protected coves or fishing in the wind

[tie1on]

I like fishing main lake points with both deep and shallow water close by.But I also like to go way back into protected coves and fish the laydowns or whatever structure is their.Me and the people I work with had a small tournament.The wind kicked up and the water got real rough.I was the captain of my boat(and there were four boats overall)and before thinking I headed staight for coves fished them for two hours and caught some fish.Then it hit me out of nowhere I should of been on the main lake fishing the windy points.So with two hours left I headed for the windy  points and had about the same results as in the coves.At first I was kicking myself in the butt for not fishing the windy points but it did not give anymore results then the coves.Im not sure what the better decision was but I guess thats fishing.Me and the guy fishing with me won 2nd place.

[earthworm77]

I would rather fish the wind. The wave action creates oxygen and gets baitfish going, it also makes bass ambush areas very predictable. I fished a tournament last season in which the wind was pretty strong and rain kicked up a little. Everyboat in the tournament headed for lea areas and coves to get out of the wind. I put my hood on and put the trolling motor on high and stayed in the wind. I won the event with 15lbs, more than 14lbs over 2nd place. If you simply are dictated by your own comfort in the way you fish, you may not be all that successful in the long run.

[J-Heywood]

earthworm, what kind of signs do you look for to determine a good possible ambush area for bass.

[Gatorbassman]

I go with the wind. Wind creates current and current kicks up the bait fish and disorients them. At my home lake we have alot of islands with shallow water between them and the lake shore. We call them Blowthroughs. When the wind is blowing across these areas the top-water bite is great and several 5+lb bass are not uncommon.

[TIEDROPE]

I wish I would of read this before I went out today.

Went out today, fished all the calm water in the coves and didnt get a d**n hit. Fished a little in the wind and something nailed my senko but didnt get a chance to see what. Next time im fishing outter points in the wind!!!!!

:-[

[Hot n Tot]

When the wind is blowing I look for coves that the wind it blowing into.  This piles the baitfish in the back of the cove, and the bass will really nail them.  If the fish are not in the coves, I fish the downwind side of main lake points.  Bass will wait on the downwind side to ambush baitfish that are blown across the point.  Most people will not fish the wind, and you will usually have these types of places to yourself.

[SENKOSAM]

It depends on where the food chain happens to be.

In spring, emerging weeds, sportfish and panfish spawns draw all species into the shallows or in deeper water adjacent to flats. The wind doesn't make a bit of difference. A few weeks ago, I fished the windy south shore and caught 5 species, panfish mixed.

I traveled to the wind protected north shore, cast jerkbaits and caught only sportfish. The north shore has many rocky areas and few weeds, but has wetlands on either side of the flats and point.

The food chain has been moving around in large schools, with occasional surface activity and the water temp is only in the low to middle 50's. The wind was howling last Wed and Thurs, but the fish were concentrated in wind protected and windy areas, but always adjacent to wetlands.

If there are white caps on the lake, I like to cast from the wind protected side of a point to the wind swept area. Sometimes the surface transition areas get more action than just calm or just windy areas.

Many times in spring to early summer, I'll hit bass in shallow weed beds first, versus those in open or deep water. If bass happen to be present, I figure it's near or within their home territory and wind doesn't factor in. Once water levels drop due to heat and runoff, deeper water areas are usually key and wind may play a roll in where the chain is, but not always. Structure priority always beats the  wind factor, any day.

[earthworm77]

J-H, in the wind, I'm looking for the areas that have the most commotion caused by the wind pushing water/waves into something. This will uproot the bootm a bit, the bait will be more active foraging on microscopic organisms, oxygen it higher and the bass should be supercharged.

On this particular fall day, I was working the pad edges where the wind was blowing into. I think thr fish were naturally facing the current waiting for things to get blown towards them. I also caught fish near wind blown shorelines that had some type of cover such as buck brush or stumps.

These are classic ambush points as fish have something to get biehind  so they don't get pounded or have to fight the current.

[Rattlinrogue]

Depending on the severity of the wind(I'm not fishin' in whitecaps fish or no),I prefer a good ripple on the surface.It makes the bass less spooked.It's like having a good cloud cover.

[Landis76]

When it's windy, that keys me onto a spinnerbait for the reasons explained above. Typically it's best to throw upwind and retreive because bass face into the current and that way you'll be bringing the bait right into their faces. Although this is not always easy fishing.

[tie1on]

SenkoSam I agree with you the season does make a difference.Bass during January and February look for calm water to make their beds.I might of caught some of the ones that spawned a little later.