Barometric pressure changes how fish feed by moving them in the water column: high pressure pushes fish down and shuts off the bite, while low pressure lifts them up and turns it on. In this How 2 Tuesday I sit down with Capt. Ryan Harrington, who spends more than 320 days a year on the water, and he dumbs it down so you can catch fish before, during, and after a storm no matter what the weather is doing.
Watch now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Ryan Harrington explains that fish feel pressure far more than we do. High pressure pushes water and fish down in the column, so on a high-pressure day he has watched snook in two feet of water with their bellies rubbing the sand, full and unwilling to eat. Low pressure raises fish up so they feel light and keep eating. The pressure literally changes where fish sit and how hungry they act.
The common theory is to fish right up until a storm and that it is bad after, but Harrington has seen with his own eyes that you can catch fish before, during, and after if you adjust. Before a storm it is cloudy and low pressure, so the bite is on. After a storm you get bluebird high-pressure skies and a tougher bite, but you can still catch fish by slowing everything down.
Those gorgeous, calm, cloudless days everyone wants to be on the water are exactly when pressure is highest. Harrington compares it to eating an entire pizza and sinking into your couch, too full to move. High pressure pushes the fish down and kills their appetite, which is counterintuitive to anglers who assume a beautiful day means easy fishing.
When it is high pressure and slow, slow everything down. Slow your baits, fish closer to the bottom, and think about dead baits or cut bait. Harrington's advice is lower, slower, and smaller no matter what bait you throw. Put a cut bait out in a rod holder, watch the rod, and when it goes down you have your fish. You may not catch a hundred, but you will catch.
When it is cloudy and low pressure, the fish are up in the column and chewing, so you can throw whatever you want and have fun. Harrington says those are the amazing days where fish eat the bottom of the boat because they never feel full. Bring the kids and catch a hundred fish. Low pressure is when fast, aggressive presentations pay off.
Harrington's rule is lower, slower, and smaller in high pressure, and fast and fun in low pressure. High pressure means a beautiful day and a slow bite, so slow down and fish deep. Low pressure means clouds, a storm coming, and an on bite, so cover water. Match your speed to the pressure and you will rarely have a truly bad day on the water.
Capt. Ryan Harrington spends over 320 days a year on the water, and barometric pressure is one of those nerdy topics that can put people to sleep, until you see what it actually does to fish. Ryan has watched it with his own eyes, so I had him dumb it down for all of us. I get into why it changes everything in the episode, so press play in the player above.
I walk through each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
Ryan's way of explaining high pressure stuck with me: imagine eating an entire pizza, sinking into your couch, belly on the floor, too full to move. That is a fish on a high-pressure day. It is why bluebird skies make for slow fishing. He breaks it down in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Before a storm, when it is cloudy and the pressure drops, fish rise in the column and feel light, so they keep eating and eating. Those are the days fish chew the bottom of the boat. Ryan explains how to take advantage of it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The barometer is one of the most useful tools you are not using. Lower, slower, and smaller when pressure is high; fast and aggressive when it is low. Match your approach to the sky and you stop having bad days.
Follow Capt. Ryan Harrington on Instagram at captain Ryan Harrington, and maybe go fishing with him. Press play in the player above.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Capt. Ryan Harrington · barometric pressure · high pressure · low pressure · snook · water column · cut bait · storm fishing · Danco pliers · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 878: Ryan Harrington
In this episode: how barometric pressure moves fish in the water column, why bluebird high-pressure days fish slow, how low pressure turns the bite on, and the lower, slower, and smaller rule for catching fish in any condition — in the exact words spoken.
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Ryan Harrington: I'm gonna dumb it down for everybody and teach you how to catch fish no matter what you're dealing with as far as the weather conditions.
Tom Rowland: One of the things that we were talking about, the barometer, the barometric pressure, how that affects fish behavior. A lot of people will say, you know, I've been told I should fish before a storm. I've heard it's really good after a storm. Maybe you've heard this, good when it's raining. But the barometer definitely affects fish behavior, and Ryan's gonna tell us an easy way that he uses it all the time to catch more fish. What's up, Ryan?
Ryan Harrington: How you doing? Good. Yeah. That's one of the things that can put people to sleep talking about, nerdy barometric. But I'm gonna dumb it down for everybody and teach you how to catch fish no matter what you're dealing with as far as the weather conditions.
Ryan Harrington: So the common theory, you wanna fish, you know, before a storm or all the way up until that storm, and then the fishing is bad after. That's kind of the normal theory. But I've been on the water enough and actually seen with my own eyes what it does to the fish. So I'm gonna teach you how to catch fish before, during, and after and not have any bad days out there. Basically, the pressure, the barometric pressure presses, we, as humans, don't feel it as much as the fish.
Ryan Harrington: But the easy way to say it, we're dealing with a snook fishery, and we're fishing in two feet of water for snook. If you have high pressure, that high pressure usually after a storm, it's the days you see the bluebird skies. So the days you're sitting in your house and you look outside, there's not a cloud in the sky, it's that beautiful day everybody wants to be at the beach or on the boat. Well, that indicates very high pressure. High pressure pushes the water down. It pushes those fish down in the water column. So I've seen with my own eyes. I've seen snook on a high pressure day, and their bellies will actually rub on the sand. So imagine you ate an entire pizza and you're sitting on your couch. You're gonna sink into your cushions. You're gonna sink in your couch. Your belly's on the floor. You're not hungry. You can't eat any more pizza.
Ryan Harrington: Now on the reverse, before that storm comes, when it's cloudy, that indicates low pressure. Low pressure will raise the fish up in the water column. So if they eat a bait, whether it's your bait or just a natural bait swimming, they eat a bait, they still feel light on their toes. They're up in the water column. They feel like they need to eat again. That's why you have those amazing, fantastic days where the fish are chewing the bottom of the boat because they never feel like they're full. They just keep eating and eating and eating.
Ryan Harrington: Now how can you correlate that down to catching fish in both conditions? When the bite's good, you know, when it's cloudy and it's low pressure, they're gonna eat anything anyways. Throw whatever you want. Have fun. Bring your kids out there and catch a hundred fish. When it's high pressure and it's slow, slow your baits down. Slow everything down. Fish closer to the bottom. Think about using dead baits, cut bait. Slow everything down. Put a cut bait out. Put it in a rod holder and drink a beer. You know? Just look at that rod. When it goes down, you got your fish on. You might not catch a hundred fish, but if you slow everything down, you will eventually catch your fish. Just think lower in the water column. Lower, slower, and smaller no matter what bait you're throwing. You'll catch fish.
Tom Rowland: Nice. So high pressure means slow. Like the beautiful day, that's slow. And that is counterintuitive to a lot of what a lot of people think. Oh, it's beautiful out here. It's nice and calm. We can go anywhere. We're fishing real fast, and we're not catching any fish. So that's some really good advice. Coming from someone that spent a lot of time on the water and continues to spend a lot of time on the water. So take it and make hay with it, because that's some good advice.
Tom Rowland: Alright. That's captain Ryan Harrington. If you wanna follow captain Ryan Harrington, where do they go?
Ryan Harrington: The easiest way is Instagram at captain Ryan Harrington.
Tom Rowland: Follow him and maybe go fishing with him. He's got a lot of good advice, including how to fish with the barometer in mind. Alright. That's it for How to Tuesday this week. We'll talk to you next week. See you.
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