Does Wind Really Affect Baitfish?

[nboucher]

Every so often I see people mention wind blowing baitfish in a particular direction. Fishing in wind for a few days recently, I started wondering about this. Isn't wind a surface phenomenon? As such, wouldn't baitfish be able to easily avoid its influence by swimming a little deeper? I've also read that the wind doesn't blow the baitfish around, it blows the surface organisms they feed on, so they are just following their food source. How does wind actually affect baitfish and bass? Is it always better to fish the bank that the waves are hitting, or is it better to fish spots that are relatively protected from the wind? Or neither?

[Matt Fly]

Its not per say the bait fish being blown.    Its their food source that is effected by the wind.

The zooplankton that blooms in the water that is stacked up on wind blown points and shorelines after a certain amount of days.    Size of lake and width determine how it plays out.

I found the same principal to be true in the Great Lakes with alewyes.

After 3 steady days of wind, the alewyes would be stacked against the piers of lake Michigan, and the Coho would be there as well.

No wind, No Coho's.

Matt.

[Deuceu72]

Interesting question about the baitfish..............For me personally, I always like to fish the windy side first,especially for Smallmouth.........Smallies love the wind blown banks...........

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Matt hit it on the head.

[Shad_Master]

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread, but I have a similar question -- when wind it blowing out on the lake and fish are relating to the visable brush piles, will they orient on the windward side or the leeward side?

[flyphisher #]

Shad Master, The fish will postition themselves facing the current that is pushing the food their way.

[roadwarrior]

Excellent response Matt Fly.

'nuff said.

[Chris]

Wind also breaks up the surface so fish feel more free to move around and feed. Two things position bass on cover one is sun the other is current. Even if it is just the wind blowing the surface of the water is also creates current. If the wind is blowing over a point the most active fish will be on the windy side the less active fish will be on the other side because they don't need to fight the current. Sometimes larger fish will position themselves on the leeward side to lay in ambush for anything that falls off of the current break. Bass will always position themselves nose to the current. They do this because it is the natural flow of bait among other reasons.

[fourbizz]

I had it proven to me this weekend. I started on a windblown main lake point and picked up a fish on a slow day. beat the bank for a couple hundred yards for not a bite. at the first secondasy point, i picked up a fish on the windlblown side. I repeated this all the way up the arm, catching one or two fish off of every secondary point on the windy side. I had zero bites anywhere in between. it was about as clear an example as I could have asked for. good stuff

FB

[Shad_Master]

I understand that fish will position facing into the current, my question (and again I don't mean to hijack the thread) is will they orient in front of the brush pile or behind it?  It would seem to me that if the current is flowing through/over the brush pile they would position on the back side to allow the bait fish to collect there before ambushing them.  The issue would be where to start fishing brush piles (especially visable ones) in a current (wind or water) situation.

[K_Mac]

I understand that fish will position facing into the current, my question (and again I don't mean to hijack the thread) is will they orient in front of the brush pile or behind it? It would seem to me that if the current is flowing through/over the brush pile they would position on the back side to allow the bait fish to collect there before ambushing them. The issue would be where to start fishing brush piles (especially visable ones) in a current (wind or water) situation.

My experience has been that LM will be on the ''back" side of the stucture or cover, i.e., the downstream side, in wind and current.

[Shad_Master]

Thanks K-Mac, that's what I was wondering about.  This makes it a little more difficult to put your lure where the fish are looking for food, but it does make sense and fishing the upstream side would seem like to spook them more.

[cart7t]

What Matt said.

Wind blows Plankton into the shore and the baitfish follow.

Also on the plus side is the choppy surface which breaks light penetration into the water and add the silt and mud all stirred up and you've got the ingrediants for some great fishing.  As much as I hate fishing in the wind I always wind up picking windy banks to fish.

[dabluz]

Wave action does more than just push the zooplancton.  It also oxygenizes the water...often, shallow water does not have enough oxygen to satisfy game fish.  It obscures the fishes vision above the water and it creates a background noise therefore making it possible for an angler to approach fish more easily.  Waves also confuse bait fish....they get tossed around more and they have to move off to deeper water.  Waves often cause surface water to cool.  Waves also disloge small insects, invertebrates and other small animals that are food for larger fish.

Some fish like walleye can readily found on the windward side.  Meanwhile other fish like brook trout prefer the shore that is protected from the wind.  They are a nervous fish.  They often congregate in the quiet water near points and wait for tidbits to get pushed past the points

[Okeechobee_Cracker]

lets say it late fall down hear in florida......a cold front has moved in and thiers a wind chill of about 65 degrees........the winds blowing about 10 to 15 miles an hour....what would you throw at different places?

[nboucher]

Crankbaits and jigs. In that temperature range, soft plastics might still work, too.