Fishing In The Wind

[MikeOGNR]

Quick question maybe some of you can help. Recently I have been noticing I've been cutting myself short by not being able to fish in the wind. I usually fish in the morning and at dusk because of this problem also in rainy days when the water will stay calm. I just can't seem to get the hang of it and I always get frustrated when windy days occur. I would like to start fishing longer days and also during midday, but the wind sometimes throws me around to much. I usually fish Texas rigs almost exclusively. And the sense of feel with them drops tremendously during a windy day. Anyone got any advice as to how to overcome this? Also I fish out of a small v hull with a 6 horse power motor.

[Smokinal]

Years ago I was the same. I hated the wind until I discovered how much better the bite is in it. Keep trying it and you'll just  get used to it. As far as baits, I stick with spinnerbaits, squarebills, crankbaits, jigs and I still throw a t-rig; I just up the weight a hair.

And keep your nose into the wind. You will have better boat control that way. And don't lock your motor up; keep it down; this can help act as a stabilizer.

Obviously, if the wind makes the situation unsafe, leave. Safety first my friend.

[MikeOGNR]

Years ago I was the same. I hated the wind until I discovered how much better the bite is in it. Keep trying it and you'll just get used to it. As far as baits, I stick with spinnerbaits, squarebills, crankbaits, jigs and I still throw a t-rig; I just up the weight a hair.

And keep your nose into the wind. You will have better boat control that way. And don't lock your motor up; keep it down; this can help act as a stabilizer.

Obviously, if the wind makes the situation unsafe, leave. Safety first my friend.

Thanks for the tips. I wouldn't say it's unsafe winds just bottom contact and keeping the boat in position is a pain. I'll have to start throwing reaction baits more I usually never do just because I haven't had any luck, but I'll give it a shot.

[*Hank]

Reaction baits are one of my top baits for fishing in the wind.

[RoLo]

For sure, I'd much rather fish in a glass-smooth mill pond, but fishing in the teeth of the wind is an important skill.

It's the age old progression:  Wind => Plankton => Baitfish => Gamefish

To reduce the luff in the fishing line, be sure to hold the tiptop guide just above the water surface.

Of course you won't have the same feel, but can generally fish in winds over 20 mph (done it often in a 12' cartopper).

 

It's tempting to move to the sheltered side of the structure or weedbed, but there'll be times

when you can't buy a fish on the lee side. On the other hand, bass commonly exploit the wind

while holding in slack water, which gives the angler the same opportunity.

That is to say, exploit the benefit of the wind while holding the boat behind the lee side of a point.

 

Roger

[MikeOGNR]

For sure, I'd much rather fish in a glass-smooth mill pond, but fishing in the teeth of the wind is an important skill.

It's the age old progression: Wind => Plankton => Baitfish => Gamefish

To reduce the luff in the fishing line, be sure to hold the tiptop guide just above the water surface.

Of course you won't have the same feel, but can generally fish in winds close to 20 mph (done it often in a 12' cartopper).

It's tempting to move to the sheltered side of the structure or weedbed, but there'll be times

when you can't buy a fish on the lee side. On the other hand, bass commonly exploit the wind

while holding in slack water, which gives the angler the same opportunity.

That is to say, exploit the benefit of the wind while holding the boat behind the lee side of a point.

When fishing with the rod tip down do you move the rod up to the 10 o clock position? Or do you drag it by pulling it downward.

Roger

[Smokinal]

^^^Keep rod tip low and sweep sideways

[SchlottyD]

^^^Keep rod tip low and sweep sideways

Or use a few quick cranks.

[bobh64]

Wind creates currents which creats ambush point for bass to use around cover and points, small fish sometimes cant handle the currents in the water produced by the wind. just like water going to a storm drain goes around bends and curves. Fish those protruding points that can let bass take advantage of the situation. As far as fishing in bad wind 15-30 mph+ I use a wind anchor on my boat when I am not in to shallow of the water. It's all trial and error till you find a comfort point nothing is easy. My dream fishing day will be wind in the 5-10mph, smooth calm water makes for a long slow fishing day.

[BW208]

Agreed no wind sucks just as bad as 30-40mph winds in my opinion especially when its hot.

[RoLo]

When fishing with the rod tip down do you move the rod up to the 10 o clock position? Or do you drag it by pulling it downward.

 

Actually neither.

Any downward movement would submerge the rod-tip, and lifting the rod-tip to 10 o'clock

would expose the line to the wind and defeat the purpose.

 

There are two retrieves you can use, and both keep the tiptop guide just above the water.

One option is to use a horizontal pull to either side, so the rod-tip travels parallel to the water surface.

The other option is what I call the “crank-&-glide” retrieve. Simply crank the reel to advance the bait,

then stop reeling to allow the lure to glide back down to the bottom, and so on ~ ~.

However, instead of allowing the bait to freefall, use a tight-line glide by mending out the line-slack,

which helps to stay in contact with the bait on windy days.

 

Roger

[BASSPATROL247]

Wind creates currents which creats ambush point for bass to use around cover and points, small fish sometimes cant handle the currents in the water produced by the wind. just like water going to a storm drain goes around bends and curves. Fish those protruding points that can let bass take advantage of the situation. As far as fishing in bad wind 15-30 mph+ I use a wind anchor on my boat when I am not in to shallow of the water. It's all trial and error till you find a comfort point nothing is easy. My dream fishing day will be wind in the 5-10mph, smooth calm water makes for a long slow fishing day.

Wind anchor??? Are you referring to a drift sock? If so X2 on that....

[Flippin4Biggins]

Hey buddy I fish in the wind all the time.... If I'm jigging, spinners, cranks.... I always toss a 3/8 oz and let the fish tell me what they want and then if it's windy I'll throw a 1/2oz. And remember bass will position themselves goings against the wind.... I like to retrieve it a little fast then normal and give them less chance to look at it and get more of a reaction strike or bump it off structure... And I will also receive it normal or slower to see if that's what they want to.

[Bankbeater]

Get two anchors.  Drop one off each side of the boat.  If you only have one anchor, stop the motor and see which end of the boat catches the wind the most.  The lightest end should be pushed around the most.  When the boat is turned so that it is going with the wind, drop the anchor.  That way you won't be getting whipped around so bad when the wind gusts.

[Canyon explorer]

Hey buddy I fish in the wind all the time.... If I'm jigging, spinners, cranks.... I always toss a 3/8 oz and let the fish tell me what they want and then if it's windy I'll throw a 1/2oz. And remember bass will position themselves goings against the wind.... I like to retrieve it a little fast then normal and give them less chance to look at it and get more of a reaction strike or bump it off structure... And I will also receive it normal or slower to see if that's what they want to.

Charter head boats bridle off the bow all the time.

[Breakin heads]

Quick question maybe some of you can help. Recently I have been noticing I've been cutting myself short by not being able to fish in the wind. I usually fish in the morning and at dusk because of this problem also in rainy days when the water will stay calm. I just can't seem to get the hang of it and I always get frustrated when windy days occur. I would like to start fishing longer days and also during midday, but the wind sometimes throws me around to much. I usually fish Texas rigs almost exclusively. And the sense of feel with them drops tremendously during a windy day. Anyone got any advice as to how to overcome this? Also I fish out of a small v hull with a 6 horse power motor.

 

Charter head boats bridle off the bow all the time.

One of the best baits to throw year round is a spinnerbait. Its great in the wind and is a big fish bait. One tip i can give you is upsize your weight of your bait. and another is make your casts lower and faster. Instead of throwing over hand up into the wind, side arm your casts lower to the water keeping your bait out of more wind. This will help get greater distance with your casts.

[HoosierHawgs]

One of the best baits to throw year round is a spinnerbait. Its great in the wind and is a big fish bait. One tip i can give you is upsize your weight of your bait. and another is make your casts lower and faster. Instead of throwing over hand up into the wind, side arm your casts lower to the water keeping your bait out of more wind. This will help get greater distance with your casts.

Yep, this right here.