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Flathead and barometric pressure?


LuckyFil

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Went for a fish with son Pat yesterday arvo  ( more than 4 meters apart most of the time) at Narrabeen lagoon. It's probably our sixth session there over the last few months - we often go for a late flick there at sunset after he's finished work. It has been real quiet of late with only a few hits and mostly coming home with none. 

But yesterday was very different - we landed 7 flathead and had a few more hits in just 1 hour of fishing! All fish slammed the plastics like there was no tomorrow. Only two fish were keepers 1 about 48cm and the other around 45cm, all the rest were very small around 20 - 25 cm. But the puzzle was why they were suddenly on the bite after so many dud sessions of late?

I noticed before we went out the barometric pressure was 1025 which is quite high. I know bass and jewies are supposed to be heavily affected by air pressure but hadn't heard of it affecting other species such as flathead. Any comments from fellow Fishraiders?

Cheers

 

Phil

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My guess is the tide was just right for their feeding pattern, never seen a Flathead with a barometer! and they only have to swim off a sandbank into a gutter to alter pressure, way more than air pressure changes.

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I think your spot might’ve also held bait, generally as a rule if there’s bait & the conditions are right eg barometeric pressure is high = fish, there are a lot of other variables such as water temp, weather conditions, water turbidity, time of year, sexual activity (of fish),etc

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Over the 40 years I've kept a diary, I've found no correlation between good/poor flathead catches and barometer readings.

From what I understand, fish sense barometric pressure through their swim bladders and flathead don't have one.

I'd say you were just in the right place at the right time and most likely bait in the area.

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I have said this before, species like Bass might not be influenced by air pressure, but the bugs and insects they often feed on are, Cicadas in summer spring to mind, huge nests of flying bugs hatch/emerge during certain weather conditions, these land/fall into the water, making an easy feed for Trout and so on.

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I think I read somewhere that extensive testing was carried out, and air pressure changes (even big changes) are nearly impossible to measure under water, simply because water doesn't compress to transfer the change. Not saying sometimes approaching storms and the like don't influence fishing, but, it's possible other "stuff" happens at the same time. Lots say certain winds are no good for fishing, yet, I have done a lot of diving and never seen it windy underwater yet! it's all theory and hope.

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Hi Phil,

Short answer is I don't think it matters at all from a saltwater fishes perspective.

Longer answer - what are your science and math skills like. I raised this question from a theoretical worst case scenario and did the math a few years back. This was the resulting post:

Try the numbers and then convert the pressure to inches or mm of water column. The daily tides and wakes we see in the water system would have a more noticeable impact than the pressure changes.

I think you were in the right place at the right time.

Regards,

Derek

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1 hour ago, 61 crusher said:

I think your spot might’ve also held bait, generally as a rule if there’s bait & the conditions are right eg barometeric pressure is high = fish, there are a lot of other variables such as water temp, weather conditions, water turbidity, time of year, sexual activity (of fish),etc

thats a good explanation!

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9 hours ago, blindmullet said:

1020 fish-a-plenty 😉

 

 

8 hours ago, noelm said:

My guess is the tide was just right for their feeding pattern, never seen a Flathead with a barometer! and they only have to swim off a sandbank into a gutter to alter pressure, way more than air pressure changes.

 

8 hours ago, 61 crusher said:

I think your spot might’ve also held bait, generally as a rule if there’s bait & the conditions are right eg barometeric pressure is high = fish, there are a lot of other variables such as water temp, weather conditions, water turbidity, time of year, sexual activity (of fish),etc

 

8 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

Over the 40 years I've kept a diary, I've found no correlation between good/poor flathead catches and barometer readings.

From what I understand, fish sense barometric pressure through their swim bladders and flathead don't have one.

I'd say you were just in the right place at the right time and most likely bait in the area.

 

6 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi Phil,

Short answer is I don't think it matters at all from a saltwater fishes perspective.

Longer answer - what are your science and math skills like. I raised this question from a theoretical worst case scenario and did the math a few years back. This was the resulting post:

Try the numbers and then convert the pressure to inches or mm of water column. The daily tides and wakes we see in the water system would have a more noticeable impact than the pressure changes.

I think you were in the right place at the right time.

Regards,

Derek

 

5 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

To add to the above comments, I notice we have just gone through the period of the dark moon and that could have made the prawns more active. I've always found plastics to be a good option when the prawns are about.

Thanks for all your feedback guys - lots of good info and insights.

Given all that I suspect barometric pressure wasn't the issue but other factors such as bait sources like prawns (the dark of the moon as Green Hornet said) and I did notice plenty of swirls as we waded around - probably poddy mullet, which are both prime food for flatties.

Whatever the reason it was nice to have a fun session for a change!

Cheers

Fil

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I caught 9 flatties off jibbon 2 weeks age and noted that they had started to roe up again and looked like another spawning was occuring.  Maybe so many small ones were there were males with a female or 2 close by?  Ron

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Guest123456789

Tide, water temp, air temp, water clarity, wind, light, current, swell, rain, moon and upwelling/downwelling is what I look at. Never paid attention to barometric  pressure.

 

 

Edited by Guest123456789
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