jewgaffer Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 (edited) Hi Everyone I thought I would do a new topic in reference to estuary fishing over the past ten days or so, and as a natural flow on from an unusual trough in between the weather fronts since Christmas, what I think the rest of summer will bring for our Estuary Raiders. A few members have managed to work a bit harder and do better than others and dig out a few estuary fish over the last couple of days of this ongoing low pressure caused by a lingering trough which has kept results down to a minimum due to the barometric pressure remaining down between 1000 and a low 1005 milibars for so long - i.e. a good 10 points below the normal 1016 milibars which is regarded as the pressure for having normal weather and the reading required for getting normal fishing results ... Nevertheless normal conditions are still dependent on the ability of the fisherpersons themselves and the locations they fish. Normal fishing has been long accepted as times when barometric pressure rises or falls to around 1016 milibars and at the onset of that and going into a couple of tides at that reading before the bite rate starts to slow up again until the next fluctation and/or wind change or a sudden storm or a bout of rain that hasn't been forecast to occur ...... AND another good reason to fish on thru the rain and find shelter from wind and turbulence in the same place/s where fish would also seek shelter should surprise conditions or otherwise happen to continue as such.... We've had about ten days in a row now where the pressure has dropped right down on a few of those days to below 990 milibars including the natural drop of around 4-6 milibars during the night air - i.e. if night pressure and early morning pressure are close to one another by comparing the late afternoon pressure with the early morning reading, the pressure has actually risen 4-6 milibars at some stage during the night ... the fluctation should be depicted as either a night rise or an early morning rise and is still a desirable fluctation and assists the night fishing if you are on the water at the time and a rise before dawn livens up the early morning bite rate as well .... Low pressure can have a massive affect on the swim bladders of estuary fish that are normally comfortable in the shallows....there has not been all that many good results lately in estuarys even at middling depths and in the deepwater as well which gives estuary fish the relief they need from the pressure above. Extreme low pressure systems and long periods of average low pressure readings remaining around 1008 - 1006 milibars without fluctation can not only slow down the bite rate, but estuary fish, whilst being comfortable feeding at most depths under normal pressure conditions are actually unable to digest their food during severe bouts of low pressure...... Even top tournament fishermen have to work hard to meet the weigh in requirements in these types of constant low pressure readings and in some cases only a small percentage of competitors catch any fish at all, particularly fishing for bream ..... Pelagics and natural bottom dwellers are not affected to the same extent, although some days during ongoing low pressure readings even natural bottom fossickers shut down in estuarys....... Normally this time of year gives good summer barometric pressure readings going up by way of either sudden spikes in the system or steady rises to around 1030 milibars and steadying around that figure which gives us a good chance to next target the early wind change periods and fish in the direction of the new wind. A wind change tends to liven up the bite, and when the air pressure becomes too constant, it leads to a slow down in the bite rate and on some days causes fish to shutdown until the start of the next fluctuation and when the pressure is a rising fluctuation coming out of a low and so on..... Ongoing conditions day after day steadily reduce the bite periods just as they are are governed by the tides but for much longer periods... Fish being as they are feed spasmodically in accordance with tidal affect which governs the best bite period for each species.... Fish stock up their food when they feel the need to allow for unsuitable conditions which generally affect them and not us - in that we may have nice conditions for going outdoors and boating even tho most fishermen have a tendency to disregard the elements that led to their previous experiences with shutdown periods and just go out and have a nice day on the water all the same...... Having said that, there should be a lot of general action as soon as the present low pressure of 1005 and steady starts to rise... It is only natural that estuary compatable fish will snap out of their present mode as soon as the pressure starts to rise to at least normal atmospheric conditions that produce readings around 1016 milibars which has long been considered as being condusive to producing normal fishing results.... Albeit normal fishing conditions can still be difficult in getting decent results when fishing in areas where there is an overall shortage of fish or decent size fish. Take a look at the change to a north easterly aspect for the coming Saturday as predicted on Seabreeze as far as doing an overnighter and as far as having a 2pm start is concerned..... The top it all off factor for Saturday is the big question and that is will the pressure start to rise dramatically as it should by then..... and also watch for what time such a hoped for natural pressure rise does occur as that would determine the need to decide whether or not you should have an am or a pm start which should show in the barometric pressure readings by Friday....... Early next week just before and as the weather hots up also looks good at this stage and it would be great to be there during the wind change plus a pressure fluctation to boost the fishing along for you. I believe we will have a particularly good summer this year given the cooler outside temperatures compared to the current warm temperatures in our estuarys which will bring a lot of fish and estuary compatable pelagics into the Sydney systems and I'll bet there will be a lot of shark alarms in our beach areas as well. Have a Happy New Year Everyone & I wish you all a very successful year for 2009! Cheers jewgaffer Edited January 1, 2009 by jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Some great observations and analysis Byron A good read! I sure hope you're right about it being a good summer for the estuary fishermen (even if I'm not one of them). This pressure stuff gets a bit complicated for my wee brain sometimes! In fact, the only "pressure" I worry about now is my blood pressure when those pesky jackets show up in numbers! Thanks for the info. Cheers Peter PS A lot of your report reminds me of a song from John Farnham's Whispering Jack album from the 1980s ... which song was it? ... mmm ... and it isn't "You're the Voice" although, when it comes to jewfishing it would be appropriate for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted January 2, 2009 Author Share Posted January 2, 2009 .........Take a look at the change to a north easterly aspect for the coming Saturday as predicted on Seabreeze as far as doing an overnighter and as far as having a 2pm start is concerned..... The top it all off factor for Saturday is the big question and that is will the pressure start to rise dramatically as it should by then..... and also watch for what time such a hoped for natural pressure rise does occur as that would determine the need to decide whether or not you should have an am or a pm start which should show in the barometric pressure readings by Friday....... Have a Happy New Year Everyone & I wish you all a very successful year for 2009! Cheers jewgaffer I thought I would add this to my topic as the barometric pressure began to rise noticeably in the early hours of this morning with a gain of around eight points so far...... For those of you who are able to go fishing this weekend and consider that complete turn arounds in conditions and barometic pressure readings and fluctuations effect fishing, Saturday is the best day I've seen for quite a while.... Saturday's weather and conditions look near enough to perfect for an early afternoon start...... The early afternoon on Saturday will be the first day the weather snaps out of a low pressure trough with barometric pressure maximum readings being around 1000 - 1005 milibars ongoing for the past ten days or so and those low maximums not to even mention the minumums over long periods are certainly not good readings that bring on good estuary fishing. During the early afternoon on Saturday, the wind changes from the present south easterly to a comfortable north easterly wind with a warmer aspect overall and bringing in a nice sea breeze with it .... If I was to go out I wouldn't go until about 11am on Saturday and I would want to be on the water fishing just before and as the change came in .....I would fish on well into the night on Saturday and take it easy on Sunday because I would expect the bite activity resultant from the complete turn around in conditions to near opposites plus a rising barometer which would normally steady during the night air, to slacken off the bite on Sunday. Hope this is of some help. Cheers jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen801 Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Hey JG, Mate agree with you and we are going to put the theory into practice tonight. Going out at about 6pm for a low tide jewie in deep water. We will fish on as long as there is a bite. The pressure is right up here at Frenchs forest. My barometer is reading 2023 having dropped slightly in the last hour. I need to adjust mine as it might be a little out but compared to recently it looks good. Will set and forget some big squid and occy baits. Stick a few prawns out too just in case. Anyone else going for jewies tonight??? Looks like a golden opportunity for the low tide and run in. Its gonna be cold tonight and hopefully we get no rain. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tide'n'knots Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Some great observations and analysis Byron A good read! I sure hope you're right about it being a good summer for the estuary fishermen (even if I'm not one of them). This pressure stuff gets a bit complicated for my wee brain sometimes! In fact, the only "pressure" I worry about now is my blood pressure when those pesky jackets show up in numbers! Thanks for the info. Cheers Peter PS A lot of your report reminds me of a song from John Farnham's Whispering Jack album from the 1980s ... which song was it? ... mmm ... and it isn't "You're the Voice" although, when it comes to jewfishing it would be appropriate for you. take the pressure down!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koalaboi Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Hi Jewgaffer, Trout fishing literature has many references the barometric pressure and fishing too. I thought back over my recent fishing and am unable to report the kind of success your topic suggested we might enjoy. I fish mainly for flathead with sps and blackfish. Both species have been slow lately...the blackfish slowdown was to be expected but the flathead this summer have been very patchy after a brilliant season last summer. With the change in pressure have come some howling nor easters. I've noticed that the water temperature of the ocean close in drops quite a bit when these winds blow and have read explanations which blame the wind causing an upwelling of cold water from deep offshore. The flathead have been worse over the last couple of days. This morning I noticed a sharp drop in the water temp but without a thermometer, I can only report an opinion not a fact. For those interested in chasing up the conditions when they fished, the weather bureau has a great site which records half hourly updates of wind, temp, pressure etc. Have alook at this: http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/nsw/sydney-o...tions-map.shtml Tight lines, Koalaboi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydfisher Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 (edited) Hi Everyone I thought I would do a new topic in reference to estuary fishing over the past ten days or so, and as a natural flow on from an unusual trough in between the weather fronts since Christmas, what I think the rest of summer will bring for our Estuary Raiders. A few members have managed to work a bit harder and do better than others and dig out a few estuary fish over the last couple of days of this ongoing low pressure caused by a lingering trough which has kept results down to a minimum due to the barometric pressure remaining down between 1000 and a low 1005 milibars for so long - i.e. a good 10 points below the normal 1016 milibars which is regarded as the pressure for having normal weather and the reading required for getting normal fishing results ... Nevertheless normal conditions are still dependent on the ability of the fisherpersons themselves and the locations they fish. Normal fishing has been long accepted as times when barometric pressure rises or falls to around 1016 milibars and at the onset of that and going into a couple of tides at that reading before the bite rate starts to slow up again until the next fluctation and/or wind change or a sudden storm or a bout of rain that hasn't been forecast to occur ...... AND another good reason to fish on thru the rain and find shelter from wind and turbulence in the same place/s where fish would also seek shelter should surprise conditions or otherwise happen to continue as such.... We've had about ten days in a row now where the pressure has dropped right down on a few of those days to below 990 milibars including the natural drop of around 4-6 milibars during the night air - i.e. if night pressure and early morning pressure are close to one another by comparing the late afternoon pressure with the early morning reading, the pressure has actually risen 4-6 milibars at some stage during the night ... the fluctation should be depicted as either a night rise or an early morning rise and is still a desirable fluctation and assists the night fishing if you are on the water at the time and a rise before dawn livens up the early morning bite rate as well .... Low pressure can have a massive affect on the swim bladders of estuary fish that are normally comfortable in the shallows....there has not been all that many good results lately in estuarys even at middling depths and in the deepwater as well which gives estuary fish the relief they need from the pressure above. Extreme low pressure systems and long periods of average low pressure readings remaining around 1008 - 1006 milibars without fluctation can not only slow down the bite rate, but estuary fish, whilst being comfortable feeding at most depths under normal pressure conditions are actually unable to digest their food during severe bouts of low pressure...... Even top tournament fishermen have to work hard to meet the weigh in requirements in these types of constant low pressure readings and in some cases only a small percentage of competitors catch any fish at all, particularly fishing for bream ..... Pelagics and natural bottom dwellers are not affected to the same extent, although some days during ongoing low pressure readings even natural bottom fossickers shut down in estuarys....... Normally this time of year gives good summer barometric pressure readings going up by way of either sudden spikes in the system or steady rises to around 1030 milibars and steadying around that figure which gives us a good chance to next target the early wind change periods and fish in the direction of the new wind. A wind change tends to liven up the bite, and when the air pressure becomes too constant, it leads to a slow down in the bite rate and on some days causes fish to shutdown until the start of the next fluctuation and when the pressure is a rising fluctuation coming out of a low and so on..... Ongoing conditions day after day steadily reduce the bite periods just as they are are governed by the tides but for much longer periods... Fish being as they are feed spasmodically in accordance with tidal affect which governs the best bite period for each species.... Fish stock up their food when they feel the need to allow for unsuitable conditions which generally affect them and not us - in that we may have nice conditions for going outdoors and boating even tho most fishermen have a tendency to disregard the elements that led to their previous experiences with shutdown periods and just go out and have a nice day on the water all the same...... Having said that, there should be a lot of general action as soon as the present low pressure of 1005 and steady starts to rise... It is only natural that estuary compatable fish will snap out of their present mode as soon as the pressure starts to rise to at least normal atmospheric conditions that produce readings around 1016 milibars which has long been considered as being condusive to producing normal fishing results.... Albeit normal fishing conditions can still be difficult in getting decent results when fishing in areas where there is an overall shortage of fish or decent size fish. Take a look at the change to a north easterly aspect for the coming Saturday as predicted on Seabreeze as far as doing an overnighter and as far as having a 2pm start is concerned..... The top it all off factor for Saturday is the big question and that is will the pressure start to rise dramatically as it should by then..... and also watch for what time such a hoped for natural pressure rise does occur as that would determine the need to decide whether or not you should have an am or a pm start which should show in the barometric pressure readings by Friday....... Early next week just before and as the weather hots up also looks good at this stage and it would be great to be there during the wind change plus a pressure fluctation to boost the fishing along for you. I believe we will have a particularly good summer this year given the cooler outside temperatures compared to the current warm temperatures in our estuarys which will bring a lot of fish and estuary compatable pelagics into the Sydney systems and I'll bet there will be a lot of shark alarms in our beach areas as well. Have a Happy New Year Everyone & I wish you all a very successful year for 2009! Cheers jewgaffer Top Post as usual Jewgaffer.Funny how you mentioned about the sharks coming in.There were 3 sighted close to 3 Sydney eastern suburbs beaches today.Including 2 hammerheads.Man you know your stuff.Thanks for sharing that mate. Edited January 4, 2009 by sydfisher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASJ Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Thankyou Jewgaffer, I took your advice and went out to fish overnight on the beach at the entrance on the Saturday and it produced 2 jewies at 55cm and 70cm just before high tide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaune Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I believe we will have a particularly good summer this year given the cooler outside temperatures compared to the current warm temperatures in our estuarys which will bring a lot of fish and estuary compatable pelagics into the Sydney systems and I'll bet there will be a lot of shark alarms in our beach areas as well. Cheers jewgaffer You should be called Nostradamus or even Jew Gew Rew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulg Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 very informative Jewgaffer, might explain how this yr has been a lot slower for me so far compared to last summer. i normally fish for bream and flatties. I had a decent hall of bream on the 1st of dec 08, but nothing worth commenting on since. MR RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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