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
