Atmospheric pressure & Pike

When i was last fishing for old Esox around 1992, there was a lot in the angling press about atmospheric pressure and Pike. It was recommended that High Pressure gave better fishing/feeding conditions for Pike eg.. sunny cold days with low temperatures. I never personally found this relevant to my fishing. Does this high pressure theory still hold true? I have not read anything on the forums etc..
This weekend will be high atmospheric pressure, according to forecasts.

It will also be bitterly cold if the weather forecast is correct.

Not sure about pressures but changes in temp do make a difference.

Rapid temperature drop totally screws up the fishing and a gradual temperature drop actually benefits us pike anglers.

These are only my personal observations. Feel free to comment.

well the rapid drop in temp today hasnt hurt my fishing trip best day ever had 7 biggest being 22lb4oz new pb.oh yeah get in yipeeeeeeeeeeeee

Well done Chris
Hope to be out for a few hours tomorrow. When i walked along my local section of Grantham Canal last weekend, it was Gin clear & you could see the bottom, not too difficult, its no longer a navigable Canal & about 3-4 feet deep. Nobody fishing which is unusual. Ive spent many a Summer night Tench fishing on it, so long as the water is green & its June, July or August its a Tench haven! Its known to have Pike to the 20lb mark. In the past ive always fished deadbaits on float, it seems strange casting a ledgered bait into Canals etc that are 20-30 yds across? Maybe its just me....

bigchris wrote:well the rapid drop in temp today hasnt hurt my fishing trip best day ever had 7 biggest being 22lb4oz new pb.oh yeah get in yipeeeeeeeeeeeee

Nice one chris.

Perhaps my personal views and observations have just been nuked

As I perceive it, a rapid change throws fish out and they head en masse for deep, and therefore slightly warmer, waters. Our friend the pike, as he is able to tolerate the cooler temps, doesn't react in the same way and goes about his normal routine. After a while, if the temps are still low, old Esox realises that his normal meals have moved to the deep water and thence travels to it accordingly.

If the temps cool off over a period of days then the fish gradually head for deep water and the pike follow. As the pike is a predator at the top of the ladder, he takes advantage of the bait fish slowing down and huddling up in deep waters. Here he can plan his attacks and hide in the nooks and crannies lying in wait for the sluggish prey fish to come within striking distance.

The above is my personal understanding of how fish react to cooler temps and not what I've read somewhere. I welcome any comments on this from anybody who has more knowledge on the subject and maybe about what the thread was first questioning, how does barometric pressure affect fish?

wwho evers out lads tightelldone chris,frist of many for mate as with pressure ect,look in this weeks anglers mail.its got 2 pages on it.tight lines lads who;s out this weekend

Well done with the PB Chris....may it be the first of many.

Rain aside, I don't think any one particular type of weather is any better than another. There are methods for fishing in all conditions at all depths, so as long as you can put you bait in the right place, in correlation to those conditions, you'll still catch pike.
However, I will say that when we've had a period of poor weather, pike will start feed more heavily if the pressure starts to rise but that doesn't necessarily mean that high pressure is better. The pressure could still be low but it's that increase in pressure that counts.

I think there might be something in your theory mate, Wanna and I were discussing it yesterday morning at 5:30 a.m. on our way, in the snow, to a well known water in York, that is well stocked with pike. There were 11 pike anglers on the lake but not one fish between all of us. I don`t think we could have all been doing it wrong. We were all spread out around the lake and various techniques were being used. It is a heavily fished water and always produces a few pike, even the owner was surprised that nothing had been caught.

lets add moon phauses to this as well.a lot use them for carp/barbel fishing,so this affect pike aswell?

Here you are try this site

http://www.moonstrike.co.uk/home.html

Adie

nickcarpy wrote:lets add moon phases to this as well.a lot use them for carp/barbel fishing,so this affect pike as well?

Yeah, Ive been noticing articles in Angling Times about Moon phases.. there is a chart at the bottom left corner of page 2 in the current Angling Times, it reckons last Wednesday was the best day to fish because of a 1st quarter Moon
There was a poor "Moonstrike" forecast for the weekend just gone

Its well known the Moon affects tides etc.. but fishing as well