High Winds

[Sword of the Lord]

Tomorrow will have sustained 20+ MPH winds, but as I work long hours during the week and, living in Illinois, the season is quickly winding down, I'm going out anyways. 

 

I know I can't cancel out the wind; it is what it is; it's nature. But are there any tips for fishing accurately in the wind? I'm going to throw lipless cranks and spinnerbaits because that's what they're slamming right now. But when the wind is high I can't fish them where I want them. The wind takes the line that isn't in the water and tosses it to one side, and my retrieve ends up several feet to yards away from where I wanted it.

[WRB]

Are you fishing from a boat?

20 mph sustained wind is almost normal in the afternoon in many areas of the country.

Boat handling gets a little dicey, you just point the bow into the wind and have long enough trolling motor shaft to keep the prop in the water in white caps.

Make shorter casts and keep the rod tip down, shouldn't be too much of a problem. You might want to try a chatter bait and bill type diving crankbaits to prevent blades stopping the lure in the wind and a diving crank keeps more tension on the line during the retrieve.

Tom

[Sword of the Lord]

5 minutes ago, WRB said:

Are you fishing from a boat?

20 mph sustained wind is almost normal in the afternoon in many areas of the country.

Boat handling gets a little dicey, you just point the bow into the wind and have long enough trolling motor shaft to keep the prop in the water in white caps.

Make shorter casts and keep the rod tip down, shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Tom

I'm a shore fisherman and I primarily fish ponds in the open country.

[WRB]

Kentucy windage, aim a few yards upwind to allow for sideways drift. Use a little heavier lure, you can peg a bullet weight in front of a spinnerbait or Chatterbait. Use more of a sidearm casting motion in lieu of overhead to keep the lure trajectory closer the the water to reduce line in the wind.

Good luck.

Tom

[scaleface]

High winds ,fishing from the bank.  Go to the windiest side . The wave action dislodges food that attracts bait fish that attracts bass . Use whatever bait you think can be fished effectively .  

 

I was camping one weekend and there were forty mile sustained winds , to windy to launch . I had a fantastic day fishing a windy shore from bank with a sassy Shad on a jig head . Caught largemouths , white bass , crappie , walleye , channel cats and a big flathead by simply parallel    casting banks using a steady retrieve . 

[geo g]

I am surrounded by loads of 20 to 80 acre lakes.  I have at least 10 of these lakes five minutes from the house, with 360* access.  Bank fishing while the wind is howling, I will pick a side of the lake where the wind is to my back.  My lakes are full of thick shore weeds, and deep drop-offs, so treble hooks are out of the question.  I will fish with the wind at my back.  It makes casting real easy, and with Texas Rigged plastics I can fish slow and still have no problem getting through the thick shore weeds.  The bait will sink nice without bows in the line, and bite detection is easy as long as your line straight.  

 

From the boat I like to keep the wind to my back also.  I Use heavier weight, and put out the drift sock which slows the boat drift way down.  This also keeps me in stealth mode and off the trolling motor.  This has help greatly when the bite is difficult.

 

If the wind is over twenty constant, I stay home, and fish the local lakes from the bank.  Bank fishing is a lot easier during stiff wind if you plan for it, before picking a spot.  Location is everything!!!!

[The Bassman]

Tom's advice is real good. To that I'll add the lipless crankbaits you mentioned. They're my go to when the wind's up. They cast great, too.

[BuzzHudson19c]

Fished a lake from my kayak the other day for a few hours until the wind picked up to the point where I could no longer fish. Packed up and headed to a nearby pond. Scaleface is right. I didn't catch anything on the side of the pond protected from the wind, but on the windy side, crushed it. I was throwing a white Ratltrap, just fan casting and covering water.

[Sword of the Lord]

Thanks for the advice. Battling the winds based on the tips given in this thread was good for my lures and casts, but the fish would not bite a thing. I moved on from traps and spinners to chatters and swim jigs, to ploppers and Senkos as a last ditch effort. Nadda. I'll head back this evening though. The wind is supposed to be cut in half by then too.

 

I really thought it would be decent today based on what I saw heading to the water. A good size bass was crushing baitfish at the shore and kept getting stuck in the shallows along it, thrashing its way out. It wouldn't take my offerings. Then I saw a good one hit the top by some weeds. So they were feeding. Just didn't like me.

[geo g]

44 minutes ago, Sword of the Lord said:

Thanks for the advice. Battling the winds based on the tips given in this thread was good for my lures and casts, but the fish would not bite a thing. I moved on from traps and spinners to chatters and swim jigs, to ploppers and Senkos as a last ditch effort. Nadda. I'll head back this evening though. The wind is supposed to be cut in half by then too.

 

I really thought it would be decent today based on what I saw heading to the water. A good size bass was crushing baitfish at the shore and kept getting stuck in the shallows along it, thrashing its way out. It wouldn't take my offerings. Then I saw a good one hit the top by some weeds. So they were feeding. Just didn't like me.

 

 

When things are really tough down size and slow way down.  When you think its slow, slow down even slower.  A senko or zoom U-Vibe in watermelon red in clear water, and black and junebug in dingy water, have saved many a tuff day for me.  Keep the wind to your back and you can fish these slow and methodical all day long, without having to use big weights.  Slight jerks and long pauses work great for me on tough days.  Good luck, we have all faced those tough conditions.

[Sword of the Lord]

1 hour ago, geo g said:

 

 

When things are really tough down size and slow way down.  When you think its slow, slow down even slower.  A senko or zoom U-Vibe in watermelon red in clear water, and black and junebug in dingy water, have saved many a tuff day for me.  Keep the wind to your back and you can fish these slow and methodical all day long, without having to use big weights.  Slight jerks and long pauses work great for me on tough days.  Good luck, we have all faced those tough conditions.

Being the addict I am, I went back for an hour (and didn't see this post in that time) before heading back again this evening. I fared better. I caught one on a Gizzard Shad Realistic Rat-L-Trap, and another on a 110 Blue Blood Whopper Plopper. The WP fish was better than the Trap fish, but neither were great; however, I will take it! We'll see what this evening holds.

 

Trap fish. The trebles glued its mouth shut.

 

 

WP fish.

 

 

It's in the mid 50's today. Windy, as we know, and overcast. I didn't get a water temperature, but it's still warm to the touch, as are the fish. We're looking at high 60's and low to mid 70's over the next 10 day forecast. Hopefully my season stays prolonged.

[Sword of the Lord]

I went out and caught 3 more. A two pounder and a sub one pounder on a trap, and another two pounder on a spinnerbait. 5 fish day. Better than a no fish day. I'll take it.