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Fishing in strong wind | Category: Fishing Talk

JewCraze 3 years ago
#7454

Hi Guys,

Checking the weather for tomorrow I see the wind is about 35 km/h or about 18 knots at the location I'm interested in fishing. Has anyone tried fishing in strong wind like this, and if you did, how did you go?

I'm not sure what sort of wind speed is acceptable / tolerable and / or OK to fish, so would like to ask around. Appreciate any response.

itsaboat 3 years ago
#7455

It depends on your location and wind direction. It is best to find a sheltered location.

Fish will try to get out of the wind especially if the water is choppy. If you can't find a spot sheltered from the wind, then try and find a spot where the wind is coming from behind.

I don't know if there is any real limit. Might not be a good idea to go out in a full on storm. But as long as you can find a spot out of the wind you should still be able to get some fishing in.

itsaboat mate...Life is just a boat and then ya marry one !
JewCraze 3 years ago
#7456

Cool, thanks! So the beach I'm looking at for tomorrow morning ... it's going to have wind coming from behind, blowing from the land out. So hopefully that should aid my casting. I was just not sure if the fish will be gone hiding. I guess I'll find out tomorrow. The forecast swell is about 1m so that's not bad.

itsaboat 3 years ago
#7457

Yes, it will help with casting. In fact the main reason you want the wind coming from behind is for casting.

With a 1m swell things should be fairly calm. If the beach has decent sand dunes you should have a fairly good flat water before the chop. If it is one of those high blowing winds all good. If it turns out to be a low blowing wind you might want to move along the beach to find a spot where you are not getting sand blasted.

If you can spot a gutter even better. You could try using a small balloon or bobby float and let the wind take it out through the gutter. That wont work for a parallel gutter of course because there will be a shallow sand bank on the other side. However, you can cast onto that sand bank then slowly bring the bait back into the gutter. Don't worry if your bait is only a foot or 2 from the shore...90% of people cast right over the fish they are trying to catch !!

The chop line might be hard to see. But you should be able to see where the wind is hitting the water and causing a line. It is the point where the water is just deep enough for the wind to not be able to flatten it. The chop might only be a few cm. If you can see that line and cast to it, you just might get a nice catch. Predators like tailor, salmon, snapper and dew will be cruising that chop line.

itsaboat mate...Life is just a boat and then ya marry one !
JewCraze 3 years ago
#7458

Thank you so much for that gem of wisdom. I hope I can recognize those features once I'm at the beach. Will try.

Mark Totzke 3 years ago
#7459

using a balloon in an offshore wind from the beach is a really good tip from itsaboat.
I tried that for the first time a few days ago and used about a meter trace underneath the balloon with a big hook and big chunk of bait. I let the ballon drift out a good 100 meters or so and then locked the reel. A decent barracouta took the bait after 15 minutes and put up a good fight. I bet any top water predator wouldn't be able to resist such a bait presentation. And if the water is shallow enough even bottom feeders would raise and take the bait.
Just make sure to buy proper biodegradable balloons from a tackle shop in case you lose them.
Those pink black magic live bait balloons are biodegradable and the pink also attracts curious predators.

a snapper a day keeps the doctor away
itsaboat 3 years ago
#7460

How did you go in those windy conditions? Did you do any good?

itsaboat mate...Life is just a boat and then ya marry one !
JewCraze 3 years ago
#7472

Things got in my way and I ended up couldn't go. But will keep your valuable tips in mind for sure for next time when there's westerly wind like that.