In another thread jeremyk menioned that he felt that fishing streamers was far more productive on overcast days. This is something that I think a lot of people feel is accurate. I have read this and talked about it and experience it myself many times. In fact, the same also goes for steelhead people say steelhead fishing is better in overcast conditions. I would agree with this as well. After hundreds of days fishing streamers in all conditions, as well as steelhead, I would agree that it tends to be more productive fishing when there is more cloud cover. The weird thing is, there are certain exceptions to this. I have had days under blue skies and bright sun where it was on fire with streamers and it seemed for no apparent reason. At any rate, there are a number of theories to this, but I am wondering what other people think. Why do you think this is the case?
Along these same lines is the barometric pressure which I hear less about but I feel is even more important. I have had countless experiences streamer fishing for trout or steelhead fishing or even saltwater fishing where the barometer hade a big effect. What I have expeienced is far better fishing as the barometer is dropping with an approaching front, then as the front passes and the barometer starts to rise the fishing slows way down. It almost seems like there is a frenetic chaos of gluttony and the fish are eating everything while this is happening like they think it is their last chance or something. Now, I was mainly talking about streamers and steelhead, but I have seen this frequently with dry flies as well. A hatch will be going as a front approaches and the fish are feeding like crazy, the front passes and almost instantly the fish dramatically reduce their feeding despite the fact that the hatch is still in full swing. I also notice that if the barometer is consistent such as a high pressure you can still have good fishing, but that period of dropping pressure before a front passes seems to be by far the most productive time. The thing is, I have no idea why this is. I have some theories such as what. I mentioned above where the fish feel like there is some impending disaster or something, but don't know. Wondering what anybody else thinks about this?
So to recap, why do you think fishing is better under cloud cover or low light? Also, why do you think fishing is better with a dropping barometer?
I was the one who mentioned cloud cover and I was talking about fishing browns in the fall. I should clarify myself and say I was talking about pressure systems more than just cloud cover. Normally (not always) cloud cover in fall means a change in the barometric pressure, front moving in or out, or a change in water temp.
You bring up a great discussion point. I don't think that we will ever be able to understand why the fish get all crazy when there is a change in pressure, but I am a firm believer in the lateral line on fish being a trigger or an added sense in their bodies to tell them to feed. We fish a lot of bull trout on the South Fork of the Flathead, one of the only spots in Montana where it is legal to target them. Constantly our clients will hook a cuttie in a tail out or a pool and the bull trout will come charging out at it and try to eat it. I firmly believe that the bull trout knows when a fish is in distress because it sends some sort of signal or vibrations via its lateral line when it is hooked. I have spent countless hours in sight fishing situations in gin clear waater trying to hook bullies on flies. Often I can eventually get them to eat a fly, but it can take a long time. Hook a cuttie in the same pool and let it swim around and those same bull trout you are trying to fool with a fly will chase the hooked fish around feverishly trying to eat it. This past spring on the Bitterroot (March) I saw a big brown chase a hooked rainbow in the same situation; hooked the bow on a skwalla dry and this brown came out of a deep under cut bank to try and eat the 12 inch fish. I fished a farm pond growing up that had blue gill and largemouth in it exclusively. We ocassionally caught a big largemouth. Being young kids, we all wanted a picture with a huge bass so we did what an oldtimer told us to do...... we would catch a decent sized bluegill, hook it with a large treble hook so it could still swim, loop it through a laundry detergent bottle and throw it out in the pond and secure the rod on the shore and leave it over night. Remember I was young and didn't realize that this probably killed the fish (and not proud of this now) but it would work, I have a picture of a 12 lbr that we could stick our fist in with room to wiggle. All of these situations lead me to believe that big fish use their lateral lines as a trigger to feed or "sense" a fish that is injured or in danger. Like other predators they find the biggest, easiest meals they can get. Most of the fish we are targeting with streamers are predators. They could possibly use their eyes to see the fish in danger, but I don't think so, it is something else, it has to be their lateral lines. Therefore I am led to believe that barometric pressure changes somehow trigger the lateral line and tells them that it is time to eat making it easier for us to fool them on streamers or baitfish patterns. It could also be that when the pressure drops more of the smaller bait fish or smaller fish get more active, triggering the bigger more predatory fish to feed on them; but honestly, I doubt it. All this being said, I have had days on the water when there has been or is a pressure change happening and I can't get a fish to eat anything!!!!
This has made me think about my grandfather and something he had when I was growing up. He was a big time fisherman his whole life, mostly a spin and bait guy that chased bass, musky, smallmouth, trout and other Midwestern fish. He had a thing on his wall that looked like a clock with an arrow on it that said "TIME TO GO FISHING" "GOOD FISHING" and "STAY HOME". It was placed on different sections whenever I saw it. I once asked him how it worked, he told me that it measured the barometric pressure and when the pressure was changing it would point on the "TIME TO GO FISHING".
This is all a "theory" and I could be way off. I am by no means an ichthyologist, but is my best guess and I would love to hear other opinions. I think this is why we continue to fish. We don't always understand why fish do what they do, we can only hypothesize and try to fool them in certain situations with certain flies. When it happens it is a rush and a satisfaction comes over us knowing we may be closer to understanding fish. But every time that happens and we think we have them figured out we do the exact same thing, in the exact same situation and we fail for some reason. But on the other hand, all of our theories and questioning of fish behavior makes for great discussion!!!!
The lateral line on a fish is something that doesn't seem to be understood from an angling perspective especially within context of fly fishing. I think you are definitely on the right track especially when in the context of thrashing fish attracting the attention of bigger predatory fish. I am not sure how the barometer effects the sensitivity of a fish's lateral line. Anybody ever read or hear anything about this?
".....in the context of thrashing fish attracting the attention of bigger predatory fish."
I want to clarify that I am not only talking about when a fish THRASHES the water. Even when a fish is hooked and swimming around in the water, not thrashing around, other predatory fish are attracted to it. I am assuming that this is all done by lateral lines and that barometric pressure can do also affect the LL. Anyone else know about this?
Posted: Mon 12/14/09 1:36 pm Post subject: Green River Brown
When I was on the Green River I had a Rainbow thrashing around and a Brown shot up off the bottom and swallowed him whole. Predatory fish are naturally attracted to thrashing fish. Browns are unbelievably predatory.
I agree with a lot of what was posted above, except for the bit about the barometric pressure. As a longtime scuba diver, I really doubt that barometric pressure changes affect fish -- it has to be a combination of many other factors, of which cloud cover is a significant one in my humble opinion .
All the air above us only exerts 14 lbs per sq inch at sea level -- and affects a barometer swing of only about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch from a really low low to a high high pressure situation. The same amount of weight is found at a depth of 33 feet. At 33 feet, you are swimming at 2 Atmospheres. A substantial wave, especially at sea, would cause more immediate change in pressure on a lateral line. Even if a fish moved up or down in its own water column by as little as a foot or two would cause more effect on its lateral line. If fish can really tell when the barometer is changing before the actual full effect of a change, then it has to be akin to one of us sighted people being able to tell the difference in braille letters without any experience.
YMMV
Joe
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