Stormy Weather & Fishing

[Alan]

This past weekend we had some stormy weather. Does this effect the fishing much? If so, why?

The reason I ask is I was out on lake Demontreville & Olson on Sunday for about 4.5 hours, 6:00 am to 10:30 am, and I got nothing! Except for some frustration from all the wind blowing me all over the lake! So I thought maybe it had something to do with the storms and the pressure drops...at least I was hoping it was because of the weather, and not me...LOL

[WyoChris]

Depends.... were u fishing for walleyes? Lightning storms can shut off walleyes for a day or two. However, if it is just windy the waves will refract the light and stop it from getting down to the bottom, therefore making it darker and the walleyes will probably be more active.

[solbes]

I've had some very hot action just before the storm comes. Pike in particular seem to be very active just before a storm. Of course you don't want to be out there when the storm actually hits and stay far away from lightning. I usually motor over to the launch or dock area if I'm going try and stretch out the fishing time.

After the storm, I have usually have much less luck. Especially if it rained a lot. I'd be very interested to hear other's opinions though.

[pondhopper]

Fishing slows down after storms move through as a result of the cold front that usually accompanies thunderstorms as they pass through an area. The cold front seems to really slow down the bite of many different fish, and I believe its mainly because of the steady low barometric pressure thats occurs after a cold front. The best time to fish when you know a cold front is approaching is right before it hits, as the pressure is lowering. The bite right before a cold front can be very good.