Wind

[Andrew Richardson]

hi all. I was chatting to an old bloke the other day about fishing on the trent and he mentioned that if the wind was blowing up river it knocked the fish right of the feed! This was a new one on me and i was wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on the matter

 

[Dave Taylor]

I well remember witnessing a mate of mine catch a number of big chub including a PB on the Throop in the 80,s. ( Ernie Leah had put him the right swim mind you) The upstream gale force wind was creating enormous 'sea horses' and I just wanted to retire to the pub!
He was ledgering cheese on the far bank, and that day proved to be his best out of a 5 day stint,... he did lose his brolly though!

 

[Jason Bean]

I presume that's because it would normally be a easterly wind on the Trent

 

[Brian Kelly]

Depends which bit your fishing, on the tidal an upstream wind would be from the North so probably not a good direction

 

[Jon Frisby]

More to do with air presure. Really.

 

[Robert Linwood]

West is best east is least or so they reckon

 

[Robert Linwood]

And presure below 1000mb is normally better

 

[Steve Lewis]

A strong wind in any direction is a well known killer on the Somerset levels for all species. But that's more down to the peaty soil being churned up and increasing the acidity in the water, which completely turns the fish off the feed. Even tiddlers refuse to bite in such conditions.

 

[Edward Adcock]

I find fishing in blustery conditions challenging in terms of positioning the rod tip. The Upper Thames in winter is similar to fishing the Fens as there is minimal cover. Yesterday, I was sat three metres from the edge so the rod tip was shielded by a bush and just above the water. How do you position yourself and rod in windy conditions? Is it a matter of simply finding a swim in which you can lower your bait and relying on the baitrunner or a two foot twitch?

 

[Clive Kenyon]

Regards trotting on the Trent and other rivers; if you have an upstream wind it can hamper the presentation, slowing the float down. That could be the reason catch rates drop.

 

[Cliff Turner]

I find fishing in blustery conditions challenging in terms of positioning the rod tip. The Upper Thames in winter is similar to fishing the Fens as there is minimal cover. Yesterday, I was sat three metres from the edge so the rod tip was shielded by a bush and just above the water. How do you position yourself and rod in windy conditions? Is it a matter of simply finding a swim in which you can lower your bait and relying on the baitrunner or a two foot twitch?

in the old days Edward we used to use a target board but you don't see them today, not sure why as they were very effective although not sure needed for barbel. I'd suggest touch legering if you are not confident in seeing the bites.

 

[Alex Dalton]

Never liked a strong wind blowing straight across into the face , but a moderate wind blowing downstream has produced on the tidal trent and the Humber ,the only Humber bass I have caught was on a red hot very choppy day blowing downstream .

 

[Tim Marks]

There is an interesting chapter in the book ‘Chasing Chevin’ written by Len Arbery (RIP) and he states that he doesn’t catch many big chub (on the Thames) on windy days. He likes high pressure, still conditions.

Ironically my biggest this season was caught on the windiest day I’ve fished….

I’ve sometimes resorted to touch legering in bad conditions; and even submerging the rod tip.

 

[Edward Adcock]

He likes high pressure, still conditions.

I agree with Len regarding catching chub on the Thames. I do so much better in wind speeds less than 15mph and when the quiver isn't twanging.

In this instance I'm asking about barbel. In the image below would you tighten up to your bait or fish a slack line? Would you keep the rod high or low? Would you direct the rod straight to the bait? Or is it a matter of if you get a barbel take you will know about it? The bait was just inside one of those alcoves. There were 30mph + gusts throughout the day. It's an area where the river narrows and flows all year round - and there's gravel. The barbel caught around here in daylight are small - less than 6lb which suits me fine.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

The wind force itself has to my knowledge not really played any significant part in my own catch rate baring the fact it’s a nuisance to fish in sometimes.
However the wind temperature and air pressure certainly does imo.
A decent south westerly coming off the Atlantic with a dropping air pressure and raise in air temperature is a very nice sign despite how powerful it may be.
A bitter north easterly however can really slow things up especially if your fishing winter time when every degree counts.
Air pressure is a weird one because I’ve found it’s not so much the number itself but the direction it’s going. I’ve had some really great days fishing in high air pressure conditions but despite it being high the key seemed to be from my perspective that it was high and rapidly falling.
Equally I’ve had lots of slow days where the air pressure is still low but climbing.

Nothing seems to be set in stone mind and biggest advantage any angler can give himself is having a bait in the water.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

I agree with Len regarding catching chub on the Thames. I do so much better in wind speeds less than 15mph and when the quiver isn't twanging.

In this instance I'm asking about barbel. In the image below would you tighten up to your bait or fish a slack line? Would you keep the rod high or low? Would you direct the rod straight to the bait? Or is it a matter of if you get a barbel take you will know about it? The bait was just inside one of those alcoves. There were 30mph + gusts throughout the day. It's an area where the river narrows and flows all year round - and there's gravel. The barbel caught around here in daylight are small - less than 6lb which suits me fine.

View attachment 18052

Without actually being there Ed I couldn’t for sure say what I would and would do but I can say that where conditions allow I always fish with a bow in the line and I always fish with my rod tips as low as physically possible.

Nothing to do with wind mind…… I don’t get on very well with back leads so I take other, more suited precautions to avoid incoming line spook

My hook links start at 3ft and often longer.
My rod tips are inches off the water if I can get away with it.
I fish a good slack line both up and down if I can get away with it.

The wind however doesn’t play a part in those decisions for me.

Typical positions of my rods shown here.

 

[Simon Archer]

Regards trotting on the Trent and other rivers; if you have an upstream wind it can hamper the presentation, slowing the float down. That could be the reason catch rates drop.

As the Trent is a northerly flowing river, and this country's prevailing wind is a south westerly, that means that you're mostly fishing the Trent in a downstreamer. I always found that difficult as the wind blows your float downstream faster than the current, and also into the nearside bank. The Trentmen of old were masters of that, they had to be.

I'd love an upstream wind on the upper Trent near me, (but that normally means a cold Easterly) Lift the line off the water, the wind catches your line like a sail and you can almost stop your stick float over your baited area, perfect.

On the other hand, when I'm Barbel fishing, with the wind coming into you it's very difficult to get comfortable if it rains. I can never seem to get the brolly positioned correctly.

 

[Simon Archer]

My Carp fishing mates concentrate on air pressure a little more than the wind direction. One of them is out today and it's blowing like mad and chucking it down, but the pressure has dropped considerably.

 

[Richard Isaacs]

My Carp fishing mates concentrate on air pressure a little more than the wind direction. One of them is out today and it's blowing like mad and chucking it down, but the pressure has dropped considerably.

Yeah it’s dropped a lot here and temps are up nicely.
I’m going out later too.

 

[Simon Archer]

Best of luck.