....a fine fishing evening here on Chippawa Creek tonight as the rain and thunder rolled thru. The storm cells really turned the fish on and I could not keep the crappies off the jig. Both Black and White Crappies could not stay off the Gulp Minnow and 1/8 jig or the bubblegum twister. Literally every cast I had multiple hits, it was classic feeling them suck it in as it fell. I guess i got 25 in no time, 6 to 11 inches in length. I had a hoot on the ultralight vertical jigging 10 to 14 feet of water or casting out and bouncing it back to the boat. I also landed a 20 inch Channel Cat on the Gulp and an 18 inch Walleye hit my Static Shad plug on my first cast. A couple of Rockies also made an appearance. Here are a few pics from tonight... enjoy!
Fish Storm/Rain Storm Part 2
- Thread starter Dugger
- Start date
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Thanks for sharing. I have heard most fish feed less when the pressure drops so it is interesting to see the opposite. Perhaps they expect food (worm) comin in any time after the storm!
That walleye looks very interesting. Almost like a triangle with the very thin tail
That walleye looks very interesting. Almost like a triangle with the very thin tail
grubman
Well-Known Member
Getin several senior members have told me about best fishing when the barometer was dropping. Getting out onto your hotspot just before it rains is something not always easy to do.
Nice going Dug. How many minnows in the gulp? I got the Power Minnows and there are only about 8 or 10 to the pack for $5.99. I'm just doing a price/minnow comparison. Frugler rules....lol.
Nice going Dug. How many minnows in the gulp? I got the Power Minnows and there are only about 8 or 10 to the pack for $5.99. I'm just doing a price/minnow comparison. Frugler rules....lol.
Kasim Baluch
Well-Known Member
Nice fish! What kind of fish is the 3rd picture? Looks angry! lol
Just wonder about rain/tunderstorm since we're kind of on the topic, isn't fishin after rain harder to land fish due to the fact that water becomes murky? I have been told after rain has been good for fishing cause the water temp drop and the water is oxidized so fish is more activit?
Which one is it?
Which one is it?
FishingNoob
Well-Known Member
Nice fish, you got quite the variety.
I think it all depends on several conditions. First, when the temperatures are like this, hot and humid, and a thunderstorm comes around which dramatically drops the barametric pressure and temperature, the fishing is excellent right before the thunderstorm hits. I remember fishing two years ago at a local trout stream that holds big fish. It was hot and you could see the storm cells developing. The wind started to pick up, and during this time, right before the rain, I caught 2 nice size browns within 15 minutes of each other and lost another. On the other hand, if conditions are not so dramatic, I have found the fishing to be quite slow after. It really depends on the species and other conditions, like if I am fishing a stream that is gin clear, and has been so for awhile, trout may be extremelly wery and easily spooked. But if I fish a stream a day or two after a good rain, while the stream is still murky; fishing larger baits can be really successful as the fish are less spooked.
I find that it is best to just go out and give it a try. Nothing better than trial and error. Lets hope that we get even more rain.
grubman
Well-Known Member
Environmental science for fishing...lol
If you consider that 1 in of rain that falls on a one acre area (most lakes are bigger) there are 27,154 gallons or 102,789L of water. These are American values. So most lakes are several or hundreds of acres, that's alot of water from the sky. Then if you consider the temperature difference of rain to lake surface then rain will make a change to the temperature layers. Warm water "floats" it's less dense then colder water. If the rain is colder then the surface water then when the rain is coming down it will eventually change the surface water temp, cooling it and making it sink (denser). Since each fish has a preferred water temp that they like to stay in and are active at, when they feel the drop in barometric pressure they know that colder water from rain is on it's way. It would be very interesting is if someone with a underwater thermocam would show how the water temperature changes during a rain storm. I suspect that as the cooler water decends it will change the thermocline position, thickness or depth, the more rain the greater the change. This disruption in their daily life of trying to survive could be the reason they are active just before the rain. They know that the rain will be changing the water temperature and they have to find the depth of their preferred temp. It's like you on a hot hot day, you might walk into a store b/c it has the a/c on high, even though the store only sells ladies shoes........lol. This could also be the reason why fish are inactive for a few days after the rain, they are waiting for the lake temps to re-stabilize again. When the sun comes up, the shallows warm the quickest and panfish will begin biting first then gamefish.
Yes the surface water will get more oxygen, but I think most fish can handle low levels of oxygen. Only fish like carp and catfish can tolerate very low levels and can swim in areas like swampy or alge areas of low oxygen. But all fish are cold blooded and they search for a comfortable depth with adequet oxygen.
I and some of my friends have not caught a single fish while it is raining.
This is what I think hope it make sense to ya'll...........lol.
If you consider that 1 in of rain that falls on a one acre area (most lakes are bigger) there are 27,154 gallons or 102,789L of water. These are American values. So most lakes are several or hundreds of acres, that's alot of water from the sky. Then if you consider the temperature difference of rain to lake surface then rain will make a change to the temperature layers. Warm water "floats" it's less dense then colder water. If the rain is colder then the surface water then when the rain is coming down it will eventually change the surface water temp, cooling it and making it sink (denser). Since each fish has a preferred water temp that they like to stay in and are active at, when they feel the drop in barometric pressure they know that colder water from rain is on it's way. It would be very interesting is if someone with a underwater thermocam would show how the water temperature changes during a rain storm. I suspect that as the cooler water decends it will change the thermocline position, thickness or depth, the more rain the greater the change. This disruption in their daily life of trying to survive could be the reason they are active just before the rain. They know that the rain will be changing the water temperature and they have to find the depth of their preferred temp. It's like you on a hot hot day, you might walk into a store b/c it has the a/c on high, even though the store only sells ladies shoes........lol. This could also be the reason why fish are inactive for a few days after the rain, they are waiting for the lake temps to re-stabilize again. When the sun comes up, the shallows warm the quickest and panfish will begin biting first then gamefish.
Yes the surface water will get more oxygen, but I think most fish can handle low levels of oxygen. Only fish like carp and catfish can tolerate very low levels and can swim in areas like swampy or alge areas of low oxygen. But all fish are cold blooded and they search for a comfortable depth with adequet oxygen.
I and some of my friends have not caught a single fish while it is raining.
This is what I think hope it make sense to ya'll...........lol.
rich_ace_G
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2012
- Messages
- 2,707
i was at the bluffs today. very windy...saw some fish jumping...big ones. can't tell what it is. there are 4 anglers at the bridge. there are 2 cars parked at the mouth of the bridge. heard some owners mumbling about they shouldn't park there. i'd rather fish in the rain than strong winds any day.
I get 18 Minnows to the bag for is it 7 bucks or so? the 2.5 inch doodles. Now, I also get the small bag of 1.5 inchers i think there is 18 or 20 in that bag for $4.99
Grubmeister, sticking to the true tenants of Frugology it dawned onme how to extend the life of my Gulp minnows (which i think is fantastic bait, albeit pricey)
1) After a while and the minnow gets "shredded" I take it off the jig and flip it upside down and thread it back on for more fish
2) I find that if I leave em out of the pack for a while and they "harden up" they do loose some of the lifelike qualities in the water but they stay on the hook longer!
Love Live the Frugal Angler! :blink:
so, fished hard all Sunday after the fun Saturday evening....
here is a rundown and some thoughts on weather and its role as pondered by ALN....
Sunday 11:30 am - 1 pm
The Cold Front was approaching Niagara and would hit at 1 pm. I fished right till that time and the rain came down and boy o boy were the Black and White Crappies hitting the Gulp. I got maybe 30 before I had to scram. Every cast you could feel them sucking/hitting, bumping the Gulp. Terrific action! I had to jig and inch or two from the surface to feel the hits in the high wind.
Sunday 3:00 pm to 5 pm
The Cold Front has gone thru, still humid and hot and the fish are STILL ON FIRE. I caught about 30 more mixed Crappies, a few Rockies, a 20 inch Drum and two Channel Cats (17 and 22 inches) all on the Gulp in 10 feet of water.
Sunday 6:30 pm to 9 pm
Blue skies ala Cold Front and high winds, still warm and humidity dropping.... the fish are STILL ON FIRE and in the same places they were Saturday night! I caught maybe 50 mixed Crappies, some Rockies, two Channel Cats (18 and 20 inches), some Bluegills, an 8 inch Walleye and a 15 inch Smallmouth Bass (which for some reason looks tiny in the photo, maybe i have big hands lol ). The Crappies were all over the place chasing the bait to the boat. Most were Blacks and a few large loner White Crappies. The big weather shift appeared to not affect them at all! What a fun day on the water! I had a Goby on a small tube at one point reeling it in and something massive ran off with it. My god what a fight for 7 seconds then gone!
.... I was very surprised at how the fish reacted to the big weather change. If anything, they became more ravenous, I was not expecting that at all.
Thanks everyone for the comments!
here is a rundown and some thoughts on weather and its role as pondered by ALN....
Sunday 11:30 am - 1 pm
The Cold Front was approaching Niagara and would hit at 1 pm. I fished right till that time and the rain came down and boy o boy were the Black and White Crappies hitting the Gulp. I got maybe 30 before I had to scram. Every cast you could feel them sucking/hitting, bumping the Gulp. Terrific action! I had to jig and inch or two from the surface to feel the hits in the high wind.
Sunday 3:00 pm to 5 pm
The Cold Front has gone thru, still humid and hot and the fish are STILL ON FIRE. I caught about 30 more mixed Crappies, a few Rockies, a 20 inch Drum and two Channel Cats (17 and 22 inches) all on the Gulp in 10 feet of water.
Sunday 6:30 pm to 9 pm
Blue skies ala Cold Front and high winds, still warm and humidity dropping.... the fish are STILL ON FIRE and in the same places they were Saturday night! I caught maybe 50 mixed Crappies, some Rockies, two Channel Cats (18 and 20 inches), some Bluegills, an 8 inch Walleye and a 15 inch Smallmouth Bass (which for some reason looks tiny in the photo, maybe i have big hands lol ). The Crappies were all over the place chasing the bait to the boat. Most were Blacks and a few large loner White Crappies. The big weather shift appeared to not affect them at all! What a fun day on the water! I had a Goby on a small tube at one point reeling it in and something massive ran off with it. My god what a fight for 7 seconds then gone!
.... I was very surprised at how the fish reacted to the big weather change. If anything, they became more ravenous, I was not expecting that at all.
Thanks everyone for the comments!
Attachments
hightechdecks
Well-Known Member
ah dugger my fellow jig fisherman another great report. what i do to save on jig bodies is first rig the plastic on the jighead then back it off a little bit and put a dab of krazy glue on the jig and slide the body back up. let the glue set up for awhile and you have a jig that will last countless trips. alot of the jigging i do is ripjigging in heavy weed cover and this is the only way to prevent your plastic from slidding down the jig.
... I am off to Dollarama for glue!
.... seriously lolty for the great tip my friend!
kaministiquia
Well-Known Member
I managed to get out this weekend too before it rained and got some eyes...
... where'd da pic go?? :blink:
Update time
Monday 7 pm to 9 pm
24 odd hours after the Cold Front swept thru the Crappies were still hitting like nuts! I got another 40 or so, mostly Blacks, and a nice 16 inch Smallie that fought like nuts (love river smallmouth!)
anyhuuu.... just wanted to update the whole weekend and interesting to see how the front affected the fish (seems to have no impact on feeding or location change).
