Wind Socks. Worth It?

[Choporoz]

I fish from rented jon boats and canoes 90% of the time.  Nothing can take me out of my game like a windy day.  I really lose focus quickly.  Do you use wind socks in small boats?  Do they work?  Are they worth the expense and the space?  I feel like I already take way too much stuff in the boat.  But, if they can make a dramatic difference in handling on a windy day, they just might be my next purchase.  How far back do they drag?  Do they get in the way of your fishing or get hung up on stumps, branches, etc?  More trouble than they're worth? 

[Bankbeater]

When I fish out of a jon boat I just use an anchor to hold the boat in place.

[tbone1993]

My friend keeps a drift sock in his boat incase his trolling motor goes out.  They work you just have to be smart about it.

[TetraFish'n]

 

I have a 20 foot pontoon boat that can be very frustrating to handle in the wind. With its high sides it acts like a giant sail. After reading an article last summer, I purchased a set of Cabela's drift socks. They made a huge difference for me. If the wind picks up we simply throw them out on two corners of the boat. In a really high wind I will put them off the two corners of the bow to turn the boat directly into the wind. This helps to cut down on wind resistance. Being a new technique, they definitely take some getting used to. It doesn't take much practice though and they make a world of difference.

 

They don't really take up much space and fit into a small duffel bag and they are extremely light. As far as them getting hung on cover, most of them have flotation that keeps the drift sock riding high in the water. That would have to be a consideration for areas with lots of wood though. The ones I have drag approximately 10 feet off the boat. For a small boat I think you may be able to get away with using just one. 

 

I found them to be a very useful tool. Times when I used to get blown off the lake are now spent fishing.

 

Josh

 

[Choporoz]

Great feedback, Tetra.  Thank you.

[Neil McCauley]

Bump, also looking for opinions on them. How little do you actually drift with one out? And why not just use an anchor?

[Fishing Rhino]

Here's an easy, very inexpensive way to find out.

 

Get a five gallon bucket drill three equally spaced holes around the rim so you can make a bridle.  Make each "leg" of the bridle a foot and a half long.  On a breezy day, toss it over the side.  The  bucket will not sink, but it will barely float.

 

If it slows you too much, drill some one inch holes in the bottom to reduce drag.  When not using the drag you can store gear in it such as a small mushroom anchor, a pfd, anchor line, etc. With a hole(s) drilled in the bottom, it will not hold water, so whatever you store in it will not be sitting in water.

 

 In fact, if you use a stainless steel carabiner clip the line can do double duty.  Clip it to the bucket to slow your drift, or clip it to the anchor to hold the boat in place.

 

[fishnkamp]

I used a drift chain when fishing in swift river current years ago. It was made up of 30 feet of rope and had a 3 foot piece of 3/8 chain wrapped in duct tape to quiet it down. I also had a 2 foot long piece of 1/2 inch chain and a carabiner clip to quickly add it on to slow the boat down as needed.  They would be tossed up stream of the boat and allow us to fish as we slowly traveled down the rocky river.  Because the chains were duct taped they never really got hung up much.

[gim]

When I used to do more walleye fishing, we'd regularly use a drift/wind sock when we were lindy rigging.  We had to in order to slow down our drift to the desired speed of 0.5 mph or less when the wind was blowing us too hard and fast over structure.  I haven't actually used one while bass fishing but that doesn't mean I never would either.

[tkunk]

For those who are asking, the purpose of a wind sock is to slow your boat down when it's windy. It's very difficult to catch bass when your boat is moving fast. The idea is that you figure out the path you're going to follow, and you line your boat up so that you're going to follow a ledge or pass over a bunch of good spots like humps, weed beds, etc at a manageable speed like 0.5 MPH.

 

It's also difficult to find fish when you're not moving, so a wind sock is better than an anchor when you don't know where the fish are.

 

On a big, windy lake, if I didn't have a trolling motor, I couldn't imagine fishing without a wind sock. But if you do have a trolling motor, you can point your bow into the wind and use it to control your speed.

 

 

[WRB]

Good Drift socks have a lanyard in the middle the pulls the sock inside out so you can pull back into the boat easily....buy a commercial fishing wind sock with all the headaches worked out. Lindy and Danielson socks are about $20 plus a harness and float.

Tom

[RichF]

If you a lot of open water fishing, they are absolutely worth it.  They're a must have when I'm fishing for smallmouth on lake ontario.  You won't be able to maneuver the boat a lot when they're deployed though.  

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, RichF said:

If you a lot of open water fishing, they are absolutely worth it.  They're a must have when I'm fishing for smallmouth on lake ontario.  You won't be able to maneuver the boat a lot when they're deployed though.  

Agreed. If you're fishing open water, or you have the wind blowing just right down a bank you want to fish, they're great. You can't use them around obstructions and there isn't much adjusting you can do with the trolling motor with them out. I use to use them in my 2 man and aluminum boat. I still have them but haven't used them for years. 

[crypt]

been using them on Okeechobee for years when drifting over the grass flats. best thing ever for a controlled drift.