Playing the wind???

[bmc]

What is your guy's theory on the wind when it comes to Musky fishing. Let's say you're fishing a midlake cabbage hump and the wind is blowing across it west to east. Would you start on the east side (downwind) and work your way around the hump? If there was a gentle breeze would it matter which side you started on?

How often do you drift with the wind, like along a shoreline break? Is it better to work the shoreline breaks againts the wind (wind in your face)?

Thanks,

Brian

[hunterjoe]

One thing I've heard many times about fishing in the wind is that if you drift with the wind and can cast into it, you'll be burning your bait much faster. Not always important, but sometimes it can make the difference. As far as where to start? I'm fairly new to musky fishing so I don't have any info on that.

[b1gf1sh1]

keep in mind it's been a long, long time since i've fished lakes seriously, and i assume lake humps are what you mean. if the wind was going east OR west i always tried to set up on the north or south end (easier control for me)of the most prominent (highest) section of the hump, within casting distance of the area surrounding it. i'd work mostly that highest spot from these ends, casting on either side usually with a spinnerbait and sometimes with a bucktail or crank if the weeds were low enough.

wind north to south? same thing but set up on east/west.

i never really care which way i cast a lure in or with the wind. whatever gets me to the spot i want to hit is all i care about.

[b1gf1sh1]

oops... gentle breeze. topwaters were supreme. or a crank with a little ''b1gf1sh1 wrinkle''. spinnerbaits bulged, and bucktails bulged.

[50inchpig]

My favorite subject, boat control. This is going to be a long post. Steve Heiting once said "there's no such thing as a good drift, except on Mille Lacs." And even that's arguable. Joe Bucher has stated numerous times to work into the wind. Jim Murphy also has written some good pieces in the last few years on boat control.

Think about it. When it's flat calm, you might stop your electric, but your boat keeps moving, probably further than you realize. When you have that wind pushing against you, you don't drift off course, you can control everything.

I can't stop there. It goes way beyond wind. Step it up a level, and learn how to use your outboard in wind. It's not just for getting from spot to spot, it's your rudder as you move along. As you pull your boat foward with the electric, you can turn your outboard slightly to help control the back of the boat, and keep you square to structure. Guys who run tillers pick this up quickly. If you're quartering into the wind, let your outboard push the back of your boat out a little bit, so the wind doesn't push you up onto structure. Easy to tell the people who don't know what they're doing because they'll have their outboard trimmed all the way up when they're fishing.

Think about lakes like Tonka, White Bear, Bald Eagle, Alexander - boat control is absolutely crucial on these milfoil lakes, and other lakes with steep structures. You need to square up to the structure so you're in position to figure 8 and set the hook, and think about your buddy in the back. You need to be able to cast to that weedpoint without running up on it, or drifting too far off it and not being able to reach it. Skip a cast and reposition if you have to, it'll be worth it.

Best thing that ever happened to my boat is my 80# Maxxum. 2nd best thing is my GPS. Learn how to use your GPS, your depthfinder, and your electric to stay on point and squared to struction. I'm stupified at the number of people who don't have their depthfinder and GPS mounted UP FRONT. We are not walleye fisherman. We are not backtrolling here. But we are trying to catch a fish that is very particular about it's spots. Get your units up front where they are of some use to you. Get a cheapo depthfinder or flasher for the back if you want. If you're not looking down at your depthfinder once or twice at a minimum during your retreive, you're practicing sloppy boat control. I watch my graph more than my bait most of the time and most of my good fishing buddies do the same.

Learn different spots all over the lake. Learn how to run your spots in both directions (although it's usually easier from one way than the other). Lots of spots you have to run dozens of time before you really learn them. I fished a lake 3-4 times a week last season, and a bunch the year before, and didn't really get good with some of the best spots until last fall. One weedflat in particular came out and turned 90 degrees. It was almost impossible to run from the west, and tough to run from the east, and if you ran up on the weeds you just wasted the last 20 minutes working up to it. When I learned to stay off it, anticipate the turn, and cast right - good things happened. You better be laying down some waypoints when you see fish too. Lots of time you don't realize the nuances of a spot until you have 2 or 3 waypoints in a cluster, then you notice that little bump or turn in relation to the bigger structure.

Wonder what makes that other guy so much more successful than you? It's not cause he works his Cowgirl better, it's boat control. There's no one thing that affects your success on the water more. Good boat control is even more important at night, when you don't have the shoreline in sight to orientate yourself, if orientate is even a word. Start by taking your motor off CON and put some effort into it. You can turn your CON back on once you get good, but you probably won't want to. You hand control guys are exempt, you're weird anyway.

If you get used to using your GPS, depthfinder, and keep at it with your electric, your fishing will improve. It's not the economy, stupid, it's boat control. Some guys get it, some don't. Practice, challenge the elements, take it to the extreme, just to see if you can do it, become one with your boat. There's so much more you can do with your boat, and in turn that your boat will do for you, than you realize. DEDICATE YOURSELF to boat control and it'll become 2nd nature before you know it. I never run a spot going with any kind of moderate wind, I'd rather scout a new spot against it. You didn't even have to buy a magazine for this.

50inchpig AKA Master of Boat Control AKA Cocky B@$ta^d (according to the wifey)

[Tim_Anderson]

I almost always work my boat into the wind. I have much better boat control that way. If the flat is too big to work all of it from the outside, I work my way in. For me, drifting is often way too fast, or way too slow. Working into the wind, I can go faster or slower whenever I want without the wind twisting my boat around. Probably one of the things I enjoy the most about my boat is the big Terrova on the bow. I realize that not everyone has the luxury, but in the same breath, boat control is absolutely paramount with musky fishing. I'd have a piece of [PoorWordUsage] boat and a powerful electric before I'd have it vice versa.

[DHanson]

I do a control drift with the wind most of the time. I don't have the luxury of owning a really nice boat. In fact my rods/lures probably are worth as much as my boat. I don't like going against the wind. IMO you need auto pilot on your trolling motor to fish against the wind efficiently. I do go against the wind at times for complicated structure, but most of my boat positioning is focused around going with the wind. Easier on my trolling batteries as well. I have gotten really good at using the wind to my advantage without owning auto pilot on my trolling motor. It can be done.

[Nick Kuhn]

I don't know why, but for some reason if the wind is blowing and I just drift in it, casting with the wind and simply retrieving as fast as I can, that I catch more fish. This usually happens when the boat is blowing much faster than you would like for boat control. You need a huge flat though to fish this way.

That said for control if the wind is light to moderate and fairly steady, I usually work with the wind. If it is variable (gusty) or strong, I work into it.

[Esox_Magnum]

We primarily drift with the wind to, with that POS Maxxum on the bow more times spent chasing the boat than fishing. Hopefully a Terrovas in order soon. When the wind starts kicking we use 1 or 2 drift socks to slow us down .We catch as much or more than most so we'll stick with what we are doing.

[JRedig]

I'm with 50inch pig and Tim all the way. Except I don't find myself going into the wind as much as i'd like, mostly because I don't have the juice to do so...yet. The GPS comments are CRUCIAL, without you don't realize just how far you move off course. I can't count the number of times looking around at landmarks etc I thought I was in the same spot, but then I look down and no sir, way off the way point. That's something else, even though you have a GPS, use way points A LOT. You still move way more than you think unless you have more reference points on the map.

Last Saturday is a prime example. Wind blowing hard from the NW, fishing the eastern shore of a lake in white caps and about 2-3 feet of water. Fish were going nuts for topwaters when we got our drift line right, just hovering over the transition from light to dark bottom. It gave us just the right casts over either side and when we could drift parallel casting that edge and with short casts to nearby docks etc, man did we have fish. I love that weather pattern, absolutely one of my favorite times to fish certain bodies of water. Having a ranger that doesn't get pushed all over by the wind helps too, absolutely priceless on days like that, worth every penny.

[Cold Front Pooch]

Nice rant pig.... and it really wasnt a rant... pure facts... I dont know anyone on here, but it honestly looks to me as if everyone is an internet pro.... agrees when one definitively says something and they either have not enough knowledge or experience to disagree... or is not confident enough to spit it out... Thus making them an internet pro. Nobody knows who the hell I am on here so I could claim Im Pete [badWordUsage] Maina and nobody would know the difference... You obviously know what your talking about, but everyone lines up on the internet claiming this expertieze and agrees with you, hell I learned some stuff in the past 2 weeks Ive been on this site... and thats why Im here to learn and share... Its the point to the board rite? So im stuck deciphering information trying to figure out who the guy is that has been fishing 4 to 5 times a week and having success or the guy who got lucky once and has the gall to think hes a pro... I personally consider myself in the middle... thats the end of my rant... (Guys Dont take it personally)

I agree with you 100% on this... (Although i barely have the equipment that you described, but thats just the extent of the knowledge I have on the few lakes I know well) The majority of the lakes that I fish are under 2000 acres... so in my opinion wind is not as big of a factor. yes boat control is a big concern of mine... the perfect figure 8 or 0 is always in my mind... Smaller waters in my view are not effected as much as larger ones... Yet I still think it should apply in boat control and I usually will fish the windy side even if it is the 200 acre puddle or Mille Lacs... all that I can say is TIME ON THE WATER... thats where ive learned everything... taking my experiences fishing and comparing them to articles and what I see on here and saying that makes sense or ill check that out...

I use articles and websites to improve my fishing... and hopefully my posts on forums will help somebody out... not to fabricate who I am... Im an above average muskie nut in my eyes.... no BSer... Just callin em like I see em...

-Joe

The slightly above average muskie nut

[b1gf1sh1]

Quote:

What is your guy's theory on the wind when it comes to Musky fishing. Let's say you're fishing a midlake cabbage hump and the wind is blowing across it west to east. Would you start on the east side (downwind) and work your way around the hump? If there was a gentle breeze would it matter which side you started on?

How often do you drift with the wind, like along a shoreline break? Is it better to work the shoreline breaks againts the wind (wind in your face)?

Thanks,

nice posts everybody. and what about humps?

that said. on a mid-lake hump you can be facing the wind at any point around it. and if you have good casting skills you can stay off it and still reach the entire hump and well around it. you can cast cross, into or with the wind when the boat is positioned right at the right time. i had my best luck, and control casting crosswind working from well to the ''sides'' of a hump in relation to the wind. to me a single ''hump'' with cabbage or other vegetation isn't to big, it can be any shape just not too expansive. too big and it's no longer a hump it's an island, flats or bar. the humps i came in most contact with for muskie on lakes were at white bear and forest. other than those lakes i was bass, walleye, or panfishing because hardly any lakes had real muskie numbers around here with humps, and bald eagle was just too busy with pleasure boaters. and 40''s was like... huge? rivers were the ticket then for the big girls, so i'm limited on lakes for muskies. we did put our fair share of muskie in the boat though, and those few dozen humps produced part of that share. a little before GPS and those outboard like electrics.

and 50inchpig, you gave me an idea for a river tip with the motor/rudder control. it's not just wind and electric movement on rivers. because of current it's an even more critical tool than on lakes, not just for control but also positioning, staying inside an eddy and a host of others. sometimes it's better to have it trimmed up even. thanks