Fighting the wind

[RDB]

5 hours ago, Junk Fisherman said:

On the Great Lakes, wind direction and speed are everything.

You Great Lakes fishermen would call heavy Texas waves a light chop.  It takes a unique skill set to navigate those waters during high wind conditions.  If the wind is such that I can’t hold my spots, I’ll just use that as an opportunity to expand my fishing areas...there are fish all over the lake.

[GreenPig]

Wind is the very reason I put a Terrova 80 lb I -Pilot Link on my 1448 Lowe. For 13 years I got my rump whipped attempting to fight the wind with a 40 lb with no spot lock. The lake I fish 50 - 100 trips a year is at the top of a hill and they pump water uphill to fill it and it's always double the wind speed forecast. If they predict 10 it's 20 mph, if they say 20 it's 30 mph per my Kestrel. I grew tired of fishing where the wind allowed. I'd squeeze another battery in and bump the thrust up.

[Bankc]

8 hours ago, scaleface said:

I havent even been out on a boat this year because of the wind . Every time I have an open day the wind has been  blowing hard . Windiest spring I remember .

I'm glad to hear someone else say this.  I've been thinking the same thing since November, but wasn't sure if I was just remembering things differently.  I mean, it's always windy in central Oklahoma, but I don't remember it ever being this windy this often.

 

I'm in a kayak, so wind is especially bad.  I have managed to get out a few times.  Though once I was only able to cast about ten times in a five hour outing due to constantly fighting the wind and waves being too large to safely anchor.  Desperation inspires stupidity sometimes.

 

 

[Bankbeater]

Use your electronics to get an idea of what the bottom looks like where you want to fish.  After that figure out where you'll need to position the boat in order to fish that spot with the bow of the boat pointing into the wind.  Then turn the bow into the wind and drop the anchor.

[Bluebasser86]

We had 15-20mph wind Saturday while I was out fishing a kayak tournament. Planned my attack by when/where the wind was going to blow from. Fished with the wind in the morning while it wasn't as strong and against it later when it was blowing harder. I also anchored several times in likely spots and caught some fish while I was anchored.

[GoneFishingLTN]

What anchor would you recommend for this boat? It has a 150 4 stroke and one 8 foot talon so I would be looking for one for the other side to hold me

[Jaderose]

21 hours ago, senile1 said:

 

It must be the entire northern half of Missouri.  We are having 35 to 50 mph gusts more often than not.  I don't recall a late winter/early spring period with this much wind.  I have been able to fish some but when winds exceed 35 mph I typically wait for another day.                                             

 

 

Yep.....I'm up in Savannah and I usually fish out of a Bass Raider.  The little lake I fish has tons of standing timber I can tie off to and I can also anchor but when we get consistent 30-50 mph gusts, it just doesn't work. I am constantly fighting it and it makes about 75% of my little lake totally unfishable.  

[TOXIC]

2 hours ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

What anchor would you recommend for this boat? It has a 150 4 stroke and one 8 foot talon so I would be looking for one for the other side to hold me

If you have a talon that can reach bottom, you will want the anchor to be off the front of the boat so you don’t swing in the wind.  

[GoneFishingLTN]

46 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

If you have a talon that can reach bottom, you will want the anchor to be off the front of the boat so you don’t swing in the wind.  

Oh really I thought one in the back and the talon would hold me in place but I see what your saying also. Is that the better choice you think?

[gim]

9 minutes ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

Oh really I thought one in the back and the talon would hold me in place but I see what your saying also. Is that the better choice you think?

 

I don't know what kind of boat you have but I have a 12 foot single transom mounted Talon on my aluminum bass boat, and if there's even a slight chop, there is an issue with water coming over the stern.  One talon can easily hold the boat but the boat swings so that the stern is facing into the wind.  Plus having a bass boat, the gunnels/stern are lower too.  I have anchored as Toxic has mentioned - position the boat with the manual anchor out the bow first and then apply the talon when your boat is into position.  That was they waves/chop will run into the bow as the boat is designed.

 

The other solution is an expensive one: add a second talon.  Two of them will hold you into the wind/waves/chop.

[TOXIC]

7 minutes ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

Oh really I thought one in the back and the talon would hold me in place but I see what your saying also. Is that the better choice you think?

The talon is a solid spike but an anchor on a rope is not and the talon will spin around the rope.  My tournament partner when I lived in Florida had 1 power pole on a 21 foot Ranger and was pretty skilled at positioning the boat so it didn’t spin.  

[WRB]

Our local bass lakes are small however afternoon wind is common creating 2’ to 3’ white caps in unprotected main lake areas. I always rigged my bass boats with 50” trolling motor shafts in lieu of 42” to keep the prop from cavitaing in bigger waves.

In time you/develop skills to keep the boat where you want without thinking about it. Today you have spot lock available to control the boat position! Well worth the extra $ in the wind.

Tom

[GoneFishingLTN]

16 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

The talon is a solid spike but an anchor on a rope is not and the talon will spin around the rope.  My tournament partner when I lived in Florida had 1 power pole on a 21 foot Ranger and was pretty skilled at positioning the boat so it didn’t spin.  

By using the anchor up at the bow or just positioning well

[TOXIC]

Just now, GoneFishingLTN said:

By using the anchor up at the bow or just positioning well

He just used the power pole.  

[E-rude dude]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Our local bass lakes are small however afternoon wind is common creating 2’ to 3’ white caps in unprotected main lake areas. I always rigged my bass boats with 50” trolling motor shafts in lieu of 42” to keep the prop from cavitaing in bigger waves.

In time you/develop skills to keep the boat where you want without thinking about it. Today you have spot lock available to control the boat position! Well worth the extra $ in the wind.

Tom

Grandpa always said white caps mean take naps, 

[GoneFishingLTN]

I currently have a river anchor. I don’t fish in rivers though so was curious what I should purchase also is the power pole stick 8 foot long any good? It’s 80 dollars 

[livemusic]

In general, if it's windy, I do not go fishing. However, two of the most memorable days fishing I have ever had, years apart, different lakes, was memorably windy. It seemed so bad that you'd cast due east with a strong southerly wind and the lure splashes down due north. Both days, used a beetle spin, believe it or not, and caught a boatload of bass. Both lakes had lots of timber to tie onto. I would never have gone fishing on windy days like that but the wind increased on both of those days.

[Bankc]

You can also use a drift sock to help keep you positioned in the wind.  Throw an anchor over on one side, and a drift sock over the opposite side, and the waves/current will keep you mostly in line between the two.  There will be a bit of motion still, but not nearly as bad with just one anchor.  

 

Also you can use two anchors in much the same way.  It's a bit more difficult to set up, but holds better.  And an anchor and power pole work too, as others have mentioned.