fishing in heavy wind

[coreynov902]

My fishing partner and I are taking off early tomorrow morning for our annual 2-day spring fishing trip. It's not much, but it's a chance for us both to take a couple days off work and go a few hours south to do nothing but fish for a couple days. We've been keeping an eye on the weather forecast and tomorrow looks to be gorgeous (65 degrees, mostly cloudy, wind 5-10 mph), but Thursday is looking like it's going to be very windy with winds about 13-15 mph to start the day and going up to 25 mph in the afternoon. I'm assuming we will have gusts in the 30's. And starting that afternoon the barometric pressure starts rising quickly. The lake we are fishing is small so we are not concerned with safety, but what do you guys do when you have a really windy day? What areas do you focus on? What baits do you rely on? We expect the water temps to be somewhere around 50 degrees or a little above.

[bilgerat]

Lipless crank would be my first choice. Have both rattlers and one knockers on hand.

[D.Moore]

Jerk bait

[Squire]

use spotlock early and often....

[Keoweefishing]

spinner bait

[21XDC]

Any moving bait

[bilgerat]

Lipless crank would be my first choice. Have both rattlers and one knockers on hand.

Don't be scared of a larger 3/4 oz one either .... at 3" long they're not an oversize bait by any stretch and are somewhat easier to feel the feedback from them in rowdy water.

[coreynov902]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Pretty much what I figured we would be using for baits. Now, do you fish the hardest hit shorelines or do you try and fish the shorelines that are not getting hit so hard?

[krindgen]

Heck, throw an A-rig in there and some swimbaits. My first choices would be the lipless and a big spinnerbait.

[Mark Perry]

Have had a tournament each of the past 2 weekends and each practice day and tournament day was windy as hell. Saturday had gusts up to 40mph. It's just part of springtime fishing here.
Sometimes you can use it to your advantage but if not don't let it get in your head.
Don't go into it with a preconceived idea. Just go fishing and let the day develop ad adjust as best you can.


Both tournaments had good finishes on a tough day and both days bottom presentations were best. Not a moving bait day on either lake. Keep an open mind and fish the moment.

[BemisBasser]

Don’t be afraid of banks that are getting pounded by the wind. Sometimes they are absolutely loaded. Lipless, spinnerbait, and a square bill are my favorites when it’s howling.

[PaRiverRat]

If it's windy I'm power fishing and targeting the areas the wind is blowing into

[rboren]

Was in a small tin boat last Wednesday fishing. Gusts at 40 mph. It was a pain to fish but I caught a 6 and a 7+. 1/2 spinner bait.

[coreynov902]

Not sure why, but hadn't thought of a squarebill...thanks. Wind is one of those things that I let get into my head too much. I would rather fish in the cold or the rain than fish in heavy wind. But since it's going to be unavoidable I want to try and make the most of it.

[Mark Perry]

Not sure why, but hadn't thought of a squarebill...thanks. Wind is one of those things that I let get into my head too much. I would rather fish in the cold or the rain than fish in heavy wind. But since it's going to be unavoidable I want to try and make the most of it.

It can be frustrating to fish in the wind but it can pay off as well. Just go have fun.

[Table Rock 1]

Spinner Bait...

[mean_dean]

Moving baits and look for wind swept areas where baits will be getting blown.

[Wackyjig]

On windy days this time of year I focus on the windblown points and pockets near deep water so long as the water isn't churned up and muddy.
Big swimbait and oversized spinnerbait are staples with a lipless and dt-6 or 10 as a backup.
If you have submerged grass lines the wind is blowing in to a swimbait or chatterbait along the edge will get bit.

A real good spot but tough to find is if you can find where a protected area and a windblown area meets and creates a current break.

[MCPO]

If it's windy I'm power fishing and targeting the areas the wind is blowing into

This is it!

[T. Hill]

Best two days of fishing I ever had (Largemouth 5=27.12 Stripers 8=142) winds were around 30MPH sustained and 42MPH gust. Besides the Game Warden I was the only truck at the ramp.