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I have fished in a lot of tournaments. In doing so it has forced me to fish in conditions I normally wouldn't fish in. This weekends weather is a pattern I dislike the most. based on past experience I would rather fish in the pouring rain then fish right after a front.

This is the way I see it. Saturday, Fishing should be very good with a lot of action. The fish will be feeding most all day (14lb. stringer). Sunday after the front the fish will turn off and will be Lucky to have a (9lb. stringer).

So I think about this all the time and a lot last night while trying to sleep. Here are my thoughts.
1. The fish don't just leave. Right?
2. Does the front make the fish feel sick, the same way we feel when we have a cold of flu and no appetite?
3. Do these fish feed so much the day before the front with the anticipation of the front that they lose their appetite?
4. Is it something else?

Any Thoughts............

I've thought the same thing. I still don't have the answer. Maybe someone does.

I have never thought about it that way. The "feeling sick" idea makes alot of sense to me. When your sick, you're not hungry. You don't know why, you just aren't. I think this plays a bigger part than anything.

Let's say the fish do feed heavily the day before, and are not hungry the following day. Fish are, from what I have read, genetically programmed to make "reaction strikes." The only way to get that reaction strike, is to bring the bait right infront of the fishes face. The chances of that happening are slim, therefore the amount of fish caught will be fewer.

Then again, we have all had the experience of putting a bait right infront of a nice fish and it either spooking, or worse, slowly swimming past it. This punches holes in the reaction strike theory.

I will say this. It is kinda fun not knowing. If we all knew the answer, the adventure of fishing would not be as much fun.

captkeyser wrote:I will say this. It is kinda fun not knowing. If we all knew the answer, the adventure of fishing would not be as much fun.

I agree, the mystery is the challenge and the challenge is the fun.

I've read that the reason for the binge is that they fear with barometric changes that food will be hard to find once the weather changes, and this spurns a survival-instinct binge. That being said, it is very likely that the reason they don't eat the next day is also fear. If food is hard to find, and they know they are food to larger fish, then they may instinctively have a 'run-and-hide' reaction. I've seen keysers scenario over and over again, including earlier this year when I literally hit a redfish in the head with a cajun thunder and he did not move. I believe it is not that they are not hungry, but that they are hiding. If that is the case, then they way to catch them is find them where they are at their most comfortable, for example a deep hole in relatively shallow water that offers some structural cover and or an easy 'escape' path. The few catches I manage on these days are consistent with that theory 95 percent of the time, but it's just that - a theory.

Mook! wrote:find them where they are at their most comfortable

I like that.....

My experience ain't noth'n compared to many of the folks on this forum (we'r talk'n fish'n now!) but it seems to me that the way fish react to the passage of a front depends on the time of year. In the winter time they do seem to shut down more than in the warmer months. Therefore is it possible that the both air and water temperature may have a lot to do with the degree of "shutdown" ? The issue of a "reaction" strike is interesting as well. My experience ( which we've already established ) has been that I see a lot more tendancy for a fish to produce a "reaction strike" in warm weather than in cold. Perhaps even for "just the fun of it". That would seem to add support to the "when and where they'r comfortable" theory (imo). The tendency to "feed ahead of a front" could be instinctive....they sense a change coming... they don't know how much of a change....but just in case lets eat good now just in case. I know fish are very senstive to pressure change but what that change triggers exactly,... well me and TY ain't sure. (hence this thread)

Mook, and Sir Reel I think that you are on to something. I has to be a little bit of everything. We should have this conversation again after the weekend. With this fresh in our minds we will be able to pay more attention to how each fish was caught. Game on!

You need to think like a bass fisherman...post front gotta go deep and slow. What's deep to a bass ain't necessarily deep to a trout or red fish ,could be a foot or six or a creek. My thoughts are they move to deeper water for comfort of temperature and ease of living.....25 knot winds on the flats has to be like socializing on the dance floor vice the bar.

My thought for the lack of bite in a post front condition is that the fish will gorge themselves prior to the front. I have also read that the fish can fill the changes in the barometer, not sure if they fill sick or just bloated...being that they have an air bladder...or maybe their just full of food. To intise a bite you would need to shake it in their face, make it easy...everyone likes easy....I don't think a reaction bait (topwater) would be a good choice, it may instigate a short strike, but the meat would come from a slowly worked bait.

Most all animals can sense the weather change, with exception to us...snakes climb trees prior to a big rain...insects move to higher ground or just move around more.

If I was fishing a tournament Sunday I would fish an area that holds fish consistently, use a trusted confidence bait and fish it slow.

Just my ramblings and thoughts, don't mean nothing...just my thoughts.

A good read - http://www.landbigfish.com/articles/default.cfm?ID=876

This is why I brought up this subject.

http://www.bigbendfishing.net/phpBB3/vi ... +Fools+day" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think fish are gonna hit when the feeding nature says to hit a bait. Full or not, the nature of a fish to feed or not depents on the timing of the presentation of the bait and the willingness of the fish to take the presentation or not. I've seen trout spitting out shrimp to take an artificial just because. Go figure...The fish are gonna hit what they wanna hit. Better have a choice in yo bag.

Chalk wrote: Most all animals can sense the weather change, with exception to us...snakes climb trees prior to a big rain...insects move to higher ground or just move around more.

You just wait till that arthritis sets up. My right knee lets me know when its gonna rain or be real messy.

I wish my FAT A$$ didn't want to eat after a front passed through!

Ty one on wrote:This is why I brought up this subject.

http://www.bigbendfishing.net/phpBB3/vi ... +Fools+day" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't think that it will be as bad as last April, at least the air temp will be in the mid 70's. Those fish will still be in the same place they were the day before, just not quite as hungry. I am predicting 12lbs wins it.