I was gonna go fishing today, But My son had a BB'Q contest (He won first
prize in His age group(12 yrs old)). for the 4H. Had to cook 2 split fryer
chickens.. Anyway, that got over by 2pm, and I was gonna go fishing, but the
wind was terrible, and the new rod I bought is a 4wt, and I haven't figured
out how to fish it in the wind yet... Chuck
Chuck,
I did go
fishing yesterday and the wind was howling here. Forget a 4 wt in the
wind.
7 wt
plus with a very short head line, (SA's new Redfish Taper or the Rio
Quickshooter)
The
heads are no more than 30 ft. The Quickshooter is actually the better
performer,
but it
has to be physically stretched 2-3 ft at a time EVERYTIME you use
it.
Shooting
heads help in the wind as well. In fact, my favorite Shad outfit is a
4wt
with a 6
wt intermediate head
My own recent trips have been UTTERLY UNEVENTFUL and FISHLESS!!
Yesterday, the
Back Country Fly Club from Orlando had our annual "two-Fly
Tournament".
We only had 4 anglers participate. We are all
pretty decent with a fly rod and expect to make accurate casts from 40 to 70
feet with 7 with 12 wt. lines in winds normally around 10 mph.
High hopes as I checked the computer at 4AM
before heading out. North wind 6 mph,
forecast for max 8 mph.
Needless to say , it was howling at 15 mph+ by
10AM. 20+ by 11AM. Very tough to spot fish with that much chop
on the water and if we could see a fish, putting a fly where it needs to be
in 20 mph winds is a challenge. Especially if the wind is over the wrong
shoulder and you must backcast, or if the wind is just dead in your
face.
One redfish was caught. That on a spinning rod.
Blind casting. Not by me.
My last 4 trips have resulted in ZERO fish. One
offshore in a skiff, one on the flats in a skiff and two in my yak. What is
worse, I have not seen or cast to a fish. This is the worst year for constant wind in my memory.
With apologies to Credence:
Long as I remember The wind been blowin'
fast.
Gusts of myst'ry pouring Confusion on the
flats.
Good men through the lagoon, Trying to find the
calm;
And I wonder, Still I wonder, Who'll stop the
wind.
Leaving to yak the Econ with my wife.-a beautiful
wild river less than hour from the house. Not bringing a rod.
There will be, of course, no ill wind.
JG
