Revenge of The wind

Another road trip today had me meeting up with Don & Andy by 8:30 for some smallmouth action. We hit the water and were fishing shortly after 9:00. The lake was flat but the weather was forecasting huge winds near mid day and I wanted to get started fast. It seemed like for some reason or another with these guys that each day was a challenge and I was always pressed for time. The weather was definitely tough to say the least! They began throwing blades and Andy hit several decent smallies before Don finally connected with one of his own. They were officially both on the board! Although the air was quite chilly, the lack of a breeze made the temps quite comfortable and it wasn’t long before layers were being shed by everyone. With the conditions like this, I thought I’d see if a top water bite might be happening. Well it didn’t take long as my first cast got the attention of an aggressive smallmouth. I quickly changed Don over to the surface and he also got hit on the very first cast. He was now in his glory with the fish attacking his pop r. Andy was also catching fish on the blades and at one point while untangling the line from his rod, the lure got hit while lying on the bottom with 4 feet of line out. He caught that one too! Don was just happy to be fishing for bass his favourite way and having blow ups about every other cast. Seeing this gave me an idea and I changed Andy to another soft plastic that he could fish somewhat slower. Almost immediately he was into fish again and now they were both taking advantage of everything swimming in the area. It didn’t even matter how big the fish were as the action was just on fire for the time being. I covered plenty of water having them focus on all the hard bottom areas and monopolized on all the feeders. Once things slowed down, we relocated to another section of the lake in hopes of repeating this again. Unfortunately with the winds now blowing from the NW the air temps dropped, clothes were re layered and the fish stopped biting. I hit offshore areas in deeper water without even a touch when the shallows went dead and began the scramble to find fish. With all the action before, everyone had skipped lunch and now we decided to eat after 1:30. The winds were officially blowing 15 to 20 knots out of the NW and creating quite a roll on the water. I thought I’d try some other areas using the land as a blocker from the worst winds, but with the low water I soon found that I couldn’t get close enough to take advantage. We were still being blown around but they managed to catch a few more smaller bass in the process. It picked up pretty big and I decided to head further off shore and re rig for fishing in the deeper weeds. This too proved useless as they could barely feel their baits let alone anything that might eat them! We tried one last attempt at fishing the same areas that had produced for us earlier in the morning and soon found that it was next to impossible in this wind. Shortly after 3:00, it was a unanimous decision to pull the plug and head in. No sense fighting « Mother Nature » and her fury! Because we had launched on the SE side of the lake due to it being the only boat ramp with any water, we were going to have a tough time getting out. I let them off the boat in a protected area and put the boat on the trailer in 3 to 4 footers, crashing on the ramp. I also had a few rogue waves just roll over the back while loading. I was just glad to get off the water! They had seen all  types of terrible conditions in the three days they were here and managed to catch fish throughout it all. The temperatures had dropped significantly from when they had arrived as the first major cold front greeted them. Fall had rolled in like a lion and tried to take us out! Fortunately with a little adjustment and relocation we were able to make the best of a bad situation and actually catch some fish in the process. Once this weather stabilizes and the fish settle in, the fishing will become even better. I know Don & Andy will be back next year, but I will be out again tomorrow hoping for a little less wind from the north. With any luck, even catching fish too!!