Influence of Weather on the Pike-perch Bite | Best Periods for Fishing for Walleye
Pike perch is one of the predatory fish.
In the summer, most often pike perch is caught on:
Spinning;
Zherlitsy;
Donku;
Mugs.
In winter, pike perch is actively caught on:
Balance;
Spoons;
Tulka;
Pieces of fish.
However, in order to return home with a good catch, it is not enough to take into account only the bait and the technique of presenting this bait.
For quite a long time there was an opinion that Active Fishing for Pike perch lasts from May until late autumn. However, over time, the opinion of fishermen has changed radically, since under certain conditions that are favorable for Pike perch, this fish can be successfully caught all year round.
The best periods for catching pike perch are, by right, the following:
Early spring;
October month.
The choice of these periods is not accidental, since it is at this time that the water temperature is most favorable, as a result of which not only pike perch but also pike and perch are active.
Reasons for changes in fish behavior related to atmospheric pressure
In general, this topic requires detailed study if you want to thoroughly study various physiological processes and their dependence on atmospheric pressure.
Various theories regarding the effects of pressure on fish behavior have previously been pointed out. Here the clearest and most accessible explanation should be given, which takes into account fish as living beings that, like many others, react to pressure.
People with low blood pressure, as a rule, become lethargic and apathetic, something similar is observed in fish.
Likewise, with high pressure, the blood vessels become smaller and a greater appetite appears, which in turn makes the inhabitants of the water more interested in searching for food. Although the characteristics of each individual variety should be taken into account.
Best Weather for Fishing for Walleye | Interesting Feature
If we talk about Weather conditions, we can note that the Pike perch lies on the Bottom before the storm.
That is why, if the Forecast for the near future predicts Squally wind, Heavy rain, Hail, etc., then going Fishing makes no sense, since the probability of returning home with a catch is almost zero.
In addition, take into account this interesting feature. If the sun shines brightly for several hours, and then the weather suddenly begins to slowly deteriorate, the sky becomes cloudy, then the pike perch, as a rule, begins to become more active.
Weather Also Affects At What Distance the Fish Is from the Surface of the Water Surface:
If there is a Strong wave, then there is a high probability that the fish will try to be as Deep as possible;
If the water is Calm, the weather is Sunny, but there is no intense heat, then the pike perch may well be at a distance from the surface of the water not exceeding 1 meter.
In addition, in favorable, comfortable weather, fish can also go to areas of the reservoir whose depth does not exceed 2 meters. However, there is no point in fishing if the sun shines through the pond to the bottom.
Under such weather conditions, you are unlikely to catch this predator, since it:
Firstly, it does not like clear water;
Secondly: the heat.
During the heat, the fish can find shelter in the Sandbank not far from the shore, so it makes sense to try your luck there.
If we talk about the time of day, then we can say that pike perch takes bait perfectly both at night and during the day. At dawn, small specimens are more likely to peck, while large ones go “hunting” mainly at dusk.
By the way, about Favorable Weather and Atmospheric Pressure for Pike Fishing Read here.
Pike perch on the Reservoir. Super Fishing in Bad Weather | Video
Forecasting the pike perch bite based on atmospheric pressure
Well, now, having information about how the pike perch bite depends on the location of the cyclones, let’s move on directly to the forecasting method. To do this you will need very little: a barometer, a TV and a little time. Instead of a TV, it is even better to have a computer with Internet access. Well, of course, you know where north, south, east and west are relative to your home.
First, you need to record the barometer readings at the moment and watch a television broadcast of the weather forecast (more or less accurate locations of cyclones and anticyclones are shown on NTV and sometimes on RTR, if the forecast is based on satellite photos). It is also necessary to note where the wind is blowing from in order to determine in whose zone of influence - a cyclone or an anticyclone - we are currently located.
A cyclone is an area of low pressure, usually colored blue or gray on maps, respectively, an anticyclone is an area of high pressure, indicated in orange or red. Weather forecasting websites often show animated satellite photos of the cyclone appearing as a mass of clouds rotating counterclockwise. This must be remembered. There is no cloudiness in the anticyclone, and this area of high pressure rotates clockwise - let's remember this too. Now it is completely clear that when the anticyclone approaches Moscow from the west on the right side, one should expect northerly winds. As the anticyclone moves from west to east, the wind will weaken and the atmospheric pressure will increase until we find ourselves in its center. And if the anticyclone does not change the direction of movement, then the pressure after passing the center will begin to fall, and we, having reached the rear part of the anticyclone, will expose our face to the southern wind. With a cyclone, everything is exactly the opposite: at the entrance there is a south wind (of course, if the cyclone comes at us from the west, as in Fig. 2), a drop in pressure, at the exit there is an increase in atmospheric pressure and a north wind. It is not difficult to determine that the westerly wind is either the bottom of a cyclone, or the top of an anticyclone, etc.
By checking the weather forecast data with changes in the readings of your barometer needle and the direction and strength of the wind, you can quite accurately determine where we are in the cyclone or anticyclone. It is very important not to miss the moment when their movement is shown on the screen (usually a few seconds) in order to predict their combination and interaction for the next couple of days in advance. You can ignore the air temperature, and daily observations of changes in the atmosphere are sometimes very fascinating.
Favorable Atmospheric Pressure for Fishing for Pike-perch
Note that the Appetite of a predator has a very beneficial effect on the Increasing Atmospheric Pressure.
This is explained quite simply:
Under conditions of Increasing pressure, the Oxygen concentration in the water increases significantly, which in turn leads to the fact that various types of fish begin to show greater activity, thereby provoking Pike perch to start hunting for them;
Rapidly falling atmospheric pressure, on the contrary, negatively affects the Appetites of fish, since the Oxygen Content is noticeably reduced, and therefore Activity is reduced.
However, if you have already come to Fishing and do not want to return home without a catch, then you can try to attract the attention of Pike perch with the help of Artificial baits, Bright, provocative colors. If there are no other unfavorable factors, then you may well be lucky.
Optimal atmospheric pressure for fishing
As is clear from the previously cited facts, different pressures are optimal for different types of fish. Predators are more active at gradually reduced pressure, non-predators are more active at high pressure. Increasing pressure affects the density of water and non-predators become more comfortable in the upper layers.
Phases of atmospheric pressure changes
These phases should be considered as the least effective in terms of biting. If sudden changes are observed, underwater inhabitants may completely stop their activity until the pressure stabilizes.
Signs of pressure changes
It is actually quite easy to detect pressure changes. For example, in the summer, any changes in the weather indicate changes in pressure, in particular, if such changes are very significant, for example, warm weather changed to rain.
In winter, pressure changes are less significant, although they have a greater impact on fish activity.
Stages of Weather Change | Improvement of the Pike perch bite from 8°C to 12°C
Such Factors include water temperature. The most favorable temperature for pike perch is around 8°. At a temperature of 12° this Predator develops a good appetite.
In the summer, during intense heat, Pike perch is practically inactive; it mainly hides in various cool places. Also, calm occurs if the temperature drops below 8°.
In order not to waste time fishing in vain, we recommend that you first measure the water temperature in different parts of the reservoir using a Thermometer.
If you go winter fishing, then remember that the warmest water is located above the bottom surface. Usually its temperature there is 4°C.
If the Wind rises or the Tide begins, which helps to increase the Oxygen content in the water, then the Pike perch also begins to behave more actively.
When the weather changes, especially in Summer, the predator also switches to “Other” mode. After the spawning of pike perch, a strong Zhor comes, i.e. from about the end of June, so during this period you can catch it almost 24 hours a day.
Daytime pike perch bites are most likely between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.;
The evening bite usually starts from 18:00 to 19:00;
On shallow edges, pike perch feeds from about 21:00 until the morning. The fish move to the deep edges around 5 am, so it is better to catch it before Dawn.
Zander fishing and the wind
Finding and catching pike perch in the vast expanse of water is a difficult task, especially if you do not use special equipment. On most reservoirs, to successfully search for and catch pike perch, anglers use boats and echo sounders, with the help of which they track not only the bottom topography, but also accumulations of small things, primarily bleak. And then, around the discovered fish cloud, fishing is carried out.
While most fishermen do this, cutting the water surface for many kilometers with boats, let us pay attention to the experience of some spinners who successfully caught pike perch from the shore. The peculiarity of the behavior of this fish they noticed can significantly simplify the task of successfully catching pike perch, especially for novice anglers. True, such fishing is possible only in certain places, and unfortunately, not every day.
How to combine pike perch fishing with the wind...
Fishing offshore
We are not talking about catching pike perch from the shore in the classical sense, when a spinner tries to reach the steep coastal edges with a jig head and makes the longest casts. The option of fishing just under the shore, even a few centimeters from the water's edge, will be considered.
What drives pike perch under the shore? When and where should you look for it? The answer is given to us by experienced spinning fishermen who have successfully practiced summer and autumn pike perch fishing in this way on individual reservoirs for many years. Moreover, the fish in the catches are usually of decent size from 1 to 5 kg.
The essence of the matter is this. It turns out that the wind is driving the pike perch under the shore. The remaining factors by which anglers usually choose fishing spots and predict the bite - day, night, rain, temperature, etc., do not have a significant impact on pike perch.
In windy weather, pike perch tends to the surf shore, to where a large wave washes away a steep ledge, collects mud and debris there, whips up foam and forms the boundaries of muddy and clear water. Moreover, the larger the wave, the more active the pike perch behaves and the more successful its fishing on the surf shore.
Exposure to wind
This does not mean hurricanes, during which the bite of any fish stops. To catch pike perch you need a steady and fairly strong wind. Then the predator moves from its usual deep-sea anchorages, and it is already difficult to achieve a bite on the most promising edges. And it is a few centimeters from the shore.
Many believe that this phenomenon is based on the behavior of small fish and the amount of oxygen in the water. The mud from the erosion of steep slopes collects small fish on the surf shore. Oxygen-enriched water is also driven there, which pike perch really likes. If in cold times (autumn) the wind is warm, then this is even better. Then the warmed water near the surf shore will attract flocks of bleak and roach like a magnet.
In general, exposure to wind always has a positive effect on the activity of pike perch. The following situation occurs very often. In calm, sunny weather, the predator seems to be caught, but very sluggishly. Then a cyclone comes, the wind rises, and waves roll across the pond. The water is enriched with oxygen. At this time, the pike perch becomes active many times and its biting begins. Then it’s worth looking for interesting coastal cliffs on which the waves break, and fishing for them first. And when the wind subsides, the bite along the shore also stops.
Bottom relief
It is known that in deep water pike perch always sticks to steep edges, but finding it on a flat plateau is very rare. The same is true for coastal fishing. A typical place where pike perch fishing from the shore should be carried out is a pronounced coastal underwater ledge, with a sharp difference in depth of at least 30 cm, and preferably 1 - 2 meters.
Usually these are rocky, sandy-stone shores or clay cliffs, washed away by the current. On the river, a characteristic place is the bend of the river with a sinkhole. On a reservoir, everything is decided by the terrain.
Finding such a place is luck. It’s especially not bad if there is a deep-water channel next to the steep surf bank, and the bottom in this place deepens stepwise towards the main watercourse of the reservoir, which can be tracked by simply casting a heavy jig.
Sometimes, if the bottom ledge allows, wiring should be done along the shore itself, and not a meter or two from it, but literally a few centimeters from the coastline. In this case, the bait does not need to be cast, but simply lowered into the water from the tip of the rod.
Features of gear and fishing
If you can walk along the shore, then the retrieve can be done by moving the fisherman himself, while the game is set by twitching the tip of the rod. Most often, pike perch takes bait at the border between clear and muddy water.
You need to choose a longer rod for coastal trolling. This will greatly simplify the game with bait in the coastal zone. It is better to use a braided fishing line, since in windy weather the windage of the fishing line itself greatly affects the fishing. And braid can be used much thinner than monofilament with the same breaking loads.
In windy weather, you will have to use baits slightly overloaded with jig heads - for better control of the game in gusts of wind. Posting the jig does not play a special role, since the pike perch, if it has gone under the shore, is always very active and there is no need to force it to take the bait.
You can try bottom wobblers instead of jigs, although there is not much point in this. The actual choice of bait and installation of tackle is an individual undertaking. If you fish with a spoon... - well, experimentation in this matter is always useful. The main thing is to catch a breaking wave under a steep bank, and preferably not far from the channel current. Of course, no one can guarantee you a catch; it all depends on the fisherman himself and his desire to make his way along steep banks in bad weather.
Interestingly, the attraction of pike perch to the coastline is not the same throughout the year. Spring pike perch, as a rule, does not approach the shore at all and concentrates along the main channel and the edges adjacent to it. Therefore, fishing for pike perch in the spring should be carried out in open spaces and deep waters.
During this period, a boat is needed to survey the edges far from the shore. But at the end of summer and autumn, this fish visits the shore more and more often. Typically, coastal catches are associated precisely with the first cold snaps in September and October. And the success of catching pike perch will also be directly dependent on the angler’s ability to take advantage of weather favorable for fishing and catch his wind. We wish the same for you.
Weather signs and pike perch bite
And finally, a few signs:
- If there is a decent wind blowing after midnight, then there is a high probability of rain during the day, and there is very little chance of catching a walleye.
- If the wind changes counterclockwise during the day (for example, first it blew from the west, and then from the southwest or south), the pike perch bite is very bad,
- It is believed that in summer, in hot weather, it is better to catch pike perch at night and in the morning and evening twilight, but I also advise you to pay attention to days with persistent heat, a weak wind of 0-2 m/sec and short thunderstorms in the afternoon. On such days, the pike perch bites quite steadily from the morning until the thunderstorm, then it begins to be capricious, but the catch is already decent.
- There are good catches of pike perch when at dawn the sun rises from behind a cloud, and not from the horizon. The evening bite is also longer and will please you when the sunset turns into a cloud. It gets dark, however, a little faster, but the pike perch bites excellently and starts a little earlier than usual.
I would not like to instill pessimism in readers - after all, after reading everything written above, one might think that pike perch bites are extremely rare and only with a certain combination of cyclones and anticyclones. In reality, pike perch hunts almost every day, just in different ways, and if you want, you can always find the key to success. If you often go to the river, are good with a spinning rod and have sufficiently studied the fishing spots, then most likely you will catch one or two pike perch in any case, although sometimes this may take quite a lot of time, perseverance and imagination. Well, if you don’t have the opportunity to visit the reservoir often, then it is better to plan a fishing trip with the highest probability of catching pike perch and tasting excellent fish soup. This is where knowledge of the dependence of the bite on weather conditions can come in very handy.
Evgeniy Avdonin: Meteor dependence of pike perch
Does the pike perch bite depend on the weather?
And if it depends, then how? Knowing the correct answers to these questions will allow you to plan a fishing trip with the highest probability of catching pike perch. There are a lot of different theories explaining the dependence of pike perch on atmospheric processes, sometimes these theories fundamentally contradict each other. Which one should you follow? The answer is simple: practical experience will trump all theories. The author of this article, Evgeny Avdonin from the city of Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod region, spends an average of 270 days a year on the river with a spinning rod. Many years of experience in catching pike perch from a boat using jig baits allowed him to conclude that of all meteorological processes, the dynamics of interaction between cyclones and anticyclones has a decisive influence on the activity of pike perch. At the beginning of the article, we should immediately make a reservation that the pike perch bite itself varies greatly depending on the time of year and other factors, but I will only touch on the influence of weather conditions on it.
Typically, fishermen associate fish bite with concepts that are closest to them, such as air temperature, wind direction, precipitation, and moon phase. In my opinion, these factors are more noticeable in our habitat, and not in the aquatic environment, although everything in nature is interconnected and both environments have some influence on each other. However, in fact, the most significant impact on the well-being and, naturally, the activity of pike perch is exerted by the processes occurring during the interaction of cyclones and anticyclones. I came to this conclusion by analyzing the results of my fishing trips over the past few years.
