Barometric Pressure- How do you know if it is high or low

[Kbeever]

Besides the bluebird skys, how do you know if you are in a high pressure system or low pressure? Is there a low reading and a high reading that is found at some weather site? If so, what specifically is are those readings?

I checked the web and found a bunch of different numbers and still was confused.

If someone can shed some light on this subject, I would appreciate it.

[Nunyo Bizness]

Kbeever,
Try this: http://www.weather.com .Type in the zip code of your area of interest. The Barometric pressure will be something around 29.92 (maybe a bit lower or higher depending of the area you ask for). This is where you can find the pressure reading. I'm sure there are others who can tell you far better then I what it all means and why. Check out your local newscast for weather and some of them have good info for your local area.

J.Younce

[Ray L.]

Well frankly I just look at my Barometer to find out the weather....
Sorry just had to

[tunaman]

BRILLIANT, Rae El!!! Noe wunder your so smart!


Actually, even more important than whether it's high or low pressure is what the movement is... if it's steady and stable it has less influence than if it has been moving. That's why, when they refer to barometric pressure, they qualify it by stating that it is either "rising", "falling" or "steady". I think the worse effect, in general (and if I'm not mistaken), is when it is rising. Rising barometric pressure proceeds a storm front and usually precludes "bluebird skies". Conversely, I think it the best influence is when it is falling, as that typically preceedes a storm front approaching. Unless of course you live in a trailer in the Mid-West, at which point you should probably pack some stuff and get ready to evacuate!

Roger

[Oldschool]

Lets make a guess that the reason you want to know the pressure change is how it may affect your bass fishing.
The weather factor that you may be refering to is frontal conditions.
In the west we have coastal geography that is very different than the typical conditions you read about in the southeast, for example.
High pressure is is what brings the west winds, the wind stops and we have the norminal 29 to 30 inches sea level pressure. When the pressure drops it is because of a storm front approaching from either the north or south. Cold weather from the north and warm wet weather form the south. The fronts from the north affect our fishing the most because of the cold wind that follows and is called a cold front. When southern storms approach it usually a light or steady rain, clears without a servere cold front and the strong windy conditions and bright clear sky conditions. The northern front along our coast brings cold storms and windy frontal conditions, followed by bright clear skies that can affect fishing.
So look to see where the weather system is coming from, that is important. Whatever occurs, fish deeper breaks.
IMO it's the bright clear sky and wind that affects the fisherman more than the bass. If you are fishing shallow cover less than 5 feet, barometric pressure change may affect those bass, the deeper bass should less affected by cold fronts.
Tom

[Pred]

Standard temp is 29.92. If you are at Sea Level 29.96-8 is closer to reality and likewise 29.89 etc is normal at higher alts.

If its 30.XX its High and the fish may be harder to catch. If its 29.92 or less, they in theory should be easier to catch.

However one thing about fish is they dont know if we are expereincing a different or unusual weather season, they just go places that the CURRENT weather dictates. If its going up, they dont like it. Down they get more active.

[mark poulson]

How come the bite will be tough for tournament fishermen when it's high pressure, but not for the guys fishing shad?

[Oldschool]

Barometric pressure is one of the more misunderstood factors in bass fishing. Fishermen like to believe the bass see, hear, feel things like people do. We don't live under water. We do live in the atmosphere that can have very high or low percentages of humidity that contains water particles. High barometeric pressures can push the high humid air into low pressure areas forming clouds and defusing the sunlight. Low pressure creates a condition where airbourne insects become very active, this activity gets the whole food chain active, including the bass. When the high pressure pushes the low pressure system eastward, on the west coast, the air becomes very clear, the humidity drops low, flying insects stop moving around and everything tends to be less active.
How a few millibars of atmospheric pressure affects a bass is guess work. 100 millibars of atmospheric pressure is eqaul to about 3" additional of water pressure and water displaces pressure evenly on any object in it, like fish. The bass only needs to make a few inches of depth change to off set high barometric pressure changes.
IMO the pressure change affects the bass because the whole ecosystem is less active, the sky is extremely bright and clear, so the bass become less active, not inactive.
Live bait is another topic all on it's own. Keep in mind the bright sun light allows the bass to see things in clear water very well and bass are sight feeders under good light conditions and can be selective when they are less active.
Tom

[Kbeever]

Thanks guys for the input, that helps a lot.

Yes, my reasoning for asking the question is for fishing. I have a friend who fishes Mead and won't throw topwater on high pressure days stating the "Bass don't eat topwater on those days".

So my thought was I would not fish as much reaction baits on those high pressure days and fish the deeper areas.

It is amazing how some days I will throw a swimbait all day and not get bit, then two days later, whack em good. And as you know with a swimbait, you have to stay with it to be consistent. So if I can eliminate those low probability days, I can concentrate my efforts on other patterns.

Keith