Sundogs

[solopaddler]

You never really hear anglers at large mentioning this, but when I was a young lad my uncle told me the fishing would always be good when you saw a sundog in the sky.

Being a weather specialist and an angler this kind of stuff facinates me . For those who don't know what a sundog is, it's an atmospheric phenomenon caused by sunlight shining through high level cirrus clouds and refracting off the suspended ice crystals, usually observed right next to the sun.

They can look like this

Or in rare cases like this

Over the years I've watched for these things, and I can tell you truthfully the fishing is usually better when they occur (at least in my experience).

Why is this? well, I can only guess. Usually indications of vapour or ice particles hanging around in the upper atmosphere is a pretty good clue that weather of some kind is approaching within 24hrs. which usually means a front is on the way...so the barometer may be affected.

A falling barometer will usually mean fast and furious action if you're on the water

at the right time.

Another more common, similar visual indicator is contrails from planes hanging around in the air for a long time.

So what do you guys say?

Does anyone else out there watch out for sundogs?

[lew]

I agree with you 100 % Mike, any change in the weather can be a good thing and when a low pressure front is moving in, the fish'n normally changes for the better. I've never used the sundogs as an indicator, but it certainly makes sense.

 

My favorite time on the water is when a severe storm is just moving over the horizon and the sky is jet black, but you gotta be quick with that one and be on the prime spot, specially if there's lightening associated with it.

[solopaddler]

My favorite time on the water is when a severe storm is just moving over the horizon and the sky is jet black, but you gotta be quick with that one and be on the prime spot, specially if there's lightening associated with it.

 

Right on Lew!

Be on a high percentage spot, and if you can smell the ozone in the air you're golden!

[lew]

I've shown this picture before Mike, but it's so textbook for fishing right in front of a major storm moving in.

 

It had been very hot & humid for several days and the radio was calling for a major thunderstorm to move thru the area in the evening. My buddy & I kept an eye on the sky and just before it seemed ready to hit, I told my wife I was going fishing and would be back soon.

 

We hopped in the boat, ran full tilt down the lake to a favorite spot, I made 5 casts and got this guy, took a picture, realeased the fish as the lightening bolts were flashing over my left shoulder, and headed for home.

 

Total time from when we left the dock till we returned was 15 minutes.

 

My wife said, "what's wrong, I thought you guys were going fishing ??"

 

I said "we did go fishing, it just doesn't take long to catch them"

 

 

Only bad part was about 20 minutes later the trailer park was hit by lightening and it blew out my satellite & TV but that's another story.

Edited August 8, 2007 by lew

[mcallister.grant]

I have had nothing but good experiences when the barometer starts to drop. It is amazing the way the fish turn on with a slight change in pressure. Is there and explanation for this agressive reaction? Could it be that there is an increased oxygen supply when the pressure is loosened? I really enjoy it when people share their "superstitions" (for lack of a better word) when it pertains to any sport. Love the Sundog thing....

[solopaddler]

I've shown this picture before Mike, but it's so textbook for fishing right in front of a major storm moving in.

 

It had been very hot & humid for several days and the radio was calling for a major thunderstorm to move thru the area in the evening. My buddy & I kept an eye on the sky and just before it seemed ready to hit, I told my wife were going fishing and would be back soon.

 

We hopped in the boat, ran down the lake to a favorite spot, I made 5 casts and got this guy, took a picture, realeased the fish as the lightening bolts were flashing over my left shoulder, and headed for home.

 

Total time from when we left the dock till we returned was 15 minutes.

 

My wife said, "what's wrong, I thought you guys were going fishing ??"

 

I said "we did go fishing, it just doesn't take long to catch them"

 

 

Only bad part was about 20 minutes later the trailer park was hit by lightening and it blew out my satellite & TV but that's another story.

 

That's classic Lew, gotta love it when the fish follow the script!

[solopaddler]

Is there and explanation for this agressive reaction? Could it be that there is an increased oxygen supply when the pressure is loosened?

 

I can explain the who, what and when, but the why? No idea!

(I'd hazzard a guess that Mr. Thorpe could offer an opinion on this)

[fishindevil]

Yes sundogs are very cool,i have seen them many times. ..being a fishing addict,i am also a weather freak....im ALWAYS WATCHING THE SKY,and always interested in the weather,well,the fish were biting good yesterday befoe the rain and on monday i seen a circle around the sun ...so i will now be on alert for that situation,thanks for bringing that up....cheers

[Marc Thorpe]

Never really observed sun dogs

Atmospheric changes most times trigger fish,but on days where atmospheric pressure varies throughout the day,stable atmospheric periods during the day seem to make the fish go but these periods seem to occur when weather change are occuring every day,for some reasons fish tend to bite under these stable atmospheric periods

Under stable weather which would in turn create stable atmospheric periods,then atmospheric changes created by lunar phase or atmopsheric tides will trigger fish

[mcallister.grant]

Thanks Marc. I appreciate that.

[Marc Thorpe]

Grant this year,stability is key during the day given the un-stable weather trends

Example yesterday,the bite was good at 8 am then 4 pm,The barometer bottomed out in the morning then pettered off till 4 when the barometer rose and stabilsed a bit

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/forecast/tr...?yul&unit=m

 

sometimes what looks good is not so good,its the sublte things that make the difference,observation is key

Before the storm or after,Ive seen both

Somedays it only takes 10 minutes,then you might as well put the boat on the trailer and go home

Edited August 9, 2007 by marc thorpe

[Marc Thorpe]

I can explain the who, what and when, but the why? No idea!

(I'd hazzard a guess that Mr. Thorpe could offer an opinion on this)

 

Opinion or observation,I concur nothing cooler than observing weather

[Guest Trophymuskie]

I like sun dogs, ours aren't that nice looking it's more like a white ring around the sun and you may just see a little bit of the rainbow colors. I just thought it was because the clouds were thin enough to let the sun shine through and the ring is created from the moisture in those cloud.

 

BTW I also find the bite to be good during this weird phenomenon.

[Fishingfever]

Nice pics, sundogs are cool only seen them a cpl times.

 

John

[Guest Trophymuskie]

Here is a picture of one I saw last September. I was actually just trying to see if I could capture it on the camera. To bad I did not get the entire thing but it was a blinding shot and It was too close. It actually did not turn out of the viewer function of my camera but once downloaded on the computer it was very visible.

 

I actually think we caught 5 fish including a 53.5 that day or maybe it was the day we got a 51-49.5-48.

 

 

[Beans]

I read an article in the North American Fisherman magazine a couple of issues back that made sense to me...

 

Normally, plankton is held near the bottom of the water by gravity and high barometric pressure but during a drop in pressure plankton rises in the water table which in turn starts a feeding frenzy for baitfish which in turn turns on dem fishes that eats said baitfish...

[ccmtcanada]

Very cool topic. I've never used sundogs either, but I constantly track the barometric pressure. When it's falling, or at least below 100kpa, I try to head out to catch some fish!

[solopaddler]

Here is a picture of one I saw last September. I was actually just trying to see if I could capture it on the camera. To bad I did not get the entire thing but it was a blinding shot and It was too close. It actually did not turn out of the viewer function of my camera but once downloaded on the computer it was very visible.

 

I actually think we caught 5 fish including a 53.5 that day or maybe it was the day we got a 51-49.5-48.

 

Actually bud, that's not a sundog, just a simple halo around the sun. You'll often see them around the moon as well. This is actually a very common phenomenon, and similar to sundogs or contrails hanging in the sky are usually an indicator of weather on the way...

 

BTW, thanks for the input Marc!

[Guest Trophymuskie]

Talking about sun dogs I saw one tonight and yes I know what a sun dog is, it's just very difficult to capture with a camera. I tried to get some shots of it tonight I'll have to see how the pictures develop. It looked very similar to the one pictured in the original post, it had scattered clouds which made only small pieces of ether side of it rainbow colored.

 

Hey even if it wasn't one we still got a 47 incher. LOL And it did look like rain was on the way as I was heading back to the launch. I need to get batteries for my barometer soon as that is a great way of telling if weather is coming. Well more then just looking at clouds, sometimes the barometer will drop before you see any kind of clouds.