Cursed you, North Wind…you howling, cold, harbinger of poor fishing! Go away you foul scoundrel and take with you your red faces, bad attitudes, skunk days and white-capped water!
There’s just nothing good about a north wind. It blows stuff all over my yard, it makes people nuts and…even worse…fish don’t like to bite in it.
And why do the fish care? I mean, after all, they’re underwater. Why do they give a rat’s furry behind if it’s windy if they are more than a couple feet below the surface?
To be honest, not all wind is bad. In fact, it can be really good for fishing. It gets baitfish moving around and pushes them up against structure where the predators can easily find ’em. Wind also ruffles up the surface of the water, which keeps the light from penetrating so deep. Predatory fish like to hunt when there is less light so their prey can’t see them coming.
And along the Pacific coast, NW wind generates upwelling, which brings nutrient-rich waters up from the depths…which is critical for the food chain.
Yes wind can be a good thing.
But at least inland, it has to be the right wind!
And as far as I’m concerned, just about any wind is the right wind…as long as it’s not coming from the North!
So, just what is it about the North Wind that makes fish not want to bite? Well, it’s just straight up evil that’s what! Okay, sorry…I was getting a little fired up there.
Actually, I think the only logical explanation has to do with the fact that North Wind, in my area at least, often signals a dramatic change in the barometric pressure – usually a
strong high is moving in with it. Fish bite great in high-pressure periods, but that transition zone beforehand can be a bit of a bugger. I guess there’s just something that the fish just don’t care for about that.
As a kid I remember an old timer from Oregon telling me his little wind mantra that went like this:
Wind from the West is Best, Wind from the East, Fishing is Least and Wind from the North, Go Forth.
Go where? When the wind is blowing from the north, I’m thinking about “going forth” to lunch and a movie…not to the lake! Heck, I’d rather go to the dentist, build some IKEA furniture or do my taxes. That’s how much I dislike the North Wind!
Now, that’s not to say I haven’t caught my share of fish on days when the wind was howling down from up north, but the crappy days far out-number the good ones.
I’m thinking I need to take up kite flying, windmill building, sailing…something to make me better appreciate the North Wind because as it stands now it just irritates the heck out of me.
How about you?
