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Thread: After a rain...

  1. #1
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    Default After a rain...


    the forcast says its suppossed to rain for the next 2 days and the highs in the mid 70s.....how will crappie and bluegill act before, during, and after a rain? and how,where, and what would they usually hit on at these times?

    thanks
    Last edited by okeechobee fisher; 03-16-2005 at 05:49 PM.
    :D CRACKER :D

  2. #2
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    After a front comes through is a tough time to fish for me.The fish seem to have lockjaw even though they can be found in a lot of the regular haunts.On the front side of a front ( coming in ) the bite is usually good for me.More to do with the barometric pressure than the rain though.Good luck.
    Commercial fishermen help feed the world.

  3. #3
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    Default Hey Cracker

    It's sure good to see our young fishermen asking questions and wanting to learn. You asked some good questions and they are good because a lot is still not really known about what fish do before, during and after a front passes by. A lot depends on what type of front it is. Cold fronts cool the surface waters and give us increased sunlight (bluebird days follow the front) We get a lot of air pollution washed out of the sky and blown away so more sunlight can penetrate the earths atmosphere and enter the water. More UV A and UV B rays get into the water. We do know that fishing after a COLD FRONT gets real tough. Fish tend to either get lock jaws and or move to areas making them harder to find. Unless the water is crystal clear and we can see the fish it's hard to really say for sure what causes them to do this. Some say it's the increase in air pressure and that could be. I tend to think it has to do with the water being cooled and the increase in the sunlight and it also could be the combination of all these factors combined that causes the fish to have lock jaw or move to deeper water in clear reseviors. Fish also have been shown to hide in the shade on bluebird days. Hiding under a log won't get them out of the increased air pressure which presses down on the water column all over the lake and effect the water pressure by increasing the water pressure all over the entire water column from the surface down to the very bottom of the lake. You see water pressure at any depth is the combination of the weight of the air and all the water above that certain depth or point in space in the lake. So a fish can't really hide from an increase in air pressure. If he is at 33 ft and under one atmosphere of air and water pressure then if the air pressure increases by 0.5" of mercury air pressure or a few inches of water pressure then that increase in air pressure will be added to the water pressure where the fish is located. Unless the fish can get inside an air bubble inside a old 55 gallon drum or inside a submarine he will be effected by the air pressure above. He may not know that the air above him has gotten heavier and he can easily adjust for that increase by coming up a few feet toward the surface to get back to the water pressure he was at before the front came though.

    Usually before a cold front moves in the air pressure will drop and the cloud cover will increase and the air may even warm up a bit and we can have precipations.

    Precipation can be either colder than the lake water or warmer. It depends on the time of the year. Spring rains can be warmer and if those rains fall on a warm earth the water can be warmed up as it runs down hill in a creek and into the lake. The water where the stream enters the lake can be several degrees warmer than the main body of the lake in the spring time. It's a relative thing. Some rains can be colder than the lake water and actually cool the lake area down where they run into a lake. It all depends on the lakes water temp as it relates to the rain water temps.

    Fish normally go deeper after the fall turnover in a lake as the oxgen content in the lower level of the lake can increase after the turnover. During the summer the lower levels of the lake may be devoid of enouigh dissolved oxygen to support fish such as trout or bass that require at least 4 ppm of Dissolved Oxygen to live. They prefer 8 ppm DO and can easily live with 5 or 6 ppm DO. Cold water holds more DO anyway. As the waters cool heading into winter the fish take up winter habitats and that is usually deeper water. As spring arrives the fish migrate to the shallow waters by way of River and Creek channels. If we get a cold spell they may swim back down into deeper water unit more warmer and stable weather arrives and then they may head to the shallows to start feeding and or spawing. During the summer a cold front may not effect them as much as the water is so hot that it can't really cool down that much. But in the spring a few degrees drop in temps can really effect the fish. Changing surface water temps can easily effect the water at 20 ft in the spring time. In fact until the thermocline develops temperature can easily change even down to 15 to 20 ft. Water can conduct heat pretty well. Just like a metal bar that is heated on one end with a blow tourch can transfer that heat all the way to the other end and make you drop the bar as it gets too hot. Water too conduct heat and cold. Water stores heat and cold very well and heats up slower and cools down slower than the air above it.

    Winds and waves also effect where the fish are and usually before and during the passage of a cold front the winds increase. Winds can create currents in a lake and also give the surface waters more mixing and thus more dissolved oxygen. waves help to prevent the fish front seeing out of the water and also cuts down on the amount of solar radiation entering the water. More sunlight is reflected off the water's surface or refracted away from the water's surface when there are more waves than when the water is glassy smooth.

    There you have it. Fishing can be very good right before the front. Fishing can even be good during a light rain. Don't go out on the lake when there is a thunderstorm or the possiblity of lightning though. You should know that by now. But on those days that it's raining all day long you can fish and catch a lot of crappie at times.

    Fish tend to stick closer to cover after the front passes and the water's have cooled down and the sun is shining brightly and the air pressure has risen above 30.5 " of Mercury. Those days it pays to fish deeper in clear lakes and to fish cover in muddy waters. Fish will stick closer to logs and bury deeper in the brush piles. They may be at the lower breaks on a dropoff at this time. Fish the shady side of standing timber and fish close to the tree trunk. Fish the deeper parts of the dropoffs and you may do better.

    I am sure that others will add a lot more to this thread.

    Okeechobee crappie may act differently than the crappie in a deep canyon type resevior. You see the lake in FL doen't have much deep water but it does have lots of submergent and emergent vegetation. The fish may hide under those mats of vegetation. Follow the winds and watch where the winds blow the warmer surface waters and the planton in those water to certain areas of the lake. The windward edge of those floating mats of vegetation can be holding spots for largemouth bass.

    Warm southerly winds that blow direction perpendicular to a Northern Shallow Bay with cover can be a god send in the early spring. The winds will blow the warmer waters towards that shorline and the water along that shoreline can be a degree or two warm than the rest of the lake and that can attact more fish to that area.

    Live lively minnows on a #4 gold hook always is a good bet to catch crappie. Try a float and fly also. Let the fish tell you want they want. Vary your jig colors and see what works best.



    Quote Originally Posted by okeechobee fisher
    the forcast says its suppossed to rain for the next 2 days and the highs in the mid 70s.....how will crappie and bluegill act before, during, and after a rain? and how,where, and what would they usually hit on at these times?

    thanks
    Regards,

    Moose1am

  4. #4
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    My eyes hurt

  5. #5
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    That's a lot to take in, but thanks. It's good stuff!
    LET IT RIP!

  6. #6
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    thanks alot moose1AM thats the kindof answer ive been waiting for i love learning new stuff bout fishin........thanks agian
    :D CRACKER :D

  7. #7
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    Default Whew...

    Thanks, Prof. Moose...my brain hurts.. :D ...do your fingers ever get carpal tunnel??LOL.. :p ..thats some good stuff...very informative
    Tighten er down till ya strip it--then back off 1/4 turn..
    HEY,,Y'all watch THIS..........

  8. #8
    fiddlefarter's Avatar
    fiddlefarter is offline Moderator Crappie Cover Forum * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Obviously he can type. I would have had to quit and go to sleep and come back to finish tomorrow to type that much. Pretty good read though.
    Ya ain't holdin' your mouth right.

  9. #9
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    eye been readin Moose1am response for 45 minutesm i gonna email it to my office and my sectery will tale me what it say tommorrow, butt sew far it sounded fgood

  10. #10
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    I switched to the split ergonomic type keyboard. Microsoft Natural Keyboard. So that solved the carpal tunnel sympthoms that I once had when using the keyboard too long. I highly recommend this type of keyboard. It took me a few weeks to adapt to it but now that I am used to it I can't go back to a regular keyboard.

    Most of my information is a compilation of all the books and fishing magazines that I have read over the last 40 years. I started reading about fishing when I was around 8 to 10 years old.
    Regards,

    Moose1am

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