Fishing in the wind - when is it too strong?

[king fisher]

I always remind myself of the old saying.  It is better to be on land wishing you were on the water, than to be on the water wishing you were on land.

[Koz]

As a kayak angler, the first thing I do before deciding to go out is check the hourly wind forecast and make the call as whether to fish or not.

 

I was in a tournament a few weeks ago and headed to the dock early when frequent gusts hit the mid 20’s. It wasn’t fun out there and not worth the risk.

[The Baron]

Great video.  I upgraded from a canoe to a Bass Tracker 165 last year, so my tolerance went up a notch.  My many years in small craft have me programmed to not like fishing in wind or waves, so have some extra internal protection.  I play it very safe, always choosing my spots based on wind direction as the video suggests.  I also made a promise to my wife that I wear my PFD all the time.  I bought a good auto inflate style and got so used to wearing it I don't even notice.  If we end up fishing a shallow bay maybe frogging and take our vests off because it's really hot, we can show mom a pic of a 5#er and her first comment will be where's your life jacket.  It's good to be loved more than any bass - lol.

 

For those of us who can fish the Great Lakes, what the wind was doing the day/night before is also a factor.  I went on Lake Ontario and couple times last season, only on exceptionally calm days and stayed along the shore where we launched and didn't venture far.  But there were a couple days with calm winds but the lake was still rolling too much for me because of a big winds the prior 24+hours.