East wind means no fish ???

[Bankbeater]

I remember my dad saying that too.  Usually when we get a lot of wind out of the east the weather is doing something funky.  As long as the anchor holds the boat in place I'm OK.

[Team9nine]

Wind from the east doesn't bother me in the least, because fishing pressure is decreased from all the superstitious anglers who have been fleeced into believing this conceit. I say, fish still have to feast.

 

Word  peace out...

[N Florida Mike]

21 hours ago, CrashVector said:

East/north winds = cold fronts/high pressure = fish get lockjaw

North winds and west winds come with cold fronts here…and the fronts are usually done with their influence in 3 days here. 

[Bird]

OP here.

Fished for 4 hrs today in that east wind and only caught 2 Bass, water temp 49*.

Caught 1 fish on a Spinnerbait and the other on a jerkbait but still had fun.

[cyclops2]

Fronts usually have winds & waves. Fish have MOVED deeper to get out of the wave action.

[TnRiver46]

I’m going to remember this thread and report back if the wind ever blows from the east. My guess is it won’t happen for a few years 

9 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Wind from the east doesn't bother me in the least, because fishing pressure is decreased from all the superstitious anglers who have been fleeced into believing this conceit. I say, fish still have to feast.

 

Word  peace out...

If the wind is blowing backwards across Indiana I’m getting in the root cellar…………

 

I actually do remember it coming from the east when I was at the in-laws in NW Ohio a few years back, but it was at New Years  and all water was frozen 

[The Bassman]

The least productive wind direction for me is no direction (calm). East wind generally is associated with unsettled weather here. I've had great results on such days.

[N Florida Mike]

49 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

The least productive wind direction for me is no direction (calm).

Same here. 

[Catt]

I Don't Care ?

 

If the wind speed is below 20 mph...he gone!

[Junk Fisherman]

On 3/21/2022 at 8:40 PM, slonezp said:

Screw all y'all. I'm from the Windy City

 

 

While I'm sure you know this Paul, maybe some others don't.  Chicago was given the nickname the "Windy City" by a newspaper columnist in the late 1800s because of all the "hot air" spewed by Chicago politicians as they tried to get the World Fair.  Many cities are windier than Chicago.

 

Anyways.... I have often heard about fishing with an east wind being difficult.  Same thing with blue bird sky days and cold fronts.  Negative conditions used to keep me home.  Not anymore.  If I have the time and the weather does not look too miserable, I'll go.  Blue bird sky days?  I'll use a Ned rig, dropshot, or finesse swimbait all day.  Maybe I only catch a bunch of small bass but that's still fun in my book.  I have had multiple north wind, cold front days where the fish were still active.  Now the second day of the cold front can be a different story.  East winds?  You can definitely still catch 'em on those days.  I don't even think negatively about east winds anymore.  I had a tournament this past Saturday and it was the second day of a cold front, with strong north winds, spitting rain, and my club still had a half dozen limits caught.  I culled a couple times and would of had close to 15 lbs if I hadn't lost a big bass by the boat.  So I guess my long-winded answer is that while the fish might not hit fast-moving baits on cold front, east wind, or high pressure front days, you can change tactics and still catch 'em.   

[PhishLI]

On 3/21/2022 at 8:30 PM, Deleted account said:

"East is least, west is best" is a thing on the east coast for a lot of fish, not so much for LMB.

My confidence goes way up during cooler weather when southern winds are blowing in. Some of best outings by far.

[Team9nine]

7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’m going to remember this thread and report back if the wind ever blows from the east. My guess is it won’t happen for a few years 

 

If the wind is blowing backwards across Indiana I’m getting in the root cellar………

Lol - on average, we only get East winds about 15 percent of the time here, but that increases to a bit over 20 percent in late summer. The best part is that East winds are almost always lighter, and put a good breeze on a lot of banks and structures that rarely get winds, so I view them as actually creating unique angling opportunities, and always try and take advantage of the fact. Seventy percent of the time we deal with South or West winds here. East winds are a nice change (as are North winds, but North winds are usually cooler and gustier).

[Bankc]

North and East, they bite the least.  South and West, they bite the best.  That's what my grandfather said.  And it's generally true.  I can back it up with over 100 years of anecdotal evidence.  

 

Now, having said that, it's a regional thing.  It won't apply everywhere.  In this part of the country, a Southerly or Westerly wind is almost always a warm front.  A northerly wind is almost always a cold front.  An Easterly wind typically only occurs right after a large storm or front has passed through, and usually only on the first day after (they're actually kind of rare).  And Northern winds mostly happen during the winter months.  So it's not exactly rocket science or a weird superstition.  There's reasons behind it that are kind of obvious if you know the patterns. 

 

However, it's not 100% either.  Exceptions are pretty common.  So it's not a super useful tool for planning around, as it's just one factor out of thousands.  It's less important than temperature, cloud cover, or wind speed, for example.  

[gim]

2 minutes ago, Bankc said:

Now, having said that, it's a regional thing.  It won't apply everywhere.  In this part of the country, a Southerly or Westerly wind is almost always a warm front.  A northerly wind is almost always a cold front.  An Easterly wind typically only occurs right after a large storm or front has passed through, and usually only on the first day after (they're actually kind of rare).

East winds occur here PRIOR to a low pressure system here, which often means a storm.  In the summer, I pray for these types of days.

 

South or west wind means high pressure here and in the summer it means tough sledding.  This time of year, a south or westerly wind is helpful though because things are are still frozen and cold, so a warming trend is ideal.  Not so much in the summer.

[BassNJake]

As a tournament fisherman you know, somebody is gonna win

No matter the conditions someone is going to catch the biggest bag

East wind, cold front, ice freezing on the guides, it wont matter

 

Fishing is always a challenge, somedays more so than others

[Smells like fish]

If a blue heron flys away goin north and off to the west a duck quacks 3 times put down your spinnerbait and throw a Senko. However if you’ve heard a lot of bullfrogs then you should just call it a day ?

If you got a limit of skunk don’t forget to chk your co angler for a banana in his lunch!!

[Dwight Hottle]

I got to tell you on most lakes & rivers wind direction probably doesn't matter much except for associated cold front conditions which does matter in FL for sure. On the great lakes an east wind definitely affects bass fishing adversely & usually is accompanied by strong winds & bigger waves especially on lake Erie which is situated from west to east. A sudden change in wind direction from south or west to east shuts them down like a light switch going off. East winds also bring the colder deeper water from the east end westerly & lowers the water temps. In the spring when water is warming from winter temps it really is counterproductive. So long story short it depends on what body of water you are fishing. 

[Catt]

My Pawpaw used to say the best day to go fishing is any day you can go fishing.

 

It'll take more the an east wind to keep me off the lake!

[Bird]

2 hours ago, Smells like fish said:

If a blue heron flys away goin north and off to the west a duck quacks 3 times put down your spinnerbait and throw a Senko. However if you’ve heard a lot of bullfrogs then you should just call it a day ?

If you got a limit of skunk don’t forget to chk your co angler for a banana in his lunch!!

Quite the imagination going on there. Lol

[Deleted account]

6 hours ago, PhishLI said:

My confidence goes way up during cooler weather when southern winds are blowing in. Some of best outings by far.

A gentle SW is good for filling the livewell tanks @ $9/lb , a honk with some east is best for taking recs' blackfish pool $, win/win...

[schplurg]

I think all anglers should stay home when it's windy at all. Except for me.

[thediscochef]

I've had plenty of success in east wind, west is usually challenging just because of the geometry of Ray Roberts access points. Almost everything public faces west or north. I can cast into the wind just fine, chop is usually the issue. Wind 5-10 is ideal from any direction, as it generally doesn't build enough swell to ruin spots.

[TnRiver46]

18 minutes ago, schplurg said:

I think all anglers should stay home when it's windy at all. Except for me.

I typically do! Then again it’s windy here about 1 day out of 10 or 12 

[cyclops2]

Choice ............Go fishing with bad wind direction?  

Stay home as 5 old woman play Mahjong & drink wine ?

 

Sit In the windy boat & do wind drifts and trolling.  ?

[Bird]

44 minutes ago, cyclops2 said:

Choice ............Go fishing with bad wind direction?  

Stay home as 5 old woman play Mahjong & drink wine ?

 

Sit In the windy boat & do wind drifts and trolling.  ?

Why don't you go above and beyond and take the 5 old women fishing ? ?