Conference wahoo::fishing

    
     The rain isn't the cause of the unfishable rivers it's the roiling
    water with all the sand and sticks rushing buy. The fish first of
    all have a hard time seeing the bait and second they have a pretty
    difficult time of swimming against such a strong current. There
    are other factors, the abundance of natural foods swept into the river
    or pond at this time of year, it gives the fish larger choices on
    what and when to eat. They also have a larger area to forage in
    the ponds and lakes. Just because it's raining though is not an
    indicator of good or bad fishing to be had.
    
      Kevin

    Up till now, I have generally accepted that rainy day fishing
    is the pits in fresh water because the rain knocks all of the bugs
    out of the air and into the water.  Therefore, the fish fill up
    and they are less interested in feeding.
    
    Now that this topic was introduced, I hope to learn more.
    
    /brett
    
    P.S.  Rainy day fishing may be the *only* fishing in some parts
          of the world    :-) :-) :-)

    
      It all depends on what your fishing for and what with. If your
    fishing for bass on a hot afternoon and a rain shower comes through
    with a cold front, pack up and go home. If your trout fishing in
    a stream with a fly rod it could be the best time to be there.
    
    Kevin

    
    My personal experience has been that I don't like to fish in the
    rain and cold for reasons of comfort.  But, I can say that some
    of the best bass fishing I have experienced has come after rains
    ... in fact the best ever was a day after a hurricane passed through.
    High water seems to turn fish on to feeding ... especially when
    it opens virgin territory another 5 feet up the riverbank and into
    the brush.  The key is to use a noisy, flashy lure like a spinnerbait
    in places that look fishy that you know will be high and dry 5 days
    from today.
    
    Meantime, I'll wait out the rain sharpening hooks and charging
    batteries, etc.
    
    -SSS-

>>      It all depends on what your fishing for and what with. If your
>>    fishing for bass on a hot afternoon and a rain shower comes through
>>    with a cold front, pack up and go home. 

I'm not sure that I can agree with that statement.  Some of the best fishing 
I've had was during summer downpours.  Yeah, it gets a little wet and 
uncomfortable sometimes, but who cares when the fish are active.  If I'm 
fishing protected coves that are not churned up by wind, I'll often tie on 
the largest, noisiest topwater plug I have (magnum Crazy crawler or 
Jitterbug) and run it across the water real fast.  I suspect bass may thing 
that it's some critter scurrying to get to safer grounds.

It's also pretty well known that bass will become quite active just prior to 
an approaching storm front.  This activity can be very brief (10-20 minutes) 
or last for a couple of hours or more.   Obviously, you don't want to hang 
around if lightning is near!  

-HSJ-

     Re: 4 - Couldn't agree more!! Those flooded areas have produced
    well for me with Bass, especially on a chartreuse tandem spinnerbait.
    Rain is great for Steelheadin' - especially the day after. It makes
    'em move and be aggressive, and brings new runs of fish into the
    river. The day after a rain can be outstanding!
     Another "plus" for rainy days is small meadow streams - the kind
    you can jump across. Fish there are normally spooky, and stay back
    beneath undercut banks; but they venture out to feast on food washed
    down by the rain - the muddier the current the better. We used to
    use 4# line, #10 hooks and "dug" worms, and you wouldn't believe
    some of the limits that came from trickles where, on a clear day
    you'd never even see a fish. Conversely, during high water periods,
    small streams sometimes stay clear longer and fish move up into
    'em. You might also try where a small stream meets a big stream
    on rainy days.
     Finally, if you're wading a pond or lake, and have an on shore
    wind, fish directly into the wind ("Spots" used to work o.k. for
    bass, or "Bayou Boogies"), but forget about the baitcasters and
    Rapalas or balsa wood "Big O" type lures...
    
    --The Skoal Bandit

    I fish this mountain stream that flows into a big river.  Normally,
    this stream starts to flatten out ny mid-July or so and the trout in
    that stream become spooky.  When we get a good soaking, however, the
    stream swells and some big Browns and Rainbows come up from the river
    below to gorge themselves on the food being swept down the stream and
    into the river.  The best times to fish the stream is either during, or
    right after the rain.  Normally you can expect to find 8 - 10" brookies
    in the stream, but after the rains, 14 - 20" browns have been caught
    with an occasional good sized rainbow here and there.
    
    It's great right after a rain when the sun comes out and you're
    checking out the good areas where trout tend to lie in ambush of food.
    I've seen some BIG fish in some spots where there had been NO fish just
    a day or two before the rain.  Just seeing fish of that size makes it 
    worth the while. 
    
    Ken

    
      I guess I've been fishing the wrong areas after the rains. You
    can bet I'll be checking on some of the smaller streams this weekend.
    I still say it's harder to find the bass in the spring high water
    and I never have any luck with the topwater stuff this early in
    the season. My hula popper won't come out untill late may. Untill
    then its the rapalas,rebels and spinners.
    
    Kevin    

    The best time to fish is anytime you can!          
                                                       
    donmac - who caught 5 nice rainbows in the rain yesterday and who
    	     caught his first (non-ice-fishing) bass of the season a 
    	     couple weeks ago with a topwater (rapala) on a drizzly day

    Donno bout op dere, but don chere its were de front moves in from:
    
    			"West is best an East is least"
    
    If de front come from de West keep on fishin, from de East, come
    on in!!
    
    Coonass

	I you're fishing a larger stream for trout, and the water is
	really rolling, try the small pockets in the overflow areas.

	I haven't fished trout much in past years, but I remember 
	about four years ago stopping of at my favorite spot.  The
	water was high, fast and unwadable.  I almost turned around
	and went home, as I had never fished a stream/river for trout 
	that rumbled as this one did that day.  But, I had a couple hours 
	to kill.  So, I kept my feet day and stuck to the shore and 
	the runoffs.  I learned alot that day, But, haven't fished a steam
	that looked like that since.

	Bryan

    I wasn't thrilled when my husband told me we weren't going in when
    it started to rain (we didn't have any rain gear and we were fishing
    out of a canoe).  Fishing up to that point had been extremely slow.
    Maybe a nibble or two, but that was about it.  Right before the
    rain was slowing down, the fish started biting like crazy.  Needless
    to say, I'm glad we stayed out, even if I did get soaked :-).
    
    Nancy
    

    I have noticed a pattern for lures depending upon the weather... If it
    is cloudy or overcast, silver lures work well.  If it is sunny, gold
    lures work well (for trout).  
    I have also noticed that when there is a heavy mist on the lake, the
    action appears to be slower than in clear weather or rain.  Maybe the
    mist inhibits bugs from flying on the surface, or maybe the mist
    inhibits visibility.  With bass, the calm just before and after a
    storm provides some great fishing; though I have never fished for bass
    during a rain storm.  And all fishing seems to be affected badly by a 
    cold North wind.
    --Larry    

I too have noticed that the North Wind can kill a day of fishing better than
any other natural occurrence, barring instant evaporation! I read somewhere
that NO animal likes the North Wind (which is almost always cold) and that 
miserable days for us humans tend to have wind from the north as well.

Tim

>I read somewhere
>that NO animal likes the North Wind (which is almost always cold) and that 
>miserable days for us humans tend to have wind from the north as well.

 That's funny. My friend in Australia said the same about a south wind. :-)

 The Doctah

    Re: .13
    
    I have found it just the opposite---use DARK lures for dark days
    and BRIGHT lures for sunny days!! The dark lures are supposed to
    provide more contrast to a fish looking up against a dark light
    condition. I'm told fish always strike from the bottom (given enough
    water to get under the lure). In the above, I'm trolling for Salmon,
    Browns, etc.
    
    As for North winds---Lake Ontario is NO place to be in a strong
    North wind!!!!! Boats tips over, get wet, no fun, no fish!!!
    
    "A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work!!!"
    
    Think Salmon!
    Don

    
    Last June went into northern Quebec for walleye. This was in the
    middle of a heat wave +90F for at least a week. When we arrived
    at the park registration, the ranger advised that nothing had been
    caught for the previous week or so and didn't hold out much hope
    for good catches.
    
    Sure enough, we got about four hours fishing that day and between
    eight of us caught three pickerel... the largest about 2 lbs. However
    that night the temperature dropped down to almost freezing 41F on
    our thermometer at 6am. During the day the temperature went back
    up to +80 and stayed there during the day for the  next week.
    
    But the fishing. We went out at 7am and were back at 9am with limits
    for everyone. We ate everything under 2lbs and went back out in
    the evening. Same thing they were hitting like crazy. We kept nothing
    under 2 lbs and ate anything under 3 lbs for the rest of our stay.
    
    We went home with limits, minimum size 3lbs. Biggest was a 6 1/2lb
    with lots at 4-5 lbs. Some decent pike also average 5lbs with one
    9 1/2lb.
    
    We froze at night but the fishing was marvellous.
    
    Roger

    	When fishing relatively shallow so that all colours can be seen
    	I've found out that lures which mostly match with the "colour
    	of the weather" are the best. Like early morning or late evening
    	when sunlight is "warm" coloured gold/copper lures give best
    	result and the same goes with haze. On a bright day silver and
    	blue and in heavily clouded or rainy weather gray/black lures
    	with gold/copper are the right choises. Fluorescent colours
    	are a different matter when mixed with others. Sometimes results
    	may surprise... (Last weekend got a 16 lbs pike on fluorescent
    	red no. 4 Vibrax spinner while perch fishing.)
    
    	There should be light to moderate wind towards shore which here
    	means from southwest to west, preferably quite warm. Too heavy
    	winds tend to make too choppy sea to be comfortable enough for
    	efficient fishing. Calm nights make perfect conditions for
    	surface trolling for trout with black lures, even fluorescent
    	can do...
    
    	Rain means depression and only active fish is pike, as far as
    	I remember I've never caught a trout when it has been raining.
    	Zander may be caught on deeptrolling. But alas, pike fishing
    	sometimes gives much fun! 
    
    	Cold northern winds with rain/snow/sleet never produce a fish
    	around here. May of course depend on not fishing that kind of
    	unkindly conditions. ;-)
    
    	All in all, there are so many varying elements concerned that
    	one never grows too smart. Not even smart enough, it sometimes
    	turns out. And there will always be room left for experimenting!
    
    	Eki
       

    This note spoke alot about trout, but what about bass and ponds.  Its
    been so wet that I haven't been going out.  I am getting itchy its
    close to my fishing trip and I need the practice.  Anyone know how bass
    hit when the local ponds are high and its raining?
    
    I know for sure if the temp drops nothing hits, but with the water
    levels so high, does that make them less aggressive?
    
    Brian

    
    
    	RAIN...no problem.......the Kiv and I went out in the gully washer
    	Saturday morning...to the old mudhole....straight down rain..lots
    	and lots of it...one over 4 lbs, three over 2 lbs...and a bunch
    	in the 1 to 2 range.....
    
    	And on what lure...????  ....a Rat-L-Trap...in about 10 to 14
    	feet of water.   The Kiv threw one on...OF COURSE I called him
    	all sorts of things for doing so....but after he caught his fourth
    	bass....I decided that I would "humor" him and put one on myself.
    
    	This was the first day that I cursed when the rain started to let
    	up!
    
    	So now the only possible thing that will keep us off the water will
    	be lightening....unless I can borrow one of Madd Matt's satellites
    	as a lightening rod.
    
    	Gitzit'
    
    

    For some reason, rain tends to improve fishing, especially for larger
    fish. This spring I caught a 6lb largemouth in a downpour. And last
    Monday when the rain started getting heavier I picked one up at 6 1/4
    lbs. I had the same luck two years ago when I caught one 22 3/4" I
    did'nt have anything to weigh it but I guessed it was all of 6 1/2 to 
    7 lbs . This was a day that it poured all day and my wife thought there
    was something seriously wrong with me to go out on a day like that. I
    believe that the fish have a greater sense of security when it is
    raining and also are feeding heavier due to all the feed that is
    knocked in the water from the rain. It also works to our advantage from
    a sight and noise level that must be muted to the fish from the rain.
    All I know is if it's not lighting out I'm going fishing.
    

    I wish That RAIN=LARGE FISH!!!!!
    
    out here Rain = geting wet
    
    It seems that no matter what I try I can never catch a large fish.
    I have no problem Catch fish it is just I would like to CAtch a trophy.
    
    Even if I go to the safeway all they will have that day is small.
    
    
    Maybe RAIN+y=LARGE FISH.
    
    JERRY.
    

Jerry,
	The problem you have is that in the great northwest (I believe that's
where you are) it always rains, so the fish can't tell the difference!!!

Al

    Al 
    
    You are right it always rains out here in the N.W. 
    
    But I have seen some of the fish that are cought out here. I went out
    for the weekend after opening day and caught bunch of 8-10" rainbows 
    while This guy camping next to use he was using something fishing
    tackle. (Can you believe That)
    
    Maybe if I were to use velcro gloves and get beter at holding my breath
    I can get deaper and find some LARGE FISH.
    
    Back To the subject What type of tackle do you use in the rain is There
    one you favor and get the best results with.  (BASS, trout, ...)
    
    
    Thanks 
    
    jerry.