I love the wind. It's given me some wonderful fishing trips. I've used it to blow me over feeding bass as there's no stealthier boat than a windblown boat. The wind will also stack smallies and walleyes against wing dams and stack the same in a strait between the shore and an island or between two islands. It'll stack muskies in a strait too. And I'd rather fish a windblown shore than a protected shore.

 

And I've hated the wind a long, long time. Do you hate the wind more than you love it? Or vice-versa?

 

I hate it more than I love it simply because it's kept me from launching my canoe countless times. If I had Spot-Lock, I might love it more than I hate it, but Spot-Lock is for sophisticated anglers with trailers and ramps. I'm a primitive angler.

 

canoes can have spot lock too… kinda… I just got anchor wizards to upgrade the system.

 

edit to answer the question.. I don’t like the wind from a comfort perspective but it sure does help with the fishing so I work around it.

Had to deal with some intense wind earlier this week. Blew my casts everywhere. Limited my bait usage to heavy baits like spinners and heavy finesse presentations. Didn't catch anything and couldn't cast accurately. So, for now, I hate it. 

When it gets to be over 26 mph it becomes a problem on y kayak, mostly because of the waves in open water on large lakes. But I imagine that your canoe becomes even more of a sail than my kayak.

 

I can't speak for bass boats, but on my kayak spot lock is not a cure for the wind. Constantly shifting wind keeps spinning the bow of the kayak into the wind. Spot lock doesn't do the best job holding you in place in windy conditions, either. Thankfully, I have the heading sensor which allows me to move 5 feet forward, back, left, or right with a few presses on my trolling motor remote.

 

Things are better with winds under 15 mph, but here in the south we are susceptible to strong, heat driven summer winds across the lake. 16-24 mph wind gusts throughout teh day are quite common.

 

It's also funny in that every time I set out to fish on a windy day, the wind always seems to be in the opposite direction of where I need it to be to attack my spots. With that, I constantly have to loop around to try and fish the spots I'm targeting.

 

So far me, while wind may be great in stacking up the bait fish, it's not always fun to fish in a kayak. And I can't imagine how the paddle kayak anglers contend with it.

It can be my friend or my nemesis depending on what baits I am using.  With spinner baits, swimming baits and crank baits.  It is my friend.  With light Ned rigs, jigs, and shaky it becomes my nemesis.  Spot lock isn’t very helpful when the wind won’t let the baits go down in the target zone.

Most of my bass fishing is from the bank. Really like a wind that is no more than 15 mph casting -- facing the wind. West and South direction.

Good Fishing

14 minutes ago, Koz said:

But I imagine that your canoe becomes even more of a sail than my kayak.

 

Exactly. My canoe is 15' 6" long and weighing only 32 pounds, the wind pushes it and me around the lake. To the wind, I look like the nerdy kid with a pocketful of lunch money. 

 

16 minutes ago, Koz said:

Things are better with winds under 15 mph, but here in the south we are susceptible to strong, heat driven summer winds across the lake.

 

It's bad on Maine's coast too. It's blowing steadily at 19 mph today and gusting to 30. So, I have to take what less windy slots occur, however imperfect. For example, there's a break in the wind tomorrow morning, so I'll launch, but it'll be cold (39 degrees) and sunny, and I don't like the cold and I don't like the sunshine. Still, the wind will only be 3 mph to 7 mph, so I'll actually be able to fish. Whether I'll catch something on a bright, cold morning is the question.

No to little wind is usually a bad thing around here. In the winter, a calm day can be productive. In clear water or when fishing deeper, wind can really help you. 

Fishing in the wind is one of my biggest improvements as a fisherman over the years.  I used to HATE the wind and would always look for sheltered bays since I am primarily a finesse and plastics fishermen.  But I've learned to have confidence in fast-moving baits and to look for shorelines that the wind is blowing into.  By fishing swimbaits, chatterbaitssss, and spinnerbaits in windy spots my success rate has gone way up.  Plus, my boat control has gotten much better over the years and spot-lock trolling motors and shallow-water anchors have made fishing in the wind much easier.

 

Case in point, I had a tournament this past Saturday and the wind was howling with gusts up to 30 mi/hr.  I fished a swimbait all day and threw a Ned when I could.  Ended up 2nd.  That never would have happened in the past.  

1 minute ago, Junk Fisherman said:

Fishing in the wind is one of my biggest improvements as a fisherman over the years.  I used to HATE the wind and would always look for sheltered bays since I am primarily a finesse and plastics fishermen.  But I've learned to have confidence in fast-moving baits and to look for shorelines that the wind is blowing into.  By fishing swimbaits, chatterbaitssss, and spinnerbaits in windy spots my success rate has gone way up.  Plus, my boat control has gotten much better over the years and spot-lock trolling motors and shallow-water anchors have made fishing in the wind much easier.

 

Case in point, I had a tournament this past Saturday and the wind was howling with gusts up to 30 mi/hr.  I fished a swimbait all day and threw a Ned when I could.  Ended up 2nd.  That never would have happened in the past.  

 

I'm so happy for you. It's cool that you've mastered the technology. 

If you don’t come to an amicable relationship with the wind, you are destined to many, many, frustrating days on the water.  The old saying “You can’t fight Mother Nature” is especially true in fishing.  Come to terms with wind and use it to your advantage.  Also know when to bow to wind and stay off the water.  

Depends on the day. If they're on beds and I'm sight fishing, I hate it. If it's blowing too hard to go out, definitely hate it. But most days a little wind tends to help the bite. Generally speaking, I love wind to a certain point. 

25 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

No to little wind is usually a bad thing around here. In the winter, a calm day can be productive. In clear water or when fishing deeper, wind can really help you. 

This is a really good point. Zero wind can be just as bad as excessive wind. I always want a little breeze while I'm fishing. But perfectly still, calm water, and dead stagnant air can make for a tough day on the water. 

Where I fish, the wind blows hard from the west every afternoon.  I hate fishing in the strong wind, but the fish like to feed when the wind is blowing.  The wind makes casting difficult, controlling my kayak almost impossible, I loose far more tackle in the wind,(try using a lure retriever in a kayak with the wind blowing 30 mph), and I just plain get tired of being out in the noisy wind, but I catch big bass when the wind blows and that is what I'm on the water to do.  Like a friend of mine always says nothing good in life come easy.  He may be right, but I will have to work hard to catch big bass regardless, so it sure would be nice if I could get a break from the wind for a day or two.

Wind + Spinnerbait = success

15 minutes ago, king fisher said:

I just plain get tired of being out in the noisy wind

 

It is noisy and that wears on me too!

 

Beauty, @FryDog62!

 

36 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

If you don’t come to an amicable relationship with the wind, you are destined to many, many, frustrating days on the water.

 

Wisdom.

 

 

It depends. In my 10ft sit-in paddle kayak, yea me and the wind are not friends lol. But in a boat or from shore I usually prefer a good breeze. Whitecaps crashing into a shoreline + spinnerbait is usually a good combo for me. The more I fish the more I seek out days with increasing wind ahead of a front or look for that wind blown area. 

I prefer to throw topwater so generally I don't like wind, but I try and adapt to the conditions such as spinnerbaits on wind blown banks with good laydowns.

On a warm day the wind feels great , in the cold, not so much. Overnite tonight the temps and wind are supposed to drop. Temps down to 34 where we fish. Early morning at that temp any breeze stinks. As for actually fishing, the weather always dictates how and where we fish.

Hate it more than I love. From the bank, I’ll take about any level of wind over calm most every time. But in a deep V aluminum on the lake, just the opposite - give me calm water regardless of skies. One of my favorite ways to fish is precise casting presentations to deep locations, and wind just makes that an effort in frustration. The more calm and sunny, the better those fish position, and the better I can present a variety of baits to them.

I love throwing a spinnerbait which is the only reason I'm somewhat tolerant of a little wind.

High winds eliminates lighter presentations so it becomes a Dictator and decides what you can or cannot throw.

I'll take overcast and calm.

 

Beaufort meter hits 6* our public lake are closed to launching, hate that🤬!

Tom

*strong breeze 25-31 mph.

I love the way my reel screams on a long down wind cast, I hate picking out a backlash after casting in to the wind.

 

I love the way the wind masks my presence, allowing me to get closer to my targets, I hate the fact I still can't hit my targets.

 

I loved it when a strong wind keeps every one else off the water, I hate it when I realize I should have been like every one else.

 

I love a nice cool breeze on a hot afternoon, I hate it when I get completely soaked by splashing waves.

I’ve learned to live with it. I thought Florida was windy till I moved to the Midwest lol. Wow the wind is insane! I’ve had some great days on spinner and underspin baits. Even on jigs! But man casting is tricky I usually try to fish with my back to the wind but the fish aren’t always in that spot 

It all depends as always.

 

Wind is good if you're looking for Shad activity and such during warmer months and it can definitely make bass eat lures better - probably an even better way of putting that maybe: it diminishes their sensitivity to our presence.