First & foremost, you must make your own personal safety a priority to your fishing. No matter how good the fishing is, when you see an approaching storm, it’s time to quit & find shelter. Lightning is a serious danger to anglers & anyone else outside near water. No fish in the world is worth risking a lightning strike for. You must also consider the dangers of flash floods as well. These are nothing to take lightly & you would not be the first angler to die in one. Safety should be your number one priority. We’re talking about your survival here. Live to fish another day, please.
So, when dealing with the wind, changing tackle is what’s most often recommended. It’s usually advised that you use a fly rod with a lot of backbone & strength that’s made for a heavier fly line than you’d normally use for the size of fish you’re after. The stronger, stiffer rod will exert more force on the line than a more relaxed rod would. Also, the heavier fly line is larger in diameter & will cut through the breeze better than a smaller & lighter line. This is just basic physics: a line with more mass moving with more force will cast through the wind more accurately than a smaller line cast from a softer rod.
There are things, though, that can be done to compensate for the wind that will allow an angler to not have to use a different rod & line. Of course this will take both experience & common sense, but beating the wind can be as simple as going to the right places to fish. Here, perhaps, the eastern angler has a few more options than those in the west. In the east there are probably more tight-quartered, tree covered, small streams in the bottom of small valleys than there might be in the more open spaces of the west. These valley bottoms & tree covered streams will offer more protection from the wind than any stream passing through a flat open field. In these small streams you might also beat the wind by roll casting more than over-head casting.
Likewise, a windy day might be a good time to try some larger streams & rivers. Here it’s important to know the water you’ll be fishing & plan ahead. For example, having the wind coming from your back can be very useful in making longer casts & thus extending your fly presentations. In order for this to work, you must know both where the fish will most likely be in the river & which way the wind is blowing. Then it’s a matter of getting yourself in the river, with the fish in front of you & the wind to your back. Knowing the water well by past experiences will help you decide where you should go along the river, what side to enter the river from, etc.
Here are some points to consider when fly fishing on windy days:
1.) While an upstream wind, like the scenario described above, can make it easier to cast longer distances it can also cause your leader to be too straight when it hits the water. This is especially concerning while dry fly fishing. If the line & leader land on the water’s surface fully extended & perfectly straight, it will cause drag on your fly when the straight, tight leader hits the water causing an unnatural drift.
2.) Strong winds can blow many different stream side bugs into the water. Grasshoppers, ants, caterpillars, etc can all find themselves unexpectedly in the drink on windy days & trout might feed on them. Tying on an appropriate terrestrial or other non-aquatic imitation might, when conditions are right, prove very successful.
3.) Long periods of high winds can really affect the hatches on a stream. The wind can cause hatches to be delayed. When this happens, the trout will feed on minnows, dace, & other small forage fish. Tying on a streamer to imitate these small fish might increase your number of fish caught.
4.) Cold, rainy, windy days can be great for fly fishing as these conditions make it much harder for emerging insects to leave the water’s surface. Being forced by conditions to spend more time on the surface, these bugs become an easy meal for the fish. On days like this the hatch will also last longer. This will extend your time to fish a good hatch, if you can hold out through the cold, stinging rains!
It’s important to consider the wind when planning a fishing trip. Most experienced anglers check the weather, stream flows, etc when forming their plans. It would be a good idea to get into the habit of checking the wind conditions, too. In addition to temperature, precipitation, & the barometer take note of the wind’s speed, direction, & the speed of the wind gusts before going fishing. Dealing with the wind can be challenging for the fly angler, but with a little thought & preparation you can use the wind to your advantage.