Guide Lines – The Misconceptions Of Fishing The Windy Side Of The Lake

A few years ago, I bumped into a fisherman that wanted to tell me about fishing in the wind. He told me that he loves when the wind wakes him up at night. “When the wind makes the shutters slap and shake, I get excited to fish.” He said, with a storyteller’s gaze. Then he spit a little chew spit in the dirt by our feet. He went on about how the all the bait in the lake gets blown into the windy shore, in shallow water, then walleye come in and get all those disorientated baitfish. It sounded perfect and great—logical. I think about that conversation often because I’d heard the exact same windy-water theories from a lot of different people. When I hear the same “theories” shared over and over again I get curious because there are very few iron-clad theories in fishing. There are just too many variables in every fishing moment on every fishing day that make it impossible to create ridged guide lines about how things work. In fact, when theories are recklessly over-stated by so many different people, they sound more like lore than brilliant theory.

The wind is a big topic because it is a constant ingredient in the walleye fishing recipe. It can not be summed up by saying, “When the winds from the east, the fish bite the least”. Nor can the wind make walleye fishing easy—so that all you have to do is go to the wind blown shore or fish any choppy water (walleye chop) for walleye fishing success. There are no guarantees. The wind is a tricky thing and, as anglers, we need to be careful to create one rule about how it influences everything beneath the surface.

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about windy weather and sustained windy weather is that bait fish get blown to the windy side of the lake. Often, I hear bold statements like, “all of the bait fish are blown to the windy side.” I disagree. What we need to remember is that bait fish can swim. They don’t blow across the lake like tumbling leaves on a windy sidewalk. I believe that the bait fish that are in the churned-up water on shallow flats and rock piles and shorelines during big blows had been living in those area already. They didn’t move there because of the wind—nor did they blow in. The only difference is that on a windy day, their “house” gets murky and they are easy pickings for big fish.

What about walleye and other fish species? Do they migrate to windy waters to capitalize on visually impaired baitfish? I hear it all of the time—“when the wind blows walleye travel to feed in the wind”. It’s fair to say that some walleye and other species travel short distances to feed in shallow areas when the wind blows, but I don’t think walleye swim long distances to feed on the windy side. The fish that are profiting from easy meals are the fish that already live in or near those areas. One question that’s difficult to answer is, “Do the walleye that are living on the windward/protected side of a lake, know if the water is churned and primed for feeding 5 or 10 miles away? If so, do they spend energy to get there? What these ideas suggest is that when the wind blows, the protected side of a lake becomes void of fish and that there are suddenly huge concentrations of walleye in the windy waters. If that were the case, how long would it take for the lake to achieve balance and reverse those migrations? Could a lake survive with those sorts of swings?

Implementing guide lines that might help us understand fish patterns that, in turn, help us create fishing strategies is not easy. There are always “gray” areas. There are always variables that make it difficult to know, for sure, what’s going on beneath the surface. There are many variables that determine what and how much ends up on the windy shore. I.e.,the speed and duration of the wind, the vastness of the surface area of the lake (is the lake open or clogged with islands and points?), and the mean depth are very important. A huge variable that can change how windy days impact baitfish and shoreline feeding is what season it is. I am much more inclined to fish windy shorelines and wind beaten flats in the spring then I am in the middle of summer or fall. There is much shallow water actively in the spring. By early summer, however, many fry fish and baitfish species occupy deeper water or are suspending in the mid-water column in lakes. While the wind may change current direction and intensity in deeper zones, I don’t believe baitfish leave those areas and get in the windy shallow water where they can’t see—only to be eaten by big fish. It sounds counterproductive to survival.

Very often, people believe that all fish leave the leeward side of the lake to get to the chaotic feeding frenzy happening in the churning waters on the windy side of the lake. I say not. How do I know? Lots of testing—lots. My first inclination as a guide is to keep my folks comfortable and fish on water that makes it easier for folks to know when they get a bite. Based on that premise, I begin all of my windy-day trips on the leeward side of the lake. In my opinion, it’s always more enjoyable to fish when there aren’t waves crashing over the stern, bow, or gunnels. My guests like not having their feet wet. And it’s fun to hear one another talk—fishing banter isn’t fun when you can’t hear the person giving you a hard time or visa versa. So I fish calm areas first. I would say, 2/3 of windy days, I accomplish strong catches on the calm shorelines. Part of the success lies in boat good boat control. It’s always easier to control a boat when waves aren’t pushing you around. Boat control or not, it proves that walleye don’t just swim to the windy side of the lake to feed when it gets windy. In fact, when the wind is potent enough to create good feeding down-wind, walleye and other fish species gain a visual advantage over prey across the entire lake. On those windy days, the entire lake experiences some sort of chop or light-deflecting effect (even little waves and quick ripples deflect light). All said and done, walleye in all areas of the lake are likely to be positively prompted by the wind. Therefore, the fish don’t need to make major movements to rough water just to feed, and as anglers we don’t need to fish the rough water to find aggressive fish.

What when the spots in calm water aren’t holding fish? Then it’s time to put rain gear on and go into the waves. I do love waves—I embrace them when I need to fish in them. It’s interesting, in all the turmoil of white caps and turbulence and spraying and splashing there is peace. It’s peaceful because there are rarely other boaters and anglers on the lake. In fact, despite the size of “average” fishing boats these days, there are very few anglers who launch a boat on a lake with white caps. Many many times over the years I’ve been the only boat on Ottertail Lake. It’s fun to be the only boat on a big lake. I’m always surprised that so many people have a lot to say about fishing a windy lake, but I rarely see people fishing at all when it’s windy. They are missing out. The one thing I know for sure about fishing in the wind is that you can’t catch anything if you’re not on the lake.

If you do decide to strike out on the lake when the wind blows, don’t feel like you need to get in the biggest waves and ugliest water to catch a walleye. In fact, it’ll be difficult. Boat control doesn’t come easy nor does casting or feeling bites—or standing up for that matter. You can capitalize by fishing the windy side because you’ll probably be fishing alone, but just know it’s not the only place on the lake where a walleye will feed. Good luck fishing the wind this summer!

By Ross Hagemeister, meisterguideservice.com