Winds - Good Days And Poor Days -what To Look For

[jewgaffer]

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'fishinnick' date='Jul 16 2009, 11:07 PM' post='315151']

1. .....so basically its about comfortability and obviously fishing with the wind going against the current makes fishing tough.

2. ........So from the saying southerly winds makes fish lazy and have to put the bait in front of their nose....... making fishing tougher.

3. .......but overal wind doesn't dramaticaly effect the fish as greatly as said just wives tales???

4. .....and more to do with barametric pressure influences turning fish off.

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Hi Everyone,

I was replying to a post from a friend of Esky6 and myself, Nick aka Fishinnick who lives on the waterfront and also goes out solo in his boat for a few hours whenever he gets the chance......In typing away, I found myself typing a lengthy reply post to Nick, so I decided to turn my reply into a topic as food for thought for those members who might be interested in finding ways to get more consistency in their results within the time frame/s they have available to fish.....

1. Finding where fish are in poor conditions and even in good conditions is one thing and comfort does come into it, not only for fish but for fishermen too.........In fact it would be true to say that if an ill wind etc comes up, where a boat fisherman needs to finds a good fishing spot with shelter to keep on fishing in reasonable comfort, fish are likely come in there with the run in tide looking for comfort also.....

As to the current running running against the wind direction - If there is a gusty cross wind or a wind that is blowing against the current and I find that I can't find a tie point to rope off a parachute to control the boat swing and keep it constant, I use a small side anchor known as a flook which when launched takes off like a torpedo and sets itself at 45 degrees to the boat and I use this particular anchor to hold the stern steadfast in the direction of the current ......a flook anchor s a great asset to have when you find the best tie off point along the side rail..... the more pull on the flook the more it digs in and holds on so well that it has to retrieved after the bow anchor is pulled up by driving over it.....

2. Wind direction is very important in that it's not only a matter of chasing the wind to hopefully find fish in the direction of where the wind blows into the closest shore line, point or structure, it depends on what type of wind it is, not only for your own comfort but also for the comfort of fish....

...For instance if you don't do any good after trying on the downwind side and around the corners of points etc, you might have to think along opposite lines and cross over and fish wind protected under a likely looking hill, rock face or bluff or high vegetation etc that provide relief from the wind.....as the fish might prefer to school up on that side and, depending on the day they could be schooled up in either deep or shallow water...For instance sunlight, pressure on swim bladders, depth on shut down days which include constant southerly's in winter bringing cold upon cold or a change to the west which often only brings in more cold from the ranges and another cold wind is pretty useless in the Sydney area...

3. It's a wind change that you are looking for for good hit and run days during the known bite tides for the species.....I get more up and go if the front from where the wind is coming from is the result of there being a good front in that area, i.e a warmer front in winter and cool relief after constant below average results on ongoing hot fine summer days which generally are great boating days, but these days are generally mediocre fishing days with a steady barometer staying up around 1030 and not fluctuating at all....during these types of days it's much better to fish at night if you can......

4. Not saying you can't go out and catch a couple of fish but it only takes a bit of planning to decide when to go and after a while you'll get to know the times that give you the best chances that is after you get to know the optimum feeding period for the species and the relationship to the tides, as fish are spasmodic feeders and also go on a binge to stock up food to allow for whatever conditions will come next .....

As to the barometer..... I have studied conditions for long enough now looking for the best days to go out and either decide to have a morning session or have an afternoon session and fish on into the night instead.....I have found that although you still have to persevere with fishing to get good result, in my opinion the following information is sound enough to go off and form your own conclusions :

Fishing is normally best during rising barometric pressure and for the first hour or two of falling pressure. Sudden changes in pressure usually see fish in feeding mode.

Fishing is generally always poor during low or constant barometric pressure.

In summary.......Steady rise continuing = best .......

......Rapid rate of rise or rapid rate of fall = good until pressure steadies and bite starts to slow......

.....Ongoing steady pressure = poor fishing .... I.E. Ongoing days of steady barometric pressure often give us the nicest of boating days, however you have to generally have to work hard to find fish, or start early and leave early or start in the late afternoon and work overtime into the night to do any good at all...

.......Falling pressure continuing = good fishing at first and then changing to poor.......

Hope this helps, particulay those who live near the water and especially those who have to travel a long distance to the water to try to catch a few fish...

Cheers

jewgaffer

[cut_loose]

Thanks mate im going to save this on my hard drive to read up later incase i forget

Thanks for the great info

[anthony f]

Very interesting and a subject that could be open to many views. As for the barometric pressure I will 100% agree with, the wind on the other hand I have a couple of other ideas which may be worth considering. Jewfish and tailor maybe more active around rock area when there is a stiff S/E blowing and a fishing conditions are not fun. There is also the point that fish will gather at the side of lake or dam that the wind is blowing to. They do this because the wind will blow food to these areas not sheltered areas. So do fish hide from wind? All in all this could be one of those things only a fish would know and that would also depend on what type of fish you are.

I think this subject is one that may fall into that area of agree to dis-agree, cheers TDH

Just had to add an edit in saying yes wind affects fish but this will change from breed to breed and even I have a theory that when those cold westerly blow at the start of winter it signals bream and blackfish to enter estuaries to spawn. Now there is another theory waiting to be blown(so to speak) out of the water

Edited July 17, 2009 by TDH

[jewgaffer]

Very interesting and a subject that could be open to many views. As for the barometric pressure I will 100% agree with, the wind on the other hand I have a couple of other ideas which may be worth considering. Jewfish and tailor maybe more active around rock area when there is a stiff S/E blowing and a fishing conditions are not fun. There is also the point that fish will gather at the side of lake or dam that the wind is blowing to. They do this because the wind will blow food to these areas not sheltered areas. So do fish hide from wind? All in all this could be one of those things only a fish would know and that would also depend on what type of fish you are.

I think this subject is one that may fall into that area of agree to dis-agree, cheers TDH

Just had to add an edit in saying yes wind affects fish but this will change from breed to breed and even I have a theory that when those cold westerly blow at the start of winter it signals bream and blackfish to enter estuaries to spawn. Now there is another theory waiting to be blown(so to speak) out of the water

No way your reply will be blown out of the water TDH. I for one agree with your added advice 100 %, especially coming from an older member that has as much grass roots experience as your have in fishing and also commercial prawn farming on the far north coast..... I also like what you say in regards to a cold temperature drop from the west at the start of winter which no doubt does encourage spawning size autumn and winter fish to come in to a river to do their breeding bit according to the conditions for the female breeding cycle and spawn where their roe will best survive.... In Sydney it seems we have a case of multi spawing going on at the moment, particularly in Botany Bay from months back and moreso lately it seems in the lower Hawkesbury in regard to jewfish ... We've had long bouts of cold down here but good estuary temperatures and 20 degrees is the air temperature forecast for Sunday or Monday, so we could higher temperatures earlier provided Sydney is not subject to too many cold fronts from the south.

Thanks for your interest in my post TDH and keep up the good work in the Clarence.

Cheers

jewgaffer

[olitay]

your a wealth of knowledge Byron!

[tan the fisherman]

We should write a book Byron - you talk , I'll type !!

[screech]

great info and is what i was wandering!

thanks heaps Byron!

now a matter of getting out there and putting the theories to test or when the wind starts to pick up (im sure no one wants to pack up and go home) chase and find the fish!

nick