Moon phase or BP?

[Barbless]

Moon phase or Barometric pressure

I cant remember if we have had this on a forum or not , but i am gonna chuck it out there any comments will be great. I know its obvious to some of you but please take the time and share it with someone who wants to know. Whats more important to consider moon phase or bara pres.

Question : Bara pres changes during the day? moon phase is more constant (dah)
What do you do when it changes?
Is it more important for summer fishing or winter?
Does deapth play a roll?

As you can see i am clueless plaese help. feel free add questions or other statements thanks

[August]

If you aksed me, bara pres is the most NB between the two, but there is always a but.

With moon fases I found, and this is just what I found, that with a full moon the fish eat heavily just before sunrise and early in the morning and then it dies off to very little action during the day. With no moon I find it better during the day. Maybe its because they can hunt more freely during fullmonn conditions during the night, and dont then have to risk it during the day.
But obviously this depends on many other factors.

With pressure I am a bit more clueless. All I have established without reasonable doubt is that is the pressure hits 1020 plus you might as well stay home. As for low pressure, I ve had some shockers and some great days. Ive read about fishing while pressure is dropping. I have been testing that lately, Ive got a dam here on the farm so I can fish when it suites me. Then I would look at the preasure graph and fish according to it....and have not found anything in particular worth mentioning.It maybe because it is in a farm dam it affects the scientificness of my experiment.

All I know is High pressure = BAD NEWS

[Barbless]

Thanks August any info is appreciated . I have heard guys say whilst we were fishing the bara pres dropped so we went shallow and the bite came on , could that be a norm in the sense of bait fish coming out or bass moving shallow? Thes are the things i lie awake at 3 in the morning trying to figure out ,pls help so i can get some sleep ha ha ha

[August]

Ok, so on sunday myself and Chalky White(Protea Angler) hit groenvlei, a dam which I know well and which he is absolutely brilliant on. The pressure was at 1023 and stayed like that the whole day. We got three strikes from eight till five. One other boat blanked and another got only one. On wednesday the pressure started dropping from 1020 to round about 1016 during the coarse of the afternoon. I went fishing in my farm dam and caught two fish in an hour. Chalky White went to groenvlei for the afternoon, seeing the pressure drop. He told me he caught 10 fish(6.8kg 5fish bag) in 4 hours. Same dam, same outside temp (sunny and warm), same water temp, just three days later with a different (dropping) air pressure.
I do feel if you want to fish according to air pressure then fish when it is dropping. Two low sometimes work, not always. To high never work, and a rising air pressure I dont know, but pressume it would make them lock up.
Also feels as if they are way more sensitive to these fronts and pressure systems during winter.

[August]

What I want to know is how you counter a high pressure system. Fair enough, you can plan around them, but thats not always the case with comps. With cold weather you slow down, fish tighter to structure etc.etc. What do you do when the pressure is high?

[bassmaster]

In all honesty I don’t worry too much about those things. I do prefer if the moon is a day or two before full moon to fish but that is about it. I think sometimes we concentrate on the finer details a bit too much and try always match the weather. Bass don’t always respond to weather and pressures the way we think they should or we want them to.

I try stick to the basics most of the time unless the fishing is just sucking! Then Ill look at more aspects that could be influencing them on the day.

My 32 cents worth :blue-cool: :blue-smile:

[August]

unless the fishing is just sucking

Which 9 out of ten times is due to pressure. We dont know it because most people dont check it.
But ja, I do agree, basics first, tech stuff later. But isnt that what BFSA is for :blue-biggrin: :blue-badgrin:

[Navrik]

August you are putting pressure on me to learn all this tech stuff...I am just scared that we will forget to enjoy ourselves but heck anything not to blank on a day ... especially at a comp. It is not lekker to come off the water with mombakkies on..

[Barbless]

Thanks guys def food for thought , if its not too much moola i am gonna look into a watch that measures bara pres. I look forward to trying it out and rerporting back , but gonna take a while. Doed anyone have any suggestions on a make or model.

[Southpaw]

just found this, quite interesting.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGCfwW67w3U&feature=PlayList&p=8B29911E8296062D&playnext=1&index=11">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGCfwW67 ... 1&index=11</a><!-- m -->

[BassRat]

100% August ........ get a good watch with a baro on it check it our for yourself .... I use a Suunto but the casio triple sensor is good too .... Suunto s apparently dont last long but mines fine so far ...

[Mombakkie]

When the pressure is higher fish deeper. You get more bites on a falling barometer because the fish are shallower, which is where we fish 80% of the time. With a sharp drop which is typical of an approaching storm the fish sense the onset of bad weather and start feeding.

High pressure is generally associated with clear skies, bright sunshine and a strong South Easter in the Cape. So the typical low-light periods of dusk and dawn are the prime times under high pressure. That said you can still catch them when the sun's out if you fish deeper to get in the strike zone. Deeper doesn't necessarily mean slower, fish baits that you can cover depths with fast. Deep running cranks, rattletraps, sinking jerk baits, leadhead grubs or mojo flukes can all be fished fast.

A tip for Clan, for free :eusa_angel: Unless you are off in the top 5 and have a fast boat forget about the river, yes there are fish there but you fish in a crowd. If the dam is overflowing strongly then fish the section between the dam wall and the launch. Why? Because there is current, just like in the river. Formed by the dam overflowing. Smallies love current, and they "bunch-up" in areas where they can lie just off it. Both banks, the clubhouse side and the Motel side will hold fish. Fish dark coloured rattltraps in the morning and lighter coloured ones in the middle of the day. If the fish aren't "reacting" to them then try dead sticking a mojo senko or stetch 40. To fish rattletraps means to throw them until your arms want to fall off and then you throw them sum more.

If you picking up green slime then fish slightly further from the bank, the slime stops at a certain depth creating an "edge" or drop-off below the water this time of year. Retrieve the rattletraps fast, you looking for a reaction bite. Expect to lose a few fish on rattletraps and don't bully them once hooked, remember they often "slap" at the bait giving poor hooksets. If you get a hit and miss or see a swirl at your rattltrap or get a follow then put down the trap and toss a mojo senko or stretch 40. Use a split-shot or the smallest mojo weight you got for this.

Remember if they not biting then you haven't found them. If you find them they will bite, on something. If you caught fish on a spot return to that exact spot again during the day. You'll find banks that "hold" fish but every bank has certain spots where you are more likely to get bit.
There are largies in Clan too, BIG largies so if you come across a spot which "screams" largie then fish for them. A texas rigged green pumkin lizard is a good call.

The 2cd bay on the right as you run up the dam is also a good call as is the left hand bank above the launch, from where the rocks start all the way up to the wooden houses aka (Coletta Cove).

Hope you guys catch em good this week-end, tight lines.

[Navrik]

Thanks for the post - this will definately come in handy on the weekend. We appreciate the effort!

[Plaasdam]

Thanks Mombakkie,this info is worth more then 2 c. :blue-biggrin:
I take it you are not fishing?

[Mombakkie]

Unfortunately not. Giving the bass fishing jol a break for a while, probably fish the money comps from next year again.

I'll be catching snoek while you okes hammer the smallies.