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We know it often matters but how is it that wind direction can make such a difference? It's not hard to figure the physical effects of wind direction, like pushing bait, higher-lower-faster-slower tides etc. But I would think those kinds of issues would change patterns that could be adjusted to but sometimes wind direction shuts down fish completely.

Any ideas?

Wind out of the east fish bite the least...because that normally is the wind direction following a front or high pressure, which is associated with barometric pressure....High pressure tends to shut the fish down....

It's the opposite for the approaching weather, barometer drops and the fish turn on....

It's the barometric pressure.....wind is just associated with it....If I understand your question correctly...

I've also pondered and noticed weather patterns associated with major moon activity...maybe coincidental....just seems to work like that

Thanks, that's why I asked. For some reason I hadn't used my brain & made the connection between high/low pressure and wind direction.

It's all a matter of havin your stand upwind instead of down wind of the fish

From another forum

Fishermen sometimes have ideas or opinions about the marine environment that do not stand up to scientific scrutiny. For example, many anglers believe that changes in barometric pressure strongly influence fish behavior—most notably their willingness to cooperate with anglers. Some have even written that fish can detect a change in barometric pressure before it occurs. An interesting notion, perhaps, though in almost all instances it is incorrect.

A rise or fall in barometric pressure, such as with an approaching cold front, usually means a shift in the weather pattern. And it is the change in the weather, not any fluctuation in barometric pressure, that affects both the fish and the fishing. In fact, most saltwater species probably aren’t even aware of barometric variations.

Pressure, whether in the air or in the ocean, is expressed by scientists as units of “atmosphere.â€

It does make a difference in the direction I drift.

"Fishermen sometimes have ideas or opinions about the marine environment that do not stand up to scientific scrutiny."
Thanks Stock,
I was really hoping that I was about to read some scientific evidence.
Didn't happen. Not at least in terms of what fish do. The general hypothesis presented was that the changes in pressure are so subtle & slow that fish wouldn't (likely) perceive the difference. Ok. So where's the evidence, aka scientific scruitny? He does note that there are correlations in weather and pressure.
So, please correct me if I’m missing something, but aren’t we still here:

Littoral wrote:… but how is it that wind direction can make such a difference?

Yes we are still on your orginal question. What direction are you casting/fishing, are you casting in such a manner that youre retrieving across where the boat has already drifted, thats possible. Do most flats fish feed into the wind? Often the wind blows a different direction than what the current is flowing. Therefore, any presentation on the surface would be just about be impossible to make it look natural to the fish. With the wind and waves forcing your line, leader and fly to move all over the place. I do not have the answer, only a guess.

Presentation is certainly affected by wind but those are basic issues we deal with if we're actually paying attention, like fishing water we just drifted over.
For me the jury is still out for ever using wind direction as a cue for anticipating productivity. Tides and Temp are variables I can sort pretty consistently but pre/post frontal-barometric-wind direction issues are the ones I don't have a feel for. Maybe they're just lesser in terms of influence so establishing their pattern is disguised by greater variables such as the tides & temps.
Whatever.
I couldn't fish today so I guess I'm trying to engage my fish brain the only way I know how.
Still like to know how the wind direction makes a difference.

Sorry, just trin to help with an answer.

I used to check the solunar tables, the forecast, the barrometric pressure, and the moon phase before I went fishing. Now I check the weather, to see if I'm gonna freeze to death, get rained on, or get blown away. When I used all of this information for a fishing trip, I would fish hard durnig the major and minor feeding periods. I didn't concentrate wel during the off times. Now I go fishing. I don't know when the feeding times are, and I fish hard the entire day. If I'm not catching fish, I adjust what I'm doing. And, I catch more fish.

Lit, you're correct. Dr. Ross presented no scientific evidence. I know from experience that when the barrometric pressure is up there, there isn't a cloud in the sky, and when the wind is out of the east, fishing is going to be tough. Dr. Ross has not convinced me otherwise.

The bottom line is "the best time to fish is when you can".

And the best way ta catch is to have a bait in the water

This is a great post. DStockwell's cite was right on the money. Although barametric pressure itself may not result in drastic changes to fish behavior; it is catalyst for many elements that are. Changes in barametric pressure lead to wind that pushes water in and out of specific locations (changing the amount of structure and the angler's ability to locate it), changes the direction water flow (which can either raise food off the ocean floor or push it down), creates turbidity affecting visibility (the ability to feed) and to some degree temperature (the desire to feed). How all these factors will line up as a result of any specific change in pressure or consequential change in wind (either direction or strength) is anyone's guess. Especially since the results will be different depending upon tides (moon phases) and other daily variables. As with any experiment, it is hard to predict an outcome if there are too many variables and not enough constants.

Everyone has a theory on what the best combination is, but I tend to agree with chalk-"wind out of the east fish bite the least." In the end, everyone gets it right sometimes and wrong others, but you can't catch fish if you don't have a lure in the pond. Good luck, and let me know if you figure out the equation.

"Fishermen sometimes have ideas or opinions about the marine environment that do not stand up to scientific scrutiny." Dr. Ross


Is this a duck hunting thread.....cuz all I hear is a "QUACK"

Based upon years of scientific observation and research performed from the deck of a fishing boat and fish mood sensor (fishing rod w/ bait), I have categorically observed that inshore and freshwater fish respond to changes in barametric pressure.

Littoral wrote:Thanks, that's why I asked. For some reason I hadn't used my brain & made the connection between high/low pressure and wind direction.

I think we need to conduct some more analysis, throw in a few variables and constants and form a hypothesis....

Then....


Then....

Do it all over again, for good measure and again and again