Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3909 April 10-24

HOW TO... VOL.39 • ISS. 9 April 10-24, 2020 5 Tackling Trout When The Weather Is Bad! < Big smiles, blue skies and handsome trout. When the weather is stable, the water is chilly and the air is warm, trout fishing is comfortable and fun. These are the kind of conditions trouters dream about! > When the weather is unstable, rain and snow fly and the temperature goes up and down like a rollercoaster ride trout fishing can get tough, but fishing during challenging conditions can make you a better, more consistent angler. < When the going gets tough due to changing weather, slowing down and pulling rigged natural baits like this threaded night crawler often opens the door to success. > Using Pro-Cure Super Gel is a good idea anytime you are on the water, but when the trout are in a weather induced funk, using scent can be the difference between the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat! presents Trout Fishing When The Weather Is Unstable… H ere in the Sierra Foothills and across the north state, we’ve seen some wild swings in the weather over the past month. We’ve gone from unseason- able warm weather to plunging tempera- tures, big snow, big rain and big wind. With all this in mind, this is a perfect time to consider the effect of weather on trout fishing. 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 metabo- lism of trout and other fish because they are cold blooded. The worst temperature changes are those that lower the tempera- ture 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 immediately causes the metab- olism 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 acclimated 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 pres- surized by the weight of all the water above it pressing down. When fish move up and down in the water column the pressure changes just as it does when we jump into a pool. On the next level let’s consider a trout holding at a set depth. If the trout isn’t making significant moves upward or downward in the water column does the amount of pressure they feel change? When the weather is stable and the barometric pressure is steady the pressure changes very little. When a low-pres- sure area approaches and the barometric pressure begins to drop the relative pressure the trout feel decreases. Once the area of low press passes through the region the barometric pressure begins to push up and the relative pressure the trout feel increases. When the relative pressure the trout feel decreases they feel more energetic and are able to move about more easily. This increased activity increases the metabo- lism of the trout and they feed. This in part explains why the trout fishing can be very productive as a low moves in. When the low peaks and then begins to pass the fishing typically becomes tough. This is a direct result of the barometric pressure increasing. As the barometric pressure goes up the relative pressure the FISH SNIFFER HOW – TO by Cal Kellogg CONTINUED ON PG 21

Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3909 April 10-24 | Page 7