No bite after rain?

[Snakemover]

A friend of mine told me that bass will not bite right before a front moves in and after it rains. Is this true? We've been getting thunder storms every afternoon and evening here. I don't fish while the lightning is blazing, :-/ but I want to go out after the storms end. Would this be a waste of time? What's the real story with fish biting or not before, during and after a rain storm? Also, what are the best baits to use if I do go out? Thanks for your advice and answers.

Dennis

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Anytime I see a low pressure front is coming in I hope to be free to go fishing. It remains excellent until a lightning storm hits. Whichever does it, lightning or the thunder, the bass go deeper. However, I haven't noticed bass turning off just with thunder around in the distance. If the rain isn't too heavy requiring a bilge pump running, and of course no lightning is around, I love fishing in rain. Bass love rain too. It's a great time to fish most anything that swims. If it rains enugh to begin flooding brush along the shore, bass will move up into the new territory by the next day or two. I pitch a T-rigged Senko or jig&pig into newly flooded brush.

After passage of a front, if the pressure is rising, bass move deeper, though not travelling away. Just fish whatever you are best with, only deeper.

Jim

[Sam]

Fish will feel the change in barometric pressure as a front moves in and start to feed.

So fishing in front of a front is usually good.

Durng the rain the fish can also be active.

After the rain stops or the front moves through the fish have already eaten and this means the bite is off for at least 24 to 48 hours.

You will have to aggravate them into hitting your lures after a front moves through.

[Shrike]

From what I've experienced, right before and during the front coming in the fish go into a feeding frenzy. You could throw a cigarette butt in the water and the fish will attack it  ;D.

I suppose after the front/frenzy is over the fish are stuffed and don't feed for a while.

This is just my take on it.

[fishingJ]

One time I only had time to take 3 casts before the storm hit and I pulled out 2 fish.

[Shad_Master]

One thing that can turn fish off after a rain is if there is "too much" in flow to a small body of water.  Two stories:

1) Recently fished a tournament where the fish were reported to be biting everything (1700 to 1900 acre lake, which is big by standards around here).  On the way down to pre-fish we drove through thunder and lightening storm.  We found all the spots and even managed to stick a few fish, but certainly did not live up to the hype.  The following day, T-Day, winning fish were caught on mud flats next to steep banks with crawdad holes in them in 6" to 2' of water.  None came from brush piles in 12' to 20' of water as had been predicted based on the previous week's temperatures in the 100's.

2) After a two to three year drought, this area was blessed with 5"-6" of rain over the last couple of weeks.  There is a silt dam near here with an over flow pool that feeds into a main lake.  After the rain stopped on Sunday, I went by there and the water was rushing through the tube.  Fish were jumping out of the water and going crazy -- but would't hardly bite any kind of worm, grub, etc.  My theory is that there was so much forage in this overflow that the fish didn't need to bite anything that looked even slightly different.

Don't know if this helps the discussion, but just though I would add my $.02

[Raul]

Ever heard the old say: Pray for rain ! ?

[Vyron]

  Quote

Ever heard the old say: Pray for rain ! ?

;D

I was thinking the same

[BassKing813]

This is a tough question to answer. Sometimes, fishing is excellent after a rain, sometimes it's not very good, and sometimes it's only good if you wait until the next day after the rain. It all depends on the situation.

[cpvenom]

The quality of the fishing after a heavy rain partly depends on the body of water. In small  ponds, a storm drastically changes the PH levels and temperature of the water, which can really turn bass off. In big lakes and resevoirs, it is not a big problem. The rising pressure as a front leaves can make them slower to bite as well.

[Shad_Master]

Ever heard the old say: Pray for rain ! ?

I just remember the old story about the country preacher addressing the congregation by saying:

"Bothers and sisters, yall know we are here to pray for rain -- what I want to know is - where are your umbarellas?"

Sorry, just couldn't resist.