Barometric pressure affect on bass
 

Anybody have an idea how the barometric pressure affects fishing in freshwater? Or how a storm affects the fishing?

Yeah its better to bass fish low barometric pressure days or when it is falling. Fish are just more active and aggressive. They will also tend to chase a moving bait better. On high pressure days I will still make the trip but you gotta make adjustments. typically with the areas I fish bass seem to move up tight to cover. That means getting a bait to them. On a high pressure day you won't typically find a good spinnerbait, crank bait, topwater bite. its time to break out the plastics and finesse them a little. Pros say to down size your bait too.

Oh an approaching weather system typically means falling pressure.

Thanks very much.

I've always found pre-front fishing is significantly better than post front fishing. Always assumed that was because the pressure was falling. I can never seem to catch bass the few days after a front comes through.

High pressure days = sun. Any time it's sunny bass will use the shade created as an advantage. Hence the reason for them holding tighter to cover. You can still catch fish on top water, crankbaits, etc. You just have to get it to them, and use that cover as your advantage to trigger a strike.

Depending on the situation, a lot of times I prefer sun. It makes them more predictable as far as where they'll be set up, using that shade as an extra ambush point. You can generally cover more water once you figure that out.

I've always been told throw top water, spinnerbait, etc. when it's cloudy, and it's true for the most part. They will be holding more loosely to whatever they're relating to, but top water is a broad category. Break that frog out when it's sunny and go put it where they live. They'll eat it.

Same mind set with flipping cover. Say you have a 100yd stretch of bushes or docks you want to flip. No sun, you're flipping every inch of each thing that could hold a bass before moving to the next one, or until you pattern how they're set up in them. With sun, hit only the shady side, and on to the next one. You literally just doubled the water you could cover in the same time.

BUT high pressure spring time fishing can be brutal. I think not only is it usually associated with a drop in water temp that can throw a kink in whatever they were doing, but there's generally fish in all stages of the spawn, making them more spread out. And a large percentage of them already have their minds on something else and weren't going to bite anyway. Add the classic spring time fishing pressure on top of all that and it can get tough.

If you can pick your days go with the falling pressure every time. But if not, hit em in the nose with something and make the best of it

What he said ^^ x2