bite shuts down completely. 30 min after the rain, the bite is on again.

Although thunderstorms are only small weather "fronts", I experienced a tremendous surge in the bite on two occasions when a TS approached. One storm chased me to the ramp, but the other was small and only came close. The day of the smaller storm, I was sitting on a great spot but couldn't buy a bite. As the storm approached, the bite went crazy. When it passed, I went back to catching nothing.

I wonder if the increase in electrical charge in the air is effecting the nerve endings on the fish's sides, is triggering an increase in feeding? There is a nerve line down the side of fish that is sensitive to electrical impulses.

Cheers
Doug

Maybe the cause of the low atmospheric pressure affecting the fish stomach pouch making them feel the need to feed (shrug)

Thanks to Papermouth Scaler on this board, and Nimrod on the main board, (along with others) I have come to realize that it is the barometric pressure that affects the bite, and not the associated front. The Front is the indicator of barometric pressure changes underway. I read a good article on weather.com called "How Barometric Pressure Affects Fishing" and here is what I found out. It affirms what most of you have said:

1. The fish's air bladder expands when the barometric pressure drops (makes fish feel like they are going to explode like an overinflated baloon). So, fish head deep to get back in the correct pressure zone. There may not be enough food deep, so fish feed heavily before going down (the blitz before a front). While deep, they are mostly concerned about the correct pressure and will not move much to feed (must drop it on their noses).

2. If the pressure drop lasts for a couple of days, the fish need time for their air bladders to adjust back to normal, so the first 24 hours after a front passes (barometric pressure rises) the fish will not feed heavily. They wait until their air bladder gets back to normal, and they feel comfortable at shallower depths, thus enabling them to resume normal feeding patterns throughout the entire water column.

I think it goes sumpn' like that. I tried to sum it up without writing a Volume-sized explanation. Someone said, "don't worry about it, go fishing when you can". I say, " Amen!"

ID

Originally Posted by Idunno

1. The fish's air bladder expands when the barometric pressure drops (makes fish feel like they are going to explode like an overinflated baloon). So, fish head deep to get back in the correct pressure zone. There may not be enough food deep, so fish feed heavily before going down (the blitz before a front). While deep, they are mostly concerned about the correct pressure and will not move much to feed (must drop it on their noses).

Someone said, "don't worry about it, go fishing when you can". I say, " Amen!"

ID

Number 1 makes sence but I really agree with the last line!!

I notice most times that fish bite better as front approaches and slow down after front but as said are still catchable and the best way is jigging over them and only move bait a little once every 20 - 30 second and on high presure and low wind ,do the same and as these 2 weeks has proven over again a very small jig ,less than a inch caught 90 % of fish these 2 weeks when every one except Doc that I talk to was not catching much. I perfer white because each time I use another color wife beats me till I change back. I too say lite rain is good fishing but hard rain always seam to shut them down. I can't stress enough how important it is to use a small bait anytime that fish slow down no matter what weather condition is like.Big bait anytime fish are a little aggressive,This is how it appears to me over the years,but with fishing they don't read my rule book all the time,LOL