Prawns success and weather

[sushieater]

I always have my best results prawning when its super windy out. Is this a common thing? Sometimes I'll fish the same spots for a week. Some days great, some days nothing. If its super windy, I usually get 2-3x more than normal days.

This pattern is mostly from fishing in howe sound where I've done most of my prawning. Pulled the traps thanksgiving monday after blowing 30+knots overnight and did better than the other 3 days combined. My best days there are always when its been blowing hard.

The divers say that they can't even tell there's a storm when they are 20+ feet down so its hard to believe it makes such a difference.

Is the wind moving more water volume though? Or is this a sign I should be dropping my traps in a different spot or some place with more current? It seems strange that on big tide swing days, I don't see the same experience. You would think it would have a similar experience

Any other experiences people have on prawning in regards to weather? I've done well as shallow as 180' but it hasn't been consistent. I was wondering if that was on full moon days which may lure prawns higher. The divers at porteau cove say that there's tonnes of prawns there in 40-60' of water. Interesting that we usually don't target them that shallow.

 

[kaelc]

Shrimp side strip are usually shallow even on the dock. Not sure if the divers are seeing spot prawns?

 

[adanac]

i cant see any way this could make a difference at 200' plus

 

[Squire]

I generally have the opposite results. In spite of adding a weight about 15-20’ up the line from the trap, the more the buoy bounces the less prawns I seem to get in the trap.

 

[sly_karma]

I generally have the opposite results. In spite of adding a weight about 15-20’ up the line from the trap, the more the buoy bounces the less prawns I seem to get in the trap.

Weight should be 8-10 lb and 30-40 ft before the first trap, that will absorb surface wave and tide action. Plus about 5 lb in each trap to deal with currents down deep.

 

[Squire]

Weight should be 8-10 lb and 30-40 ft before the first trap, that will absorb surface wave and tide action. Plus about 5 lb in each trap to deal with currents down deep.

That’s how I’m set up other than my weight is half as far up the line from the trap as yours.

 

[agentaqua]

I always have my best results prawning when its super windy out. Is this a common thing? Sometimes I'll fish the same spots for a week. Some days great, some days nothing. If its super windy, I usually get 2-3x more than normal days.

This pattern is mostly from fishing in howe sound where I've done most of my prawning. Pulled the traps thanksgiving monday after blowing 30+knots overnight and did better than the other 3 days combined. My best days there are always when its been blowing hard.

The divers say that they can't even tell there's a storm when they are 20+ feet down so its hard to believe it makes such a difference.

Is the wind moving more water volume though? Or is this a sign I should be dropping my traps in a different spot or some place with more current? It seems strange that on big tide swing days, I don't see the same experience. You would think it would have a similar experience

Any other experiences people have on prawning in regards to weather? I've done well as shallow as 180' but it hasn't been consistent. I was wondering if that was on full moon days which may lure prawns higher. The divers at porteau cove say that there's tonnes of prawns there in 40-60' of water. Interesting that we usually don't target them that shallow.

I don't know Howe Sound - but most inlets on the coast have various upwelling/downwelling current processes within them that are wind-driven - and those with larger rivers emptying into them also have salinity-driven & river-driven estuarine currents also. And in shallower waters or around sills - tides also have an effect.

Any of those currents can cause upwelling or downwelling dependent upon what side of the inlet you are talking about - and/or what the prevailing wind direction is. These processes would affect prawn feeding & densities.

Does a change in prevailing wind direction change your prawning success? Might be a predictable pattern here.