Wind direction?

[VTFan]

Just wondering if any of you notice you seen to have better luck when the wind blows from a certain direction?  I don't know if it's coincidence or just my imagination but it always seems the fish bite the least when the wind blows from the north or east.

[casts_by_fly]

If you live in the north east (or most of the us for that matter) a north or east wind is typically the opposite of the normal direction of the wind and signifies turbulent conditions.  For some people, they prefer to fish that set of conditions. For others they don’t. I suspect you’re in the latter. 

[papajoe222]

Add me to the latter group. A S/SW wind is when the fish are the most aggressive for me. Notice I said wind. Bluebird skies and a light breeze can be just a tough as wind out of the north or east, provided that wind hasn't been blowing for more than 12 hours or so.  More than that, I'm hitching up the boat and heading out.

[GreenPig]

Don't care what direction the winds blowing, just give 5 - 20 mph and I can usually find and catch some fish. I love the wind, little boat in big wind is great for keeping your core muscles in peak condition. 

[Ski]

South and Southeast is normally warm and light here in Fl. Definitely the best direction here, anything with a N in the direction I can count a tuffer day.

[scaleface]

I   like to be comfortable when fishing . North winds in hot weather and south winds in cold months .

[DaubsNU1]

Wind from the west, fish bite the best

Wind from the south, fish use their mouth

Wind from the east, fish bite the least

Wind from the north, do not go forth

 

(or my personal edit...wind from the north, time to shoot ducks!)

[gim]

An east wind generally indicates an incoming low pressure front here, and those are my preferred conditions in the summer time. Low pressure turns the fish on and often results in an aggressive bite after days of constant high pressure.

 

In the spring and fall, a south or southwest wind is better because it usually associates with warmer/sunnier conditions.

[Team9nine]

Wind direction, to me, is irrelevant outside of knowing which areas will be protected and which will not. I make it a point to know my waters well enough to have potentially productive areas or spots for any given scenario. 

[A-Jay]

7 minutes ago, gimruis said:

An east wind generally indicates an incoming low pressure front here, and those are my preferred conditions in the summer time. Low pressure turns the fish on and often results in an aggressive bite after days of constant high pressure.

 

In the spring and fall, a south or southwest wind is better because it usually associates with warmer/sunnier conditions.

I can get with this mostly.

Much of this is very location / lake dependent.

Wind direction and speed is one of The Main deals that determine which lake I'm fishing.

Smaller bodies of water are better for me in any kind of a big blow,

where as larger lakes that have several miles of fetch, can & do get rocking & rolling

well beyond the safe fishing zone.

 

Regardless of the wind direction, 

I do much better when the wind is blowing Straight on or straight off the structure/cover I'm looking to fish.  Regardless of how productive an area might have been in the recent past (and that includes the day before),  when the wind blows down the length of something, meaning I would be fishing into a side ways wind, I am NOT a happy camper. 

A-Jay

[Bankc]

Where I live, south and west winds usually mean a warm front has passed through.  And north and east winds usually mean a cold front has passed through.  So "North and east, they bite the least.  South and west, they bite the best." usually holds up.  But that's usually more in general terms.  For example, often the winds will shift to the east just before a storm passes, which is usually a great time to catch fish.  

 

Though, where I live, if there are any "winds", it's usually a bad day to be on the water.  Because down here, 10-20 mph isn't considered windy.  That's about average.  "Windy" days, are days with 30+ mph winds, and we get a lot of those.  

[Zcoker]

Wind direction is just another variable for all areas, some fair better than others. Here in south Florida, for example, places like Lake Okeechobee can become a mud hole on the south end of the lake with these big winter time frontal winds. Where I fish (everglades) wind direction plays more into my approach. Whatever way the wind is blowing will dictate how I position myself to fish an area as well as lure selection. 

[WIGuide]

@DaubsNU1 stated a version of the adage and others have chimed in on the reasons behind it. As I've fished more and more, it does hold true to an extent, however fish can still be caught regardless of direction. In my experience, as long as there's wind of some sort that's out of a constant direction, fishing is better than with no wind. 

[Pat Brown]

I'm in the 'wind direction doesn't really matter...except when it does' camp but I personally always like seeing a little wind on the water when I get to the lake or the pond!!!  ?

[Dwight Hottle]

I find the bigger the body of water the more wind direction affects the fishing. Ponds & small lakes not so much. 

[Rockytop]

5 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Wind from the west, fish bite the best

Wind from the south, fish use their mouth

Wind from the east, fish bite the least

Wind from the north, do not go forth

 

(or my personal edit...wind from the north, time to shoot ducks!)

I've heard that all my life and I believe it. There's a lot to be said about the knowledge the past generations had about natural things. You can put on all the scientific polish you want to but that's about as simple a way of explaining it as it gets. I'll go fishing anyway, unless the cows are laying down.

[gim]

6 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I can get with this mostly.

Much of this is very location / lake dependent.

Wind direction and speed is one of The Main deals that determine which lake I'm fishing.

Smaller bodies of water are better for me in any kind of a big blow,

where as larger lakes that have several miles of fetch, can & do get rocking & rolling

well beyond the safe fishing zone.

You probably fish bigger water than I do on a regular basis, and you have a bigger boat. Some of the chop you head out in would be too unsafe for my mod V.

[Bankbeater]

Wind direction isn't as important to me as how hard the wind is blowing.  If I know the wind is going to be gusting then I look for a smaller size lake with hills, or a lot of trees, growing around it.

[WRB]

Wind from the NE in SoCal means Santa Anna’s  30mph to 70 mph. Westerly is on shore light winds.

Tom

[geo g]

Over 40 years of owning a bass boat and fishing south Florida I have had good and bad days from all four directions.  I often fish the everglades with hundreds of man made canals that intersect the glades from east to west, and north to south.  Before a trip I will check wind direction and pic a canal to fish that will provide easy navigation.  

Being in stealth mode in these canals is a benefit to catching.  To do this I will stay off the trolling motor, if the wind is up, I throw out the drift bag, and turn off all the electronics with all the pinging.  I have shallow flats on both sides, full of pads and weeds, man made ledges on both sides, and rock piles in 15 feet of water.  Being in Stealth mode with the wind pushing the boat silently I am constantly startling gators of all size, wading birds, turtles, otters, and snakes.  Bass are not aware of the presence either.  Being able to cast to two banks full of vegetation, two ledges, deep rock piles in the depths all the time, can pay-off big time.  Great fishing, and being stealth makes a difference regardless of wind direction.

[TnRiver46]

19 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Wind from the west, fish bite the best

Wind from the south, fish use their mouth

Wind from the east, fish bite the least

Wind from the north, do not go forth

 

(or my personal edit...wind from the north, time to shoot ducks!)

I will also add a personal edit……..

Starting from the arrow coming thru lake superior and chicago and working counter clockwise……….

 

1) fishing is fine but you’re going to be cold

2) fishing will be a little better, and slightly warmer

3) fishing will be good and the rains they are predicting will break up before they arrive

4) fishing will be good, lightning thunder and tornado are all on the table 

5) fishing will be good, but your rear end and all your fish hooks will be completely soaked

6) fishing might still be ok but hurricane remnants will make it tricky

7) the wind shouldn’t blow backwards, call the cops 

8) Prepare immediately for what happens after you’re dead 

[VTFan]

21 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Wind from the west, fish bite the best

Wind from the south, fish use their mouth

Wind from the east, fish bite the least

Wind from the north, do not go forth

 

(or my personal edit...wind from the north, time to shoot ducks!)

I think I've heard Bill Dance say the same thing.

[Smokinal]

On 2/20/2023 at 8:36 AM, DaubsNU1 said:

Wind from the west, fish bite the best

Wind from the south, fish use their mouth

Wind from the east, fish bite the least

Wind from the north, do not go forth

 

I've always tried to prove this, or at least confirm some sort of truth to it; but I've never been able to see any consistancy in it.

On 2/20/2023 at 8:50 AM, gimruis said:

An east wind generally indicates an incoming low pressure front here, and those are my preferred conditions in the summer time. Low pressure turns the fish on and often results in an aggressive bite after days of constant high pressure.

 

In the spring and fall, a south or southwest wind is better because it usually associates with warmer/sunnier conditions.

The above said, I do subscribe to this theory though. I do like falling/low pressure days. I've really wacked em on stormy/rainy days.

[Functional]

I was going to put a separate topic up for this but feel it could add to this discussion.

 

This is a SW wind opposed to a NE wind, I'd say its 50/50 on how often we get either around here. I was fishing the wind side of the lake but noticed only ever getting hits on the "dead" areas (highlighted) protected by trees or points.  I'd always been told fish the spots where the wind hits (unhighlighted areas). Is this just dependent on the fish's mood or is this "typical" of bass behavior. 

 

For context this is a really shallow area of the lake, average depth following creek path is 4-6', anything outside is 2-3'. What I was fishing along the east bank was all 3'MAX. 

 

[WRB]

If we’re looking at our weather today it’s a NW wind with low pressure and rain....ideal except a few other factors.

Wind 30 mph with gust to 70mph, temperature cold snow level down to 1500’, normally above 5000’.

The weather coast to coast today is forecasting cold snow blizzard conditions, Midwest 40 below?

Tom