North Wind: good or bad??

Ok guys I'm sure that if you have ever done much fishing then you are familiar with the "north wind is bad" saying. Well I told you about me catching a few last Friday with thewind gusting out of the north all day. But yesterday I wrnt and had a warm westerly wind that had heated the water to 50. Well I caught more with a north wind ladt week than I did with a west wind yesterday and colder water. How many still believe the fish dint bite with a north wind? Was it just a fluke that I caught more with colder conditions than warmet?

I catch in a north wind, some of my worst day's are when conditions seem to be perfect.

In my opinion.....fish don't know which direction the wind is going. They can "feel" pressure changes. Thats a scientific proven fact. The wind sayings aren't necessarily having to do anything with the wind. The sayings are predicting pressures. Most of the time an EAST wind is associated with a rise in pressure. So "Fish bite the least when the wind is out of the east". True......but not because of the wind, because of the rise in pressure. Now I will say there are exceptions with every rule and I have caught fish on east wind days.....but to my knowledge I dont think I have ever "killed" them on a east wind. Same thing goes for a west wind......it is associated with a fall in pressure and fish feed when the pressure falls. "Fish bite the best when the wind is out of the west."......I believe it. I have also been skunked on west wind days. But in my experience I can usually count on catching with west wind days. North winds can offer both high and low pressure days and so can south....so those are a little harder to predict. But you can always look at the barometer and decide if ya wanna fish or not and totally disregard wind. Now.......the fish can only feel pressure changes for so deep in the water column. So for instance im Going to use depths just for example purposes. ( Not proven). If a fish is in 10ft or less water.....they can feel these pressure changes MORE. When they are in roughly 15 foot of water the feel the pressure changes less. And if they 20fow or deeper they may not feel these changes at all. What does this tell me personally with my hypothesis???? In the spring when the fish are trying to get shallow and spawn and there a high pressure day.......Im not going to expect much action because the fish most likely will be shut off, and exact opposite for low or dropping pressure days. In the hot summer and in the winter and im fishing for deep crappie, I don't expect the wind nor the pressure to effect me good or bad! So go fishing no matter WHAT!!! hahaha. Not everyone believes in pressures or winds.....BUT I DO. That don't make me right. Its just what I believe. I have been writing conditions and what and where I caught on all my trips for about 7 years now and have some proof of my hypothesis. When it comes down to it.....if ya got a job, I would fish every chance I got. I wouldn't worry about pressures or winds. I would just have lower expectations on the poor days that way your not disappointed. If your retired.....I would hand pick my days......that way your have a much better catch average hahaha. Hope I didn't ramble on too much! Have a great day!

1" of Hg = 0.491 psi. The hydrostatic gradient of fresh water is 0.45 psi/ft. (0.465 for saltwater). A variation of 1" of Hg is quite large when it comes to atmospheric pressure. That would amount to a fish moving roughly one foot in the water column, only one foot. I don't buy into the fish feeling barometric pressure.

Lowepro is right on with his opinion because all my logs and experience with fishing, recreational and commercial, show the same. But having said that, to me the best wind is what ever direction it's blowing when I can go and find fish biting. :fingerdance

AS I SEE IT,THE MORE DAYS THE WIND BLOWS IN SAME DIRECTION THE BETTER THE FISHING BUT ON WINDWARD SIDE. WE HAVE MORE WEST WIND MAKING IT A MORE STABLE WIND,EAST WIND IS MORE A CHANGING WIND. THE WIND BLOWS FOOD FOR BAIT FISH AND GAME FISH ARE AWARE OF THIS. BUT NONE OF THESE RULES ARE SET IN CONCRETE. FISH FORGET TO READ MY RULE BOOK I THINK,LOL

Tracker I wasn't saying that the pressure determines where the fish will be. I was saying from my experience that pressure makes them feel like eating or not eating. And if they are deep enough then the pressure wouldn't matter anyways, because they couldn't feel it. I think thats what I interpreted when I read ur response. I think its awesome though you were able to explain the effects or lack of, of atmospheric pressure effects the water and the depht of water it could effect. We should put our heads together and figure out what depth that we should stop considering atmospheric pressure.

I will throw out another coincidence..... Pressure and moon phases influence not only fish but humans. I work in the ER as a RN and can tell you....I can almost predict when Im going to have a crazy day with peple acting Nutty. And it just so happens that the fish will be practically 'jumping in the boat" during the same time frame. Hahahahaha. If I got to determine my schedule.....I KNOW exactly when I should be at work and when I should be fishing! SAD BUT TRUE! hahahaha

I would not go fishing when the wind was from the North,or South,or West,or East. I would not go fishing when it's not blowing.I would not go when the sun shines,or when it's cloudy.I would not go when it's raining,or snowing or sleeting. I would not go on a full moon,or dark moon,or any phase of moon. I would not fish in the morning,or midday,or evening,or night.I would not fish in the spring,or summer,or fall or winter.

Its just to risky you may not catch anything.

I would also just fish one place and one method.And when I got there if I did not catch fish with my usual method in the usual place within two hours,I would go home and declare that the fish are not biting,and never did bite that day,for any length of time,anywhere,on anything,with any presentation.

That's the best advice I can give you.

Yep! I go fishing EVERY chance I get, paying absolutely no attention to weather - except rain. I don't do rain any more.....too freakin' old for that garbage! LOL!

it's also been said "when the wind is from the east, fish bite the least" I don't like it when it gets too windy, but I'll fish when I can work when I should, just wish I was a country boy

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Originally Posted by wannabe fisherman

it's also been said "when the wind is from the east, fish bite the least" I don't like it when it gets too windy, but I'll fish when I can work when I should, just wish I was a country boy

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Use to be that I hated the wind. But over the past 3 seasons, I've had my best luck when drifting in a heavy breeze - 15 - 20 mph! Seemed like our jigs were flying through the water, but the crappie, yellow perch and even bass love it. Go figure!

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Originally Posted by Tracker123

1" of Hg = 0.491 psi. The hydrostatic gradient of fresh water is 0.45 psi/ft. (0.465 for saltwater). A variation of 1" of Hg is quite large when it comes to atmospheric pressure. That would amount to a fish moving roughly one foot in the water column, only one foot. I don't buy into the fish feeling barometric pressure.

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dude, need to see some pics of your catches vs. lowepro's catches before we compare "beliefs" on barometric pressure. just saying...

I adhere to science, not "beliefs." Just saying....

East or north wind come with cold fronts . That's the main reason you will not do as well with those winds. Now some spots I fish are better on a given wind. In my experience a front will shut black crappie down and almost the same with white crappie. Other than cold front conditions I can catch a far amount of fish. You just have to find them.

Thankyou for the kind words ibmack. I understand where your coming from to Tracker123. But there will never be a pure science on the subject. Because you have to have a "control group" for every experiment to be proven a fact. And there will never be a way mankind could provide "a control" in nature. So my theory is merely just a hypothesis, but it sure gets supported often when I take a look back at my records, catch or no catch. In fact not catching provides me with most of my solutions. Lol I can come up with some reason that I didn't catch hahaha. I promise im not trying to push anything on ya.

Very good LowePro. Thank you.

I go fishing whenever I can, and it doesn't matter which direction the wind is blowing. I've caught fish in all wind directions. The key is just adapting to the conditions. The only difference in a north wind that I've noticed, is the fish do seem to be less active. But if you can get the bait in front of their faces, you'll be able to catch some fish.

I have had some of my most productive days ever fishing with a North wind. Best advice is to ignore the wind direction and just fish whenever you can.

An old fisherman once told me, the best time to go fishing is whenever you can! I can sometimes catch them with an east wind but the bite is usually slow and the fish tend to be finicky. I think the only reason they bite then is because I hold it in front of their nose for a few minutes.

they bite best when its from the west
they bite the least when its from the east
and when the cows are standing its on
and so on and so forth .....
i try not to let these things dictate if i can ketch them ...
but i dont like a high barometer bluebird day most of the time ....they tend be tuff in those conditions

I have had some of my worse days fishing when there was no wind blowing at all. And I have caught fish good when the wind was from the East.:dono So I go fishing when I can.:twocents

I go when my wife suggests I go...LOL...no...really.