Barometric pressure + moon phase = BS??

I have delved into this most of my life. Since I get skunked most of the time anyway I also go by how many bites others are getting around me, and then look at my "Fishing and Hunting, Solumnar time" app. Seems to be pretty accurate. They have a Free version and an $Exploiter$ style version. For Saltwater this is even more true (aka TIDES)

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Yup the solunar tables seem to be accurate. Although I quit checking them years ago because I'm gonna be out there fishing all freekin day anyway.

Fish more and bigger trebles like Slayer, and the solunar dont mean chit.

I think the highest ratings come in around the full moon, and that is a moon that I usually struggle with, BUT i have caught some of my largest fish around the full moon, just not the numbers.

biggie smalls said:

Fish more and bigger trebles like Slayer, and the solunar dont mean chit.
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Exactly!

FWIW, I have found for a couple of days leading up to the full moon the bite, at least for trout seems better than the couple of days following to full moon. Doesn't mean you won't catch anything, change tactics and look for where the fish are. Similar is barometric pressure, I have noticed when a front is approaching and the pressure is dropping the bite seems to drop off. Again change tactics (location, patterns, presentation, etc). Doesn't work every time but fish are opportunistic feeders, the right fly, bait or hardware with an appropriate presentation should bring on strikes.

Just the opposite here-I have always felt a dropping barometer and an approaching front gave me better fishing and a rising one resulted in poorer fishing.

kirbydog said:

Just the opposite here-I have always felt a dropping barometer and an approaching front gave me better fishing and a rising one resulted in poorer fishing.

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x2. Way better when pressure is dropping. But we are fishing for real gamefish on real lures and not stocker trouts on tiny little flies lol. Pressure could affect bugs differently. So fly fishing doesn't count. :lol:

I have noticed that trout bite all the time. Pre, during, and post frontal. Warm-water species seem to be tougher on post frontal conditions.

Trout are stupid. Now bass, their at the head of the class.

kirbydog said:

Trout are stupid. Now bass, their at the head of the class.

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Uh yeah-

I never paid much attention to it until I caught 2 beast ass fish back to back within a 1 hour solunar major time window... during an otherwise ordinary day. While it's never a hard rule or a guarantee the fishing will be good during a window or bad when not during a window (and I also am with slayer in that I will be fishing all day when I'm out there, regardless), there is one rule that I have begun to follow - Just make sure that you are pounding your prime spot for the day during the major/minor windows and not walking around between spots in that window. If nothing else, it will give you a reason to get very focused for a while.

All that being said, I found a very good bite on Saturday during the nasty front/high pressure/poor solunar timing :smile:

I've caught plenty of fish when those so called "forecasts" were calling for a poor day.

From what I know barometric pressure affects the swim bladder of the fish which can make them feel full and not be as apt to feed heavily. But, fish are opportunists and when the right meal comes along will jump all over it regardless of how full they are.

How many of us have caught fish that have had a full belly and something else half way down their throat and still hit a lure?? I know I have.

In one of my recent CPW Colorado Outdoors magazines, there is a three page article on this topic. The author quotes several well known studies. After three pages of data, the bottom line is, "the best time to fish is anytime you can get away."

I never consider moon phases or other such data.

Total BS! A gigantic hoax! Pay no attention to them... :-X

kirbydog said:

Trout are stupid. Now bass, their at the head of the class.

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I dunno, man. Those green carp are pretty stupid too.

I had some graphs that I kept updated for a while in relation to lunar phases and fishing...but I gave up on it some time ago. I really didn't see much relation but that's because I was only tracking my own trips. The amount of data and the amount of trips and the sheer number of variables (time of day, lure used, speed of retrieve, etc, etc)....is just too much to really know for sure. You'd need a huge population of data to know for sure if it made an impact. I know that there was some big bass fishin dude in texas that tracked over 4000 trips or something like that and he showed some relation between catching large fish around the full moon major or something along those lines....so I would have to say that I do believe it makes some kind of impact.....not sure how much tho. Pressure is another thing all together. It matters for sure, IMO.

Full moons and new moons are definitely better for me for walleyes. For other species, I'm gonna be out there anyway (as Slayer said). I don't focus on the minors and majors. I pay attention to the weather but don't focus on barometric pressure. Barometric pressure is related to weather, but there are other weather factors that are more important to me (wind, sun, cloud, rain/snow).

Agreed. I will plan fishing days on the days that forecast low pressure....and then just hope the lunar phase timing works out :lol:

I don't pay any attention to them-I would not want a slow day forecast to effect my effort and a good day forecast to make me feel like I was a failure if I didn't load the boat.

How bout this. Lets say its a good forecast but a cold front went thru in early spring, dropped the water temp and now you have blue bird skies. Its gonna be tough fishing no matter what the forecast says.