The bite and the wind

[surferman]

The wind is pretty strong out there today. Heard it is going to be that way for a few days. Does that make the bite better or worse?

[dogfish]

That depends on a lot of different things. Are you pluggin or using bait? A good wind for plugging is where the wind is at your back. Noreasters with the wind in your face will also produce as long as there is bait in the wash. If the wind is so strong you can't cast, you should find a lee, or sheltered area, that protects you. It's a little ridiculous to try and fish 40mph winds. If the fish are there, it benefits you to figure out a way to try.

[ledhead36]

If the fish are there, it benefits you to figure out a way to try.


Yup, yup.

[surferman]

What I fish with depends upon what the reports say. I just thought that the wind might effect the actual bite like the rain. You know people always say it is better just before or just after a storm.

[hookset]

I came across this article. Like the guy says any time out is a learning experience.

Winds hamper trout opening

Fishermen carry on despite 30-mph gusts Saturday.
By TIM STONESIFER For The Evening Sun

Posted: 04/05/2009 01:00:00 AM EDT


http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site140/2009/0404/20090404_055102_040409-SD-FISHING2_3745796_500.jpg (http://www.eveningsun.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=2381924 )Randy Wildasin, of Littlestown, pulls up a catch at the start of trout season Saturday morning at the Shepperd-Myers Reservoir. (Evening Sun Photo by Shane Dunlap)




As the sun rose it walked a narrow, shimmering path across the water. The wind, on the other hand, wasn't so gentle, forcing its way over the width of the muddy-yellow reservoir in 30 mph gusts.

And the rolling chop it made was the talk of local fisherman, out early for opening day of trout season at the Sheppard- Myers reservoir.
"Anything else is okay," Bill Matalavage said, "rain, snow even. But when the wind blows like this you can forget it."
Down from Williamsport for a day of fishing with his three grandsons, Matalavage nonethe less pressed on, the flaps of his hat moving in the wind as he knelt on a muddy shore.
Vilius Matalavage, the youngest of the three grand sons, looked on silently in an ticipation of the 8 a.m. start time, as his grandfather helped bait his hook.

"You'll catch a big one with this, guaranteed. Or if not a trout, at least some perch," his grandfather said with a wink.
That was the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's hope for all the fisherman who braved a blustery-cold opening day, said Deputy Wa terways Conservation Officer Gary Bullock.
"But it's gonna be tough fishing for folks out there today," he warned.

Bullock said when it comes to trout Sheppard- Myers Reservoir is the best- stocked lake in the state of Pennsylvania, explaining offi cials add fish to the lake five times each year.
He said except for about a month in March when it's res tocked, the reservoir is open for fishing year-round, with many people even ice fishing there in Winter.

Fisherman on opening day had a limit of five trout, with a minimum length of seven inches for each.
In addition to these, Bull ock said the lake has a large population of perch, "sun nies" and other, smaller fish, which fisherman tend to throw back in lieu of the more coveted trout.

And it was a little, gray- striped perch, studded with bright orange fins, that 12-year-old Kimberly Wolf gang first pulled wiggling from the water about half an hour after the opening of the season.
Flanked by her father and her uncle, Kimberly smiled broadly as her prediction of several minutes earlier - that she'd be the first to catch a fish - was realized. After getting help to cut the fish free of her line, she paused for a moment before tossing it gingerly back in the water.
"I just like it our here, hanging out," she said, the lone girl amidst a group of male relatives and their friends. "I think it's fun, espe cially when you catch some thing."

Kimberly, who's been fish ing since she was five years old, learned the tricks of the trade early from her father, Tom Wolfgang, who said the group generally doesn't fish the reservoir on opening day.
"Usually we like streams or one of the local creeks," he said, " but with all the rain right now they're too high. Go out there today and you're likely to end up downstream with water in your waders."
Tom Wolfgang said be cause of the high winds nor mally he wouldn't have come out, but explained his brother Scott drove down from DuBois and the family decid ed to give it a try.
But after several hours of fishing and only three small perch caught, the group tired of starting at motionless fish ing rods propped on broken sticks, and one lone orange bobber riding the chop but never sinking from a bite.

With the only movement after nearly two hours the rolling water and the wind bending the pine trees above, the family said they were off to get something to eat and maybe check the levels of some local streams.

If the streams were still too high for fishing, Tom and friend Randy Wildasin said they might try again tomor row, if the weather was better and the wind was less.
That seemed to be the con sensus, Bullock said. As fish erman began to disperse, some after only an hour of casting, Bullock explained likely they were off to try an other spot, or just wait out the weather for better conditions.

But Tom Wolfgang said the experience is never wasted. He said even in rough condi tions he's sometimes sur prised by a good catch, and the only way to know is to get out and try. He said he never keeps the trout he catches, and, regardless of the weath er, the fun is in the hunt.

As he and his family packed their gear and headed up through the pines to the road above, waves slapped at the shore and a father and son carrying rods and tackle boxes walked by the broken sticks used to hold the Wolf gang's rods.
They picked their way carefully past, along the narrow, uneven shore, still hoping to find the right spot to get some bites and catch a big one.

[storminsteve]

Like the others said I would rather have the wind at my back. When it's real windy from the east, I will go to a heavy bucktail or streamlined metal, at least 3 oz or more.

[clamchucker]

It also depends on location. The ideal wind for NJ beaches is often quite different than the ideal at Hatteras or Montauk. I usually like to have the wind at my back when fishing the surf. The only time I am happy with an E/NE wind is a few hours before everything turns bad. Those are some of the best fishing times, but you have to know enough about the weather coming in to get out of there quickly if the pattern gets worse before you thought it would.

[hookset]

There has also been some discussion about it being windy and oxygenating the water in the surf.

For example, think back to the calm days of the fall. Even with the bait around there are some days where you can't buy a hit. Then, you will have a storm or some kind of weather from the ocean, the surf gets slightly churned up, and the fishing is on fire. I don't have any scientific evidence to back this up, just my own observations. I do believe it to be true, though. One of the key factors is the storm system can't churn up to water too much. When it is mud brown it doesn't seem to hold true.