Baitfish and wind

[anchor man]

So often we talk about fishing windswept shorelines or reefs due to baitfish being pushed over them. My question is this. Does wind mainly affect baitfish because it pushes the plankton and other baitfish foodsources, so they follow their food source, or are baitfish actually being pushed by some underwater currents created by wind...or both?? Wouldn't wind mainly affect the top few feet of water and not the whole column?? Just thinking outloud

[tonyjor]

Wind may push only the top few feet of water but, if you think about gravity and the shape of the lake, the moving water has to go somewhere. It goes towards the shore which the wind is blowing to. Then, where does the water that was there already go? It gets pushed under the moving water back out toward the main body of the lake. Depending on wind speed and the size/structure of the lake, the water usually doesn't circulate too fast. But, if you have 3-4 days of 10+mph winds from the same direction, it would probably be better to fish the side of the lake that the wind is coming from. I figure if the wind is circulating the water from the NNW as it has been the past couple days then the NNW corner of the lake should, in theory, hold more microorganisms from the bottom as the lake is circulating. This brings in cephalopods and minnows, which bring panfish, which bring gamefish. I know I've read this all somewhere, but I can't remember where. Hopefully, I'm at least partially right and this helps....Anyone else?

[Cooter]

Whether you fish muskies or not, D Pearson has addressed this lately. Go to esox research's web site for more info if interested. I don't believe minnows get pushed to one end of a lake nor do I think they follow food to the other side of the lake. I think it's simply prime feeding conditions for predatory fish in areas getting hit with wind - light diffusion, tough escape conditions for prey, etc. Just my .001 cents worth.