Got this in a newsletter. As the conditions would apply to the UK (article is about post-hurricane but might hold for other types of storms), I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

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In Storm's Wake, Time To Fish By Willie Howard Cox News Service

Nobody knows exactly why bottom fishing action picks up after hurricanes, but drift boats that ventured out Boynton Inlet the week following Hurricane Jeanne found snapper, grouper, kingfish and a few African pompano in the storm- churned water over the reefs. Call it the hurricane bite.

Biologist Luiz Barbieri of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Research Institute offers this possible explanation for why bottom fish bite well after a hurricane: Big waves stir up small crustaceans and other fishy treats from the bottom around the reefs.

Small fish move in to feed on the goodies, and larger fish come in to feed on the small fish. Big storms, in essence, kick-start the food chain. Bob Spickler of Perk’s Bait & Tackle believes cold-water ocean upwellings triggered by hurricanes move fish such as gag grouper from deeper water onto coastal reefs. Others speculate that bottom fish become disoriented and have trouble feeding during a hurri- cane.When the sea settles, they’re hungry.

Jake Korthals of Delray Beach, Fla., offered this explana- tion: Nobody fishes the ocean before and during a hurricane, and few anglers are able to fish immediately after a big storm. Because fishing pressure drops with the barometer, post-hurricane fish are more willing to bite.

A full moon, which encourages bottom fish to congregate, might have helped, too. None of these hunches about why bottom fish bite after a hurricane is scientifically proven. But the evidence was stacked up beside the fish-cleaning table following a recent trip aboard the Sea Mist III.

Among the fish brought from the reefs to the docks: Rosie Scully’s big mutton snapper, estimated at 14 pounds, and Harvey Lewin’s 10-pound yellowtail snapper, taken on a spinning rod rigged with 12-poundtest line, no leader and a onequarter-ounce jig head tipped with squid. Sea Mist III anglers also caught many small kingfish, a chunky Spanish mackerel, several chubby blue runners and a dozen or more red grouper, most of them smaller than the 20-inch minimum size.

Skipper Alan LeBrun of the Lady K said fishing was fantastic just before Jeanne, with some trips producing catches of 200 yellowtail snapper (for everyone the drift boat) as well as grouper and kingfish. The post-Jeanne bite appears to be just as good.

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Well, Norma and I have two experiences of fishing after tropical or sub-tropical storms.

Once in Mauritius - lost the first two days, the next four were excellent fishing, loaads of tuna, wahoo, dorado and a sailfish.

The second time in Madeira - lost the first four days, the next two days produced just one strike - a wahoo.

So the jury is still out as far as we are concerned.

OTOH In the UK, the best winter coastal fishing at Dungeness always used to be when the wind turned NW and the sea calmed after a sou'westerly storm. In that case, it was definitely down to lugworms, slipper limpets, sea-mice etc being churned up off rocks and sand - the cod were stuffed with them.

Newt,

I came across a host of articles relating to fish behaviour before and after hurricanes, following this unusual season.

Can't find most of them now

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/462634/

http://www.vabass.com/Features/2004/January.htm

http://www.seagrantfish.lsu.edu/biological.../redsnapper.htm
"The average tagged fish moved 18.6 miles before recapture. Tagged red snappers were found to move further and faster than ordinary when hurricanes affected an area. The longest distance moved was 219 miles."


http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=...=mg16322054.000

http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article3023.html


Tight Lines - leon

While I don't know what the fishing is like during a hurricane or cyclone for obvious reasons, in my experience the best fishing is actually DURING the blow. It is still good after the worst part of the storm but it is on the downslide at that stage. This was always particularly noticable when I was cod fishing on Walton Pier. The windier it was and rougher the sea was, the better the cod fishing. The same applies here in Western Australia except that the fish are snapper.

I am sure that the reason for it is that a lot of the fishes natural food is disturbed and disorientated in such conditions and so the cod etc move into the shallower water where they can capitalise on the situation.

I went fishing on Saturday and confirmed some thoughts on this. I could not get to my normal mark which is an outcrop of rock jutting out into deep water as thousands of gallons of water where pouring over it.

Instead I fished from the cliffs at the back of the rocks and caught loads of Coalfish in the disturbed water. I have seen this happen before and came to the conclusion, although fish are dumb the are smart enough to know where the food is going to be. In this case Limpets, Mussels and Winkles torn from the rock by the breaking waves.

Bob

DEFINITELY, better results when the sea is pounding the beaches with a gale force wind blowing off the sea.

Thats why i adapted to using 8oz leads and began Backcasting, this way i was able to still get a baited hook out over the breakers.

The biggest problem was always landing the fish, grabbing it before the next wave came crashing down and ripping the hook out,. Speed was the answer, get in, grab it and run like hell.

One thing Ive wondered.......when the sea is pounding into the rocks only stupid fish would be swimming anywhere near the rocks surely they would get battered into the rocks