I'm a multi-species angler. Some of this may apply more to bass fishing, and some to other species. I know the Primary Conditions are Season/Time of Year (Spawn, Summer, Fall, etc. and Morning, Evening, Afternoon) Temperature (Cold, High, etc.) Viability (Light, Water Clarity, etc.) Wind (Low, High and Direction) I'm wondering about these secondary conditions. Do they matter? Or if I look at the list above, will I get the same info. I know a lot of the conditions are correlated. Secondary Conditions (Do These Matter - Should I Factor Them In, for My Fishing Strategies?) (Either Bass or Other Fish) UV Light (humidity, etc.) Barometric Pressure (vs or in addition to just viability - after factoring in is it sunny or cloudy outside, does barometric pressure add additional info?) Lunar Calendars PH (Water Hardness) Anything else? Basically, which of the items on the list above matter, which are unimportant most of the time, and which are false (not really a driver of fish behavior)?

I'm generally with @Tennessee Boy, @king fisher, & @casts_by_fly on this. The immediate conditions of the bass environment, such as light, clarity, wind, current, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, water level, food chain and forage activity, AS WELL AS recent changes in these and fishing pressure are what I care about the most. Moment to moment, these are the things bass experience directly and respond to consistently. The potential effects of other factors that are farther removed and less direct like lunar cycles and barometric pressure, to the extent that they matter, mostly do so by influencing more immediate conditions. Moon phase and barometric pressure are both associated with changes in lighting, for instance. The moon affects tides, but I'm fishing fresh water. There isn't much reason to think bass respond to normal changes in barometric pressure itself, but rather to atmospheric states like cloud cover, wind, rain, etc. that come with it. The key thing is that once I have adjusted my fishing to account for immediate conditions, and how much they recently have changed/are changing, I've already accounted for the major influence of less-direct factors, and whatever additional influence they have above and beyond immediate conditions, it is unlikely to be more than a drop in the bucket.

Secondary Conditions Importance: UV Light, Barametric Pressure, Lunar, PH, Etc.

August 10, 2025Aug 10

Super User

I like these types of threads.

These types of threads almost always generate engaging, insightful, and thought-provoking discussions.

There's been plenty of that dropped into this one already.

My version of it is that Primary and Secondary Conditions

is something developed by anglers and not something that's even on a bass's radar.

Conditions that promote survival and a feeding advantage for a bass

are the conditions we all seem do the best in.

The specifics of primary and secondary conditions can vary greatly depending on the location and the season.

I've had some (more like limited) success attempting to fish in what I conditions,,o bconditions,,te' conditions where I did well.But more often than not, while it might seem the same, it's really not.

And the bass are quick to let me know by pulling a disappearing act that Houdini would be proud of.

So in the end, I'm not sure what determines primary or secondary conditions

I question whether such a thing even exists.

But 'conditions' are just about all I have to go on.

So I'll keep banging my head against the wall trying to 'get it right.'

Fish Hard

:smiley:

A-Jay

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1

August 10, 2025Aug 10

On 8/8/2025 at 10:30 PM, txchaser said:

https://www.amazon.com/High-Percentage-Fishing-Statistical-Improving/dp/1517384206

A forum member wrote a book about this question, based on large-scale statistics.

It is a really good read and 10x more valuable than a couple bags of senkos, which is what it costs.

^ one again impressed at the actual quality of the information you can get here if you look close enough...for $15 I'm in one this one...especially since the author is from this neck of the woods and seems to agree that evidence / data based decisions usually yield better than average results.

On 8/8/2025 at 10:30 PM, txchaser said:

https://www.amazon.com/High-Percentage-Fishing-Statistical-Improving/dp/1517384206

A forum member wrote a book about this question, based on large-scale statistics.

It is a really good read and 10x more valuable than a couple bags of senkos, which is what it costs.

^ one again impressed at the actual quality of the information you can get here if you look close enough...for $15 I'm in one this one...especially since the author is from this neck of the woods and seems to agree that evidence / data based decisions usually yield better than average results.

On 8/8/2025 at 10:30 PM, txchaser said:

https://www.amazon.com/High-Percentage-Fishing-Statistical-Improving/dp/1517384206

A forum member wrote a book about this question, based on large-scale statistics.

It is a really good read and 10x more valuable than a couple bags of senkos, which is what it costs.

^ one again impressed at the actual quality of the information you can get here if you look close enough...for $15 I'm in one this one...especially since the author is from this neck of the woods and seems to agree that evidence / data based decisions usually yield better than average results.

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1

August 15, 2025Aug 15

Barometric Pressure is one factor I always take into consideration before heading out. Not so much the actual pressure, but whether it's moving up, down, or stable. I prefer downward moving as it affects the activity level of the bass, IMO, and a stable pressure is beneficial for establishing a pattern.

I don't think light penetration, moon phase, or even PH affect fish activity levels as much as they do feeding windows.

There are only two conditions that will keep me off the water, three if you factor in ice. Conditions affect my approach and often times, the fish don't agree with that.

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August 19, 2025Aug 19

Author

Great video I just found, discussing the impact (or lack of) of pressure on fish, based on the math and scientific principles:

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Secondary Conditions Importance: UV Light, Barametric Pressure, Lunar, PH, Etc.

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