Fishing in the wind. Getting out fished!

[BobP]

I fished in a 20 mph wind last week, using 12 lb braid and fluoro leader on a shakey head.  Couldn't feel a d**n thing.  I'm switching back to all fluoro.  Braid transmits nothing if a fish picks up your lure and moves toward you on a slack line, which often happens if you are casting upstream and letting the bait be swept toward you.  Fluoro does.  You can keep braid's good handling, which is the only advantage I can see for it, except in grass.  If you can't feel'em, you can't catch'em. 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

No, not possible. We all know from reading these forums that fluorocarbon is overhyped, overpriced, totally unmanageable, and basically just a bunch of crap compared to braid, used straight or with a fluoro leader

x2

[Paul Roberts]

18 hours ago, 1simplemann said:

Paul, Look up Aaron Martens favorite shakyhead. It's a bassmaster clip. Basically he prefers to start w/ a leader w/ the knot just above the reel and NOT past the bail arm due to the knot catching. Makes sense to me.  Catt. Come clean? Well, we fished along a 300 yd stretch of rocky shoreline.  We started in the middle. He went his way,I went mine. We met back up an hour later, compared results and then fished the same hole side by side.  At the time, we met back up,  it was 4:1. In the next hour it became 12:1 and finished 15:3. Clean enough for ya? The 20 mph wind  seemed to trigger the bite because as soon as the wind died so did the bite. As far as adjustments, I'm not too old to learn a new thing or two cause after the butt whoop'n I took on Sat. i figure I need change something. He was over for dinner tonite and agreed that the fluro was probably the difference. we'll see this weekend. Tight Lines Rob in Montana

That's what I suspected. He uses -or did- an Albright. Try the FG Knot -awesome, amazing, breakthrough knot for braid to leader.

Hey, you're in MT. How cool is that. Not all that many bass fishers on here from MT. I'm in trout country too. Lotsa small bass waters here though in the form of snowmelt catchment/irrigation reservoirs. Good to have you aboard.

It'll be interesting what you find out going to FC -in wind. It's not a simple fix. And I agree with the others that operator error and confidence are generally primary considerations. But once that's out of the way, I believe the line matters. Braid -at least the soft braids I've used- become essentially useless for (semi) slack-line detection in wind.

Whether Copoly or FC, the effect of wind (and water too) on that long string of molecules is the most important factor -every stream/river fisher learns that pronto. I feel that FC's density has helped quite a bit in wind compared to mono. I think it's a similar discussion as with other types of ballistics from fly-lines to arrows to rifle bullets: velocity vs momentum. Some fly-fishers suggest going to a heavier line weight in wind. Others suggest the opposite, dropping a line weight (and accelerating) as there is a thinner string of molecules being acted on by wind. I wonder if power plays a role and in some cases, or some anglers, either way might be a better choice for them. If you have the rod and muscle to repeatedly fire a super-tight loop at high velocity with a 9wt line, the added mass might help. If you can't, maybe dropping to a 7wt will work better for that angler.

With mono vs FC it may be the same argument (the velocity provided by the wind itself), with momentum playing a role. Best of both worlds would be a microbraid-thin FC line. I've always said that the greatest invention in angling ever will be when we can get rid of the tether between us and the fish -or more practically, minimize it to a single high density chain of molecules. It'll be interesting to hear what others experiences are. Brian, what say you?

[1simplemann]

PR, From the vid's I saw A Mart uses multiple knot. Alberto,albright, uni-uni FG knot etc. I have tied them all. I prefer some sort of Albright for speed and dependability. The FG is one knot that I can't seem to get the hang of. I can tie it fairly well on 30 or 40 lb leader but can't seem to tie it on anything under 20. It takes me so dang long to tie it that I generally don't mess w/ it anymore. As far as being in MT, who da thought that the bass fishing could be good here? I just kinda hung my rods up and concentrated on bowhunting. Not sure why but it was definitely a mistake. Picked em back up again after a Florida vacation and realized what I was missing. I started looking hard at what MT had to offer and discovered the Missouri River north of where I live is an amazing smallmouth fishery. But the biggest discovery which may be the best "sleeper lake" in the US is Fort Peck Reservoir. Over 100 miles long and not a soul in site. Overall it is an amazing fishery in itself but the smallmouth are hardly touched. Our state championship had 2 day ,10 fish limit w/ 2 guys over 45 lbs! The guy that came in 2nd caught 27lbs  on a practice day including a possible 7lb 'r  and one under that. He let em go. State record is 6.8 lb. The lake has exploded since the high water of 2011-2012. I predict the record will be broken this year. Things are looking good for the few of us bass guys here. You mention soft braids. I use Fins XS which is 8 strands and is very soft. I use it because the noise going through the guides bothers me. I wonder if a stiffer braid will help? I have some PP somewhere  and will gladly put up w/ the noise if it help my ratio. Tight lines, Rob in Montana

[smalljaw67]

I fish tubes for river smallmouth and I use mono and I know exactly what was happening to you and yes, it was the line. The fluorocarbon sinks and when the wind was blowing both of you had your baits messed up on the drift but his bait was on, or closer to, the bottom. There is a fix without changing lines, it is weight, when using line that floats when the wind is blowing you need to use a little more weight. I my rivers it means going from 1/8oz to 3/16 or 1/4oz but I'm talking 6' depth so apply that to your water and you'll be fine. My buddy would do the same and tell me it was because they were seeing my line and I told him that was not the problem, so when I went up in weight guess what? I started getting more bites and it just because the sinking line allowed his bait to reach bottom and I believe the same is going on in your waters.

[1simplemann]

SmallJaw, You might know my partner. He grew up fishing the Susky. I'll find out this weekend if the fluro helps. I feel the whole key is that I'm not in the strike zone as much. I've tried the weight thing which does help but then I'm snagging the bottom more. If we're not on the river, I stay right with him most of the time but  on the river in the wind he gets me every time. As long as I'm catching, i don't mind the score card but  I was getting frustrated when I knew the fish were there, biting and I couldn't buy a bite.

[Turkey sandwich]

There's some good advice on here and some I disagree with.  Fluro will help some with the wind and allow the line to get down.  I think having a separate spool comes in handy in some cases and this can be one. That said, if you've got 1/8-1/4oz of lead on that jig, your lure is getting down regardless of mainline and a leader running over 10' on a spinning reel is a disaster waiting to happen.  It'll mess up casting distance, can cause loose loops on your Spool, and is just asking for tangles.  

 

The fly fishing analogy is really good, but for different reasons.  Fly casting requires a heavy line to throw a light fly.  Spinning/casting gear uses a heavy lure to throw light line.  Your issue doesn't sound like it's casting into the wind, but rather with the drift.  That said, successful fly fishing comes from maintaining a natural drift while keeping contact with the fly.  This sounds exactly like your problem.  Floating fly line is super bouyant and bright for watching, not unlike high vis braid.  A good fly caster will mend their line to keep their drift natural and keep contact with their presentation.  While drifting subsurface nymphs, they'll also use a strike indicator (bobber) to make it easier to watch.  I apologize for the length of the explanation, but the "why" is important.  Your tackle has features that you may not be using for their benefits.  Learning how to watch your line and how to properly mend it will absolutely put fish in your boat. To learn how to mend, check out the Orvis YouTube channel.