Most valuable info before hitting the water..

TravisH · Post by **TravisH** » Thu Aug 23, 2018 6:15 am

Hey there guys, What’s your main piece of info you look into before hitting the water... example some guys look at Weather, Tide , moon phase , barometer...Or do you just go fish the moment with confidence.....

johnabsmith · Post by **johnabsmith** » Thu Aug 23, 2018 8:16 am

#1. make sure the drain plug is in.

I'll check the tide and consider the moon phase other than that.

monte300 · Post by **monte300** » Thu Aug 23, 2018 8:31 am

TravisH wrote:Hey there guys, What’s your main piece of info you look into before hitting the water... example some guys look at Weather, Tide , moon phase , barometer...Or do you just go fish the moment with confidence.....

To me it depends on how you want to fish. I like to crank, so I typically target the higher tides so I pick less weeds off my baits.

wgallaher · Post by **wgallaher** » Thu Aug 23, 2018 9:31 am

I look at the tides mostly, I just try and pick the time in which the tide switches with no preference for in or outgoing. I have no proof other then my own confidence and results so far, but I feel like if there is decent current the bite always seems a little better. I just try to maximize my time on the water and try and be at my first spot on time. Also, consider I only really have time to fish the weekends most of the time, so the "beggars can't be choosers" kinda applies.

biteme · Post by **biteme** » Thu Aug 23, 2018 2:55 pm

I dont think most have a choice when they can go. SO anytime is a good time.

Stratos278 · Post by **Stratos278** » Fri Aug 24, 2018 3:35 am

Winds/weather.

Lugnut · Post by **Lugnut** » Fri Aug 24, 2018 5:39 am

Weather.......I feel it dictates a lot, no matter what body of water you fish.

monte300 · Post by **monte300** » Fri Aug 24, 2018 6:40 am

for those that don't already know the tide basically repeats itself every two weeks, plus or minus an hour or so. Most times I'm only able to fish every two weeks, so if I get on a good bite on a good tide I try to repeat two weeks later.

monte300 · Post by **monte300** » Fri Aug 24, 2018 7:04 am

for those that don't already know the tide basically repeats itself every two weeks, plus or minus an hour or so. Most times I'm only able to fish every two weeks, so if I get on a good bite on a good tide I try to repeat two weeks later.

Lugnut · Post by **Lugnut** » Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:50 am

monte300 wrote:for those that don't already know the tide basically repeats itself every two weeks, plus or minus an hour or so. Most times I'm only able to fish every two weeks, so if I get on a good bite on a good tide I try to repeat two weeks later.

Just wondering....taking the tide out of the equation, what would you look at? I only ask, because there are much more bodies of water without tide, then with tide in our area.

monte300 · Post by **monte300** » Fri Aug 24, 2018 9:59 am

Lugnut wrote:
monte300 wrote:for those that don't already know the tide basically repeats itself every two weeks, plus or minus an hour or so. Most times I'm only able to fish every two weeks, so if I get on a good bite on a good tide I try to repeat two weeks later.
Just wondering....taking the tide out of the equation, what would you look at? I only ask, because there are much more bodies of water without tide, then with tide in our area.

I've literally fished only the Delta the past 20 or so years,very rarely fishing a lake. There are far more qualified people here to answer your question.

WRB · Post by **WRB** » Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:50 am

For my style of bass fishing the 1st thing I try to determine is what depth is the active life zone.
You can't control the weather or the seasonal periods, how deep to target bass determines what you use and where you should start to fish.
Tom

JoeLanghans · Post by **JoeLanghans** » Fri Aug 24, 2018 12:28 pm

Weather, temperature, high or low pressure, sunrise, moon phase, tide timing, water temp

Larry Hemphill · Post by **Larry Hemphill** » Fri Aug 24, 2018 5:09 pm

Remember, air temperature - and the barometer to some extent - will determine the condition of the bite. Other things matter too, of course. For example, folks will say the spring bite will turn on when the surface temp is 58 degrees, for example. BUT - what direction is the air temp going?? If the water temp is rising along with the current air temp the past few days, the bite should be good to great! The other side of the story is this: the water temp has been 57-58 for a few warm days, warming up every afternoon Then the dreaded spring cold front arrives. Remember, the afternoons may still be pleasant, but the days are still short and the now cold nights are long! These long nights rule and the water temp will drop a few degrees, trending down, dramatically slowing the bite. Bass may move off the bank and feed less until the weather warms again. This usually happens several times in an average spring at Clear Lake. The effect is usually not so severe in deeper lakes. Just remember, in the early and late parts of the year, you want to see the air and water temp to be steady or rising. Serious cold fronts are famous in bass fishing for a reason!!

rickyshabazz · Post by **rickyshabazz** » Fri Aug 24, 2018 6:46 pm

I study my Navionics app to make waypoints and check weather. I can then use the data to link with my fish finder.

TravisH · Post by **TravisH** » Sun Aug 26, 2018 6:29 pm

I’m right there with ya guys, I want to know Wind speed and direction and Definitely Tides for the day on the delta.. Both of these are critical to me when planning a day on the water or even if I get one of those last minute trips I’ll pull up my app at the launch ramp or when I’m idling out of the 5 to see what I’m up against before I make any runs..

Great info everyone!

Larry you hit the Nail on the head regarding stable air temps during the Spring!!

WRB · Post by **WRB** » Sun Aug 26, 2018 9:03 pm

44 years ago (1974 ) I presented "The Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar" ( Google search to find it) to introduce the concept of bass behavior based on water temperature.
I mention that water temperature is at the depth bass are acclimated to, meaning the depth the bass are at, not surface temps. The simple fact is important, bass are cold blooded animals and their body temp is the same as the water temps they spend the majority of time suspended in.
Do you know why 55-58 degrees is important? .....it's the temp crawdads emerged from clay burrows to molt their cold water period shells. Bass key on this opportunity to eat high protein food to fatten up during pre spawn for the spawn period when they don't eat.
The delta is a river system with current so depth isn't as critical as it is in reserviors. In deep structured California reseviors bass use depth to find optimal water temps and abundant prey sources.
Seasonal periods are well established today, weather is important but not a factor we can control. Understanding the changes in light intensity from clouds and rain is reduced by low pressure and increased by high pressure is more important then the few millibars* of pressure change. Wind impacts where we can effectively fish and baitfish location.
With today's sonar bass anglers can easily determine the active live zone, if you don't understand this concept you can't apply maps, weather fronts or seasonal periods affectively to target active feeding bass. Outside of bedding bass depth is the most valuable factor to know.
Tom
* 10 millibars = 4" of water pressure, bass just needs to move a few inches in depth to off set low pressure storms and down a few inches for high pressure cold fronts.