Bass Fishing on Windy Days

by Ray Merckx

      The wind this past Saturday was enough to keep almost any angler in bed. But I headed out to fish anyway, as there are ways to have the wind work towards your advantage.

        We are half way through the autumn season, and windy days will make bass fishing tough. Yet if you are willing to get out and fish, just make sure you do the proper checks to ensure it is a safe trip. First thing you should do is know which direction the wind is blowing and how much gust are predicted. For example, this past Saturday had winds from the W/NW between 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.

               A safe wind to fish on lakes would be between 10 to 15 mph with any kind of boat with any electric motor. If winds are pushing the 20 to 25 mph mark,  I would say you would need a boat larger than 16 feet with at least a 70 pound thrust motor to help push you through the winds. Power poles are also helpful if you have them, and could even help if the winds gust up to 30 mph. Anything gusting over the 30 mph mark you are better off staying home or fishing along a stream or from the land.

         With the W/NW wind direction on Saturday, I decided to fish a lake that would have some protection from the stronger wind gusts. I was planning on fishing Rainbow or Parvin lake, but I decided my best choice was to fish Malaga lake.  The north west side of the lake had  less wind gusts with a couple decent areas to fish. Fishing Parvin or Rainbow that day would have meant fighting the wind to get towards the back of the lake with a few decent spots to fish this time of the year. So always pay attention to the wind direction to determine which lake you should fish especially when winds are higher than 15 mph.

              Timing makes a difference as well. Wind gusts are usually higher in the late morning through mid afternoon and tend to die down by the late afternoon hours. On my trip Saturday we had wind gusts up to 25 mph at around 2pm but they diminished down to 10 mph by the time we got off the lake at 5:30 pm.  Within 2 hours we were able to move around the lake more and have better control with the wind using it to our advantage. Heading towards the south east end of the lake required little use of the motor except for steering, which helps at  saving the battery life.

              Finally, the number one thing that you need to make sure of is that your gear is able to handle the wind. The batteries for your motor better have to have a solid charge and are not too old to use. I would say if your batteries are over 4 years old, make sure you replace them. It’s always better to be safe than sorry especially when fishing in the wind. Having dead batteries on a windy lake can make for a dangerous situation. While the wind creates a challenge this can help make you a better angler. But don’t feel bad if you can’t handle it. The number one thing when it comes to fishing is safety first. Good luck and enjoy a good day of fishing!