Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3826 Dec 6-20 | Page 7

VOL.38 • ISS. 26 Dec 6 - 20, 2019 HOW TO... 5 Trout & Weather presents ^ Keeping a fishing journal chronicling past trips will help you identify trends, giving you clues about how to approach fishing during certain seasons and how to deal with situations such as weather changes. ^ Stable high pressure generally means consistent fishing from day to day. An approaching low pressure area will often cause a spike in trout activity, while trout can play hard to get behind a retreating low. < While you certainly should pay attention to the weather forecast as you prepare for a fishing trip, don’t let a weather change or a cold snap keep you off the water. Remember the best time to fish for trout and other species is whenever your schedule allows you to hit the water! > When the water gets really cold and the trout get lethargic, using Pro-Cure scents can often been the difference between success and failure! How Weather & Temperature Can Impact Trout Fishing B ass anglers are acutely aware of the effects the weather has on the behavior and habits of bass. Because of the physiology of bass, the effects of weather changes can be profound. Trout anglers are nowhere near as in tune with the effects weather has on their quarry and with good reason. Trout don’t react as strongly to weather changes as bass and a lot of other fish species, but they do react never the less. A lot of the information I’m going to present is anecdotal and based largely on my own observations, since there is very little research as to how trout react to weather and weather changes. Before we delve into a discussion of weather and trout behavior I’d like to encourage all the anglers reading this to begin keeping a fishing journal if this is something they aren’t already doing. The journal doesn’t have to be in depth, so long as you record the conditions including the date, the weather, water temperature, methods employed, the level of success you experienced and anything you observed that seemed interesting or significant. Over time you will begin to notice trends, giving you clues about how to approach fishing during certain seasons and how to deal with situations such as weather changes. Over the years my journal has become an invaluable tool in predicting when and how to catch fish of all kinds including trout. So, what are the worst possible weather related scenarios for the trout angler? That’s a pretty easy question to answer, since there are only two situations that can make for really tough fishing. The first is an abrupt change in water temperature and the second is fishing immediately after a low-pressure area passes. When the water temperature changes quickly it severely affects the metabolism of trout and other fish because they are cold blooded. The worst temperature changes are those that lower the temperature even if the temperature remains within the comfort zone of the trout. An example of this would be a cold snap that occurs during the fall or spring. Let’s say the rainbows are up in the shallows of a lake or reservoir because the water temperature is 59 degrees and then the surface temperature suddenly is driven down to 56 degrees. Now we are only talking about a 3 degree drop and the whole time the temperature has remained in the comfort zone of rainbow trout, but the trout will inevitable become sluggish with the change. Being cold blooded such a change immedi- ately causes the metabolism of the trout to slow down and they will feel less energetic. This means that they will feed less and be less likely to chase moving offerings such as trolled lures until they become accli- mated to the temperature swing. Low pressure areas are a double- edged sword for trout anglers. As a low approaches trout fishing is often very productive. Since we don’t live in a liquid environment, pressure changes are not noticeable to us. Trout and other fish are acutely aware of pressure changes because such changes manipulate the relative pressure of the water all around them. Think about diving into the deep end of a swimming pool. Does the water down near the bottom of the pool feel denser and does it exert more pressure on your body than the water near the surface? Sure, it does, because the water at the bottom of the pool is condensed or pressurized by the weight of all the water above it pressing down. When fish move up and down in the water FISH SNIFFER HOW – TO by Cal Kellogg CONTINUED ON PG 18