Fishing soft/hard plastics in windy conditions

[thecosbykids]

Hey Guys, 

It's been a pretty windy couple of days around Sydney recently and I was wondering if anyone had any tips on flicking soft plastics or using hardbody lures during moderate wind? (15-25km/h, Landbased) Specifically:

- Advice on keeping tension in the line when using small soft plastics and jig heads while the wind is blowing; Is this even possible? 

- Should retrieval strategy for soft plastics (flick, double flick etc) change when the wind picks up? 

- Would a deep diver hardbody lure function during moderate wind? I have a shallow diver hardbody that seems to cast okay during the wind, but it only stays near the surface. I would love to be able to target a deeper depth as slow/fastrolling these lures when the wind is blowing seems to be viable strategy. 

- General tips/advice

The only solution I seem to be able to find is either using google maps and wind forecasts to find a more desirable location, or forget plastics altogether and use bait with a large sinker. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Cheers!

 

[Little_Flatty]

Fishing in wind is generally challenging, but you can't always choose the weather for your sessions. I have heard some fishos like a bit of wind about for various species.

Assuming you are fishing for bream/flathead like most SP fishos, I would start by fishing heavier jigheads than you usually would. 'Heavy' is relative to the gear and waters you are fishing. For my 6lb bream gear and the shallow flats I mostly frequent, 1/4oz is a brick of a weight, but I have done this out of necessity in very windy conditions. Other times I get away with a 1/8 or 1/6 oz. It's a matter of experimenting and seeing what works for you.

If you struggle to get the right weight/hook size combination, sometimes an EWG or soft plastics worm hook works with a ball sinker running down to the lure. That gives you a bit more flexibility with mixing and matching weights.

I think you'd have a hard time fishing small hardbodies in strong wind. A soft vibe or blade might be a better compromise and could be fished in somewhat similar ways.

It can be hard to stay in touch with your lure in strong winds. Keep your rod low when working the lure and also watch the line for hits.

[DerekD]

Hmmmm..... was doing just that for the last 3 days. Did hook a rat king of about 55cm on the bream gear on Saturday and a nice little flathead yesterday.

How I deal with it. Sydney harbour has a number of bays which you can  often access from multiple points. Get to know the wind directions and which parts are sheltered under which wind directions. Please note that the wind will often swirl around these bays at a slightly different angles to the incoming direction. I often use the flags on the harbour bridge or Anzac bridge coming home to give me a clear indication of wind direction and then choose fishing location accordingly.

My first preference is casting with the wind directly or slightly behind me. Second preference is casting directly into the wind. My least liked scenario is casting across the wind. The line has surface area and can act like a super skinny sail dragging your lure sideways.

When you flick plastics do you use an upwards flicking motion. If yes then that is a habit you might want to change. My preference is for rods with a short butt (doesn't hit on the meaty part of my forearm) as I use a rod tip down motion and try and keep the rod tip as close as practical to the water without dunking it. If you flick upwards the amount of line out of the water being grabbed by the wind is 5 to 10m. By having the rod tip down this length drops to between 2 and 3m. I usually flick sideways or downwards and towards me (an advanced retrieve I teach people) which minimises the line grabbed by the wind.

Additionally, in heavy winds I don't like to go super light (anything less than 1/8oz) and usually 1/4 or 1/6.

Hope this helps,

Derek

PS: I'm reiterating a lot of what @Little_Flatty said above.

PPS: I also do a lot of muttering about how I hate the strong winds and I wish it would go away. It doesn't work but I feel a little better.

Edited November 15, 2021 by DerekD

[Mike Sydney]

Good advice above.
 

On divers , I know exactly the issue you’re having with the lure not sinking and a deep diver does mitigate this to a degree. My theory is that the surface movement on the water from the wind means the bib of the lure isn’t getting pulled straight down on your bib but rather on an angle, and so it’s not sinking properly and you end up with it dragging along the surface or sitting just under (but still in water moving with the wind rather than just the tide, if that makes sense). 
The other tip to get the lure underwater is to pull downwards hard on the rod to force a dive, then retrieve a little quicker than you usually would to ensure it stays down. If you’re employing pauses to entice bream, shorten the pauses so the lure doesn’t float up again. 

To Little Flatties point, I was fishing a 40kmh wind Sunday night and I used a 1/4oz Jighead just to deal with the wind. I didn’t need it that heavy once it started sinking but any lighter and casting would’ve been much more challenging and wind knots a higher risk. 
 

Personally I find the westerly much more tolerable than a strong easterly as I’ve a lot more spots sheltered from that direction. 

[frankS]

This will probably sound strange to most people but when fishing windy conditions I mainly switch from plastics or hard bodies to Poppers. This sounds like it is going against the grain as fish mainly stay deepish in windy choppy conditions but for some reason it does work. Or at least I have had more success using poppers, you have to have the popper working correctly as blooping with each downward stroke of the rod.

Try it next time when it's too windy for plastics.

Frank

[Green Hornet]

1 hour ago, frankS said:

This will probably sound strange to most people but when fishing windy conditions I mainly switch from plastics or hard bodies to Poppers. This sounds like it is going against the grain as fish mainly stay deepish in windy choppy conditions but for some reason it does work. Or at least I have had more success using poppers, you have to have the popper working correctly as blooping with each downward stroke of the rod.

Try it next time when it's too windy for plastics.

Frank

A great strategy for whiting on the flats @frankS. Once the waves start to whitecap and roll a little, its time to switch from stickbaits to poppers.

For deeper water when the wind is up, I like to switch from plastics to a blade, species dependant of course. Not only do they cast well into a breeze, they sink like a rock, making it easier to keep in contact with your lure.

[Rebel]

I only use metals when it is windy.

Beach fishing only.

[seasponge]

Also consider, if you're shore based, that wind is probably also helping push baitfish into the shore, so you potentially don't need to cast as far anyway.

[Samj]

cast along the water not high in the air.