Following the wind

Why ? and does it matter on wind direction & duration ?

Serious answersonly please )

I always try not to follow through after wind.

Big waters = YES
Small waters = Dont bother

The big water i fish the smaller ones follow the wind, the bigger ones dont tend to. depends whether its a new wind - if its been blowing west for a week or so, if the fish were looking for new food larders, the food will be gone after a couple of days. angler pressure comes into it as well.........

This thread could get realy interesting
(and complicated).
A number of people have said on another site under the thread about Jim Gibbinson, that his book called (BIG-WATER carp)is one of the most definitive reads ever, and there is a cracking piece on location which covers wind.

I fish a large water at the mo and whilst we know where the fish (Bream) are most of the time, they do disappear for long periods of time. Why? (Its not the wind).

According to the books (look to the NE corner) because this is where the prevailing winds push food, Oxygen etc.

I have followed the rule of thumb before(ie, Fish into the wind) and had terrible results, but it was obviously the wrong wind, place etc.

I am convinced that wind has a huge influence on fish movements, but so do so many other things!!!! Pull of the Moon for instance, Thermo-climes, Wols cooking.

Lets hear about known things like Wind, and or other things in conjunction which you believe to have an effect.

A very difficult subject to tackle.

The effect of the wind is subject to many variations.
The size of the water, the depth and any obstructions within the lake for a start.

The available food will not necessarily build up close to the windward shore.
The strength of the wind and the depth of the water will determine the amount of undertow that will carry the food items back out away from the bank.
Shallower waters build up more water speed, but the food has less distance to drop.
This is not only into the windward bank, but also any bars or islands produce the same effect.

The food can be deposited hundreds of yards away from the bank/bar etc

Here's an extract from one of my and Stuarts Question of carp articles, where I gave some quick advice on wind.


"The wind direction and strength can play a major part in fish location. Due to our climate, winds from the south and the west tend to be warmer so are more conducive to carp fishing.

There is an old sea fishing rhyme and two parts of it are quite relevant here.

When the winds in the East, the fish bite least,
When the winds in the West, the fish bite best.

This is generally a good rule of thumb, but it should be considered along with the whole picture.

If you are sat on a deep lake on a stifling day in August, then a gentle easterly breeze may actually enhance your chances (as well as your comfort). But in the colder months, then a strong easterly may cool the water even more and kill any chances you had.

Thus, fishing into a warm southerly or westerly wind (or combination of the two) will give you a better chance and you should fish on the back of a cold easterly, ie, in the calm water behind the wind.

This is obviously very general and will depend on your venue as there will always be exceptions.

Wind strength is also an important factor to consider in conjunction with the depth of water and lake size.

Larger lakes tend to be more affected by winds, as do shallower waters where the undertow has a more immediate effect. The wind will cause a wave motion and thus an undertow, which will disturb food item goodies locked up in the bottom silt. Locating this area where the larder door has been broken open will give you an advantage."

Ok some more complication and things to ponder!
If the wind is "pushing" water across the lake it will make the underlying thermocline(layer of warmer water)raise up nearer the surface on the windward bank. So are the fish feeding on the "food" that is in this warmer layer, or just staying in the slightly warmer water ?

mmmmmmmm an interesting subject. Rik is very well qualified to both discuss and demonstrate wind!

The only thing I would add is the duration that the wind has been blowing in. As has been said, our prevailing wind is southwest. If the weather patterns mean that your location has experienced a south westerly for some time, and there is a sudden switch to easterlies, personally I would stick to fishing where the wind had been blowing.

The only time I would change tact is in the summer where the UK is often affected by high pressures bringing in easterlies, in which case I would probably change position on the lake quite quickly. My assumption is that the fish are more mobile, plus there are more food sources entering the lake in summer and will more readily follow the wind patterns (not Riks wind pattern, which is purely local!). However, as we all know, what we should really do is stop theorizing and look for them!

Thermo clines were mentioned above by Murray. The position of thermo clines is impacted by the speed, temperature, and duration of the winds (amongst other things like through flow, sun etc etc). It was interesting that Rik said fish with your back to a north easterly in the calm waters. I cannot necessarily support this from a fishing point of view, but I am pretty sure that during winter, prevailing easterlies will cool the surface temperature quickly and that at this time the main “heat” source of the lake is actually held within the base / lake bed. Therefore it is likely that the position of the thermo cline is going to be nearer if you sit with your back to the NE wind in winter (i.e. the calmer waters mentioned by Rik). In the summer this is reversed. I will have to check my old study notes, but I am pretty sure this is correct.

By the way, a thermo cline, if you didn’t know, is an interface between hot and cold. At a climatic level the most obvious example is where the cold polar airs swing down meeting the hot tropicals and this essentially, through the transfer of energy, creates the jet stream. It is the same in a lake. You will have a temperature profile that at one point changes dramatically, and this signifies the position of the thermo cline.

Why thermo clines impact fishing……..well, I am a “L” plate fisherman so I do not really know.

So, while the blowing of food items etc is no doubt a big impact, if thermo clines and their position are a factor in fish location, then my assumption would be that you should look to analyse the impact of prevailing winds on thermo clines as well, and that it seems likely that understanding these variations and changes probably has a greater impact on your ability to catch in the winter rather than summer.

I was fishing with a well known angler once and we started talking about this sort of thing, and he pointed out that "carp will go where they want to go". Its a bit like the way you catch fish in 2ft of water in winter. The wind direction can give you a hint, but theres nothing to beat looking for them. I find its best to look for the weedbeds (another thread?). the fish feel happy there, theres plenty of food and cover - why move? (generalisation of course!)

The other thing to remember with water temp/thermoclines is that there will be more dissolved oxygen in cold water so the fish may prefer it in a relatively cold temperature band

Sorry Dave, at 4 deg c water is at it's heaviest and as it cools further, its ability to hold dissolved water becomes less.

This is a complex subject. If I had the time on this website I could write a really good article on the thermocline as it is part of what I do for a living.

In the meantime if you do a google search on themocline there is a rather interesting paper you can read.

The warmer water is the less Oxygen it can hold, but when a fish gets too cold, it shuts down it's immune system etc and slows right down. So perhaps the fish stays in the slighty warmer water and active therefore needs more food and the cycle continues... ?

I did say "relatively" cold, wasn't really talking about winter. Danke, Herr Clay - if the water cools much more from 4degC the fish may find it REALLY hard to breath (and move!!) when talking about winter(and summer really) you also have to think about air pressure as well - why do fish tend to hang mid water so much in winter? people see the pressure drop, they head down to their lakes and say "the fish were feeding their heads off-bubbles everwhere", but could it just be gas that can now escape (like a coke bottle-loosen the cap-bubbles appear)??

Go on then Ron, do it!! I was really trying to dredge the memory banks as it was part of my degree.....but 23 years ago!

There's an error in my post by the way, I should have said dissolved Oxygen.

Sorry

I catch a lot of carp fishing on the back of a wind how does that work??