I got a DRAMATIC lesson in the negative impact of summertime fronts yesterday. I keep detailed records on catfish caught per hour. For the entire year I'm averaging 2.66 cats per hour, but the last two trips out I've averaged about 4 cats per hour, and we even had less than desirable water flow conditions.
I was excited yesterday afternoon because we had perfect water flow conditions and beautiful weather. What I failed to factor in was that we were right behind a large frontal passage, which also brought high pressure and a stiff North wind. That's very unusual as our prevailing summer wind is always South/Southwest. My bass guide partner was complaining about a very tough bass fishing trip yesterday morning, but I didn't think much of it. I SHOULD HAVE!
Me and my clients fished HARD for nearly eight hours and put a grand total of four catfish in the boat, 0.5 fish/hour
- again, that was with perfect water flow conditions. I was dumbfounded. It breaks my heart when I take folks out who are hyped about "going fishing with a guide." And then I totally let them down. Actually the fish do, but many clients, especially inexperienced anglers, don't see it that way.
The pictures are nice. Sadly, however, you're looking at EVERY catfish we put in the boat. It was a very pretty sunset however.
BTW, these folks got a "Poor Day Discount." I don't advertise it but if I run a catfishing trip and we don't put a minimum of 50 pounds of catfish in the boat, you're going to get a discount. Although the amount of discount might be somewhat proportional to your attitude.
But, I just thought I'd share this tale of woe because I thought it was an excellent example of how weather systems and conditions indeed DO have a dramatic affect on fish (and other wildlife) activity.
I was excited yesterday afternoon because we had perfect water flow conditions and beautiful weather. What I failed to factor in was that we were right behind a large frontal passage, which also brought high pressure and a stiff North wind. That's very unusual as our prevailing summer wind is always South/Southwest. My bass guide partner was complaining about a very tough bass fishing trip yesterday morning, but I didn't think much of it. I SHOULD HAVE!
Me and my clients fished HARD for nearly eight hours and put a grand total of four catfish in the boat, 0.5 fish/hour
- again, that was with perfect water flow conditions. I was dumbfounded. It breaks my heart when I take folks out who are hyped about "going fishing with a guide." And then I totally let them down. Actually the fish do, but many clients, especially inexperienced anglers, don't see it that way.The pictures are nice. Sadly, however, you're looking at EVERY catfish we put in the boat. It was a very pretty sunset however.
BTW, these folks got a "Poor Day Discount." I don't advertise it but if I run a catfishing trip and we don't put a minimum of 50 pounds of catfish in the boat, you're going to get a discount. Although the amount of discount might be somewhat proportional to your attitude.
But, I just thought I'd share this tale of woe because I thought it was an excellent example of how weather systems and conditions indeed DO have a dramatic affect on fish (and other wildlife) activity.
