Fishing in the wind

[jasondaily]

Hello all, went to Toledo bend this weekend (July 21st) and the water was soooo choppy. It was crazy. I don't have any experience in super choppy/windy conditions. Can someone give a few tips and tricks? 

 

Top water baits?

shallow or deep?

docks or shoreline? 

Crankbaits or swimbaits? 

 

Really any information will will be helpful. Thanks in advance 

[Russ E]

Not from Toledo bend, but around here if it is windy in the summer, I look for wind blown main lake points.

Bait fish will often congregate on these points. Bass will usually follow.

I start out fairly shallow. and work my way out to the deeper water, watching the graph to see what depth the baitfish are congregating.

usually start out with a bait that makes noise or has a lot of vibration.

crankbaits, chatterbaits,or  spinnerbaits.

 

[jasondaily]

9 minutes ago, Weedwhacker said:

Not from Toledo bend, but around here if it is windy in the summer, I look for wind blown main lake points.

Bait fish will often congregate on these points. Bass will usually follow.

I start out fairly shallow. and work my way out to the deeper water, watching the graph to see what depth the baitfish are congregating.

usually start out with a bait that makes noise or has a lot of vibration.

crankbaits, chatterbaits,or  spinnerbaits.

 

Thanks for information. 

[Catt]

Right now the main lake bite is the hottest thing going on Toledo Bend...the problem is wind!

 

If your boat is stable enough & you can stand it the main lake is where ya wanna be!

 

Other than that deep water structure in protected coves

[papajoe222]

Wind is a pain to fish in, especially on big bodies of water. But it can be very helpful in determining fish location, especially shallow fish. It gets the food chain moving and active and that includes bass. If you can maintain boat control, working a windblown shoreline having deep water access with spinnerbaits is always my first choice. Then, a  medium diving crank followed by a Texas rigged worm (heavier than normal weight). Those three baits cover the water column down to 8ft.-10ft. That's the easy way to look for active fish. 

If that approach doesn't work, you'll need to move out to the first deep structure and change tactics. Start with a deep presentation like a deeper running crank or a 1oz. football jig and parallel cast the structure. A C-rig will present your soft plastic offering up off the bottom.  Unless you are proficient at fishing deep, I'd concentrate there and the windblown side of slow tapering points. With points, the opposite approach can work at times, but casting into the wind along with boat control is a lot of work.

Topwater, for me. is limited to buzzbaits and I prefer twin blades for the added turbulence. The problem is they don't cast well unless the wind is at your back.

[greentrout]

Love to fish in the wind when fishing from the bank...on a little 300 acre impoundment I fish on where there is rip-rap on the dam I've enjoyed excellent fishing of LMB with trick worms with at least 1/4 oz. bullet weights on 12# test...baitfish and the crawfish are there...as Babe Winkelman coached find the prey and catch the bass....

 

good fishing...

[geo g]

I don't fish for money, I don't fish to eat, I fish because I enjoy it, and I don't enjoy fighting big wind in an 18 foot bass boat, while standing on the deck.  I will look for sheltered waters, I will fish with the wind from my back and drag a sea anchor to slow the drift, while throwing a spinnerbait, crankbait, or swimbait.  I will never fight the wind by standing on the trolling motor all day, I hate it!  I don't care what other do, I do what I enjoy or I don't do it!   Its all about having fun and fighting wind is not fun.

[Bluebasser86]

I don't change much other than how I position the boat. Wind is a way of life in the Midwest. It bothers us way more than it does the fish. 

[WRB]

Toledo Bend, simple just fish in Catts boat and use what he uses!

Tom

[Catt]

The wind has been a problem all year ?

 

Right now we have daily temperatures in the upper 90s with heat indexes of 105-110. At 4 °clock this morning it's already 82 degrees!

 

If ya can't get on the main lake I highly suggest deep water structure in protected coves. The shallow water "shoreline" bite is a bigger struggle than the wind.

 

@jasondaily what areas of the lake do you know?

 

Edited July 23, 2018 by Catt
Operator Error

[jasondaily]

10 minutes ago, Catt said:

The wind has been a problem all year ?

 

Right now we have daily temperatures in the upper 90s with heat indexes of 105-110. At 4 °clock this morning it's already 82 degrees!

 

If ya can't get on the main lake I highly suggest deep water structure in protected coves. The shallow water "shoreline" bite is a bigger struggle than the wind.

 

@jasondaily what areas of the lake do you know?

 

Hey catts, I sent you a private message but I usually fish toro and pirates cove area. 

[NHBull]

When it gets to much for me, I head to the islands and look for the seam of calm water/rough water and cast perpendicular the wind. This gives me many technique options and allows me to to control the boat

[Catt]

Caney Creek offers many opportunities to get out of the wind & still has plenty of deep water structure.

 

Find any grass & you'll find bass ?

[Krux5506]

We had 40+ MPH winds at our cottage yesterday and there were a few bass boats out, maybe a tournament because I cant see why anyone would've wanted to leisure fish in that wind. Usually on days like that I just stay in. I have a few dents in my Lund from trying to dock the boat in conditions like that. Aluminum, a full windsheild and wind don't mix all that well. I think the wind makes the fishing good, but the boating awful. 

 

To answer your question, this is when I use my Talon a lot, and try to do so in areas I know are weedy/soft bottom because using it in rocky/gravel locations with that much wind can be painful hearing that thing scraping along rocks. They hold way better in softer conditions. I'll usually throw spinnerbaits/swimbaits in the wind and in some spots from shore I've had success throwing chatterbaits in those choppy conditions. 

[Oregon Native]

Ahhhhh.....more memories.  Fishing the gorge in the Columbia River for smallies in the wind.  With the current flowing towards the ocean and the wind blowing down the gorge usually from the Dalles up you had waves and rollers many days.  You could pick your pool on up to Tri Cities and you usually didn't have to much competition on those days but the fishing could be amazing.  The basic ritual was to head downstream...usually quartering across to the quiet side (if possible) a mile or two down and then fish back.  Many a day waves lapped over the back of boat and many a day you had the boat ramp to yourself while you had 50 fish days of smallies up to five pounds and even some nice walleyes or a slime rocket or two.  Cranks, jigs, tubes were baits of choice.

[rejesterd]

I've learned to accept the annoyance of wind, because it usually activates the larger bass during the hot day. Start out on main lake points shallow with a big heavy spinnerbait, and gradually go deeper. After the depth gets to 15 feet or so, switch to a big heavy crankbait. 

[Glaucus]

I like Lipless Crankbaits in the wind. They cast well and call fish. Squarebills too. But I avoid fishing in the wind. I hate that it causes me to not be able to feel slower presentations as well, and that without heavy weight, your bait will never be where you want it to be. And line watching can become a pain. It's just not fun. If I can't help myself and feel that itch to fish then I'm casting and retrieving with something that cuts through the wind and leaves no doubt that there's a fish on: lipless.

[TOXIC]

Make the wind work for you.  I fished a tournament with my partner in 30mph winds.  I picked up a weightless Senko.....He looked at me like I was cray-cray....I told him that if he positioned the boat correctly, I could fish it.  I caught 3 of our 5 and 1 was the kicker.   

[Brad in Texas]

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I don't change much other than how I position the boat. Wind is a way of life in the Midwest. It bothers us way more than it does the fish. 

North Texas is at the bottom of the windy Great Plains . . . where the most wind occurs nationally. A map below shows the influences we get from various sources including the effects from the Gulf of Mexico and others. If you fish Texas, you just have to get over it.

 

From my kayak, I have just learned how and where to hide out. Fish love it!

 

Here is a link to a cool map showing current wind patterns.

 

Brad

 

Wind

[greentrout]

 

[Catt]

Since pre-spawn in January we have had plenty 15-20 mph sustained winds with many 20-25 sustained days with an additional 10 mph gust.

 

Just because you're out of the wind doesn't mean you're on fish.

 

We are well into the dog days of summer with bass holding in 18-28' foot of water which puts you well off the bank & in the wind.

 

Like @TOXIC mentioned boat positioning is critical!

[Deleted account]

I like fishing in the wind, and have pretty good tolerance for it. If it becomes a chore, there's always a lee somewhere either near the shore from the direction of the wind or a protected cove or the like.

[Black Hawk Basser]

Being a (mostly) bank fisherman, I hope for wind.  It gives me confidence to get to the windy shoreline and throw baits I can chunk and wind, like spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, lipless cranks...a good plastic option in the wind is a Biffle head with a creature bait, retrieved much like a crankbait.