Just wondering how many of you feel that shad can be "blown" into points and banks by the wind. Everyone says fish the windy banks, because shad get blown there by the wind. Do you buy that theory? My thoughts later. Johnnie

Think the theory is most likely related to plankton being pushed. The leads to small minnows following forage and so on....
Will admit the effect is definitive when it comes to great lakes Smallmouth, the bite is awesome when the wind is howling.

Butch

yeah that makes alot of sense, i guess to follow the shad you must follow the plankton
poor tubers though.........hahahaha

I agree with this. I hate the wind, lol.

Yep I have to agree too. The wind beating on the banks gets the food chain going. Water gets stirred up, minnows and crawdads start moving around, plankton gets blown in and shad move in and then the preditors!!

I don't like fishing in the wind but I do love the results of toughing it out!

I think you guys have it right. I can't see shad being blown to the banks and not able to get away. They are there to feed-simple enough. I still read where some pro's say, yeah, the wind had the shad pinned and we cleaned house. Give me a break!. JC

I agree I hate trying to fish in the wind also. But if you use a heavier weight or bigger crankbait. it helps with control. Or find a nice shelttered cove out of the wind and fish the points into it I've had alot of luck. And you don't get beat up as bad. But somtimes thats not an option. I try to stay parallel to the mud line that is kicked up by the waves and I do the same when the water is kicked up by heavy boater traffic. A black on black jig with a rattle or bouncing a crankbait with rattles on the bottom works good.

I love those mud lines, have won tournaments crankin' where the dirty water and clean water meet. The bass lie just inside the muddy water looking out, when they see a bait fish, it's all over. Also like to fish carp boils, where lots of carp have muddied the shallows, bass often wait ther for bait fish as well.

Never thought of that one. We have alot of carp in the smaller lakes around here and in the backs of shallow coves on the bigger lakes I'll have to try that idea. I've actually caught carp on a wacky worm while fishing for bass. Heck of a fight but didn't help my live well any LOL.

Shad are often attracted to boat ramps for the same reasons. The prop wash stirs up the sediment attracting minnows, crawfish and shad. The bass move in for the kill, even while boats are being loaded and unloaded.

I agree Iv'e caught my share off ramps. also at the mouth of creeks after a heavy rain. Or drainage ditches. Especially on clear water lakes around here it gives you something different to look for.

Gotta love those creeks after a rain. Caught an 8-pounder in four feet of water in a creek made dingy by rain.

True johnnie since most of the lakes around here are clear and no veggitation. Any type of difference is something to look for. Anytime you find a drainage ditch, creek, churned up shoreline, basicly any type of cover the bass can use to their advantage always deserves a second look. Especially in the spring where the dingy water will actually be a few degrees warmer.

Johnnie what they should have said was that "the Bass have the shad pinned"... it's all about big-eats-small and every creature/organism must consume or absorb something to sustain itself... hence we get the "food chain"... You can learn a lot about bass by studying its prey... and what food the prey eats... and so on... lol if that makes any sense at this point!

You're right Brendan. I know bass and other game fish can force shad to the surface and tear them up and they can escort the shad to the shallows and gorge themselves. Some anglers don't seem to realize that this feeding spree we see on the surface or along shorelines actually happens every day or night-under the water, in open water- we just can't see it happen.

That reminds of when I was a little kid, there I would be at the docks dreaming of owning a boat to get out and get the big fish, some guy coming back in with his boat would say have any luck and I would hold up a stringer with a few bass or walleye and maybe a crappie or three and they would look almost angry at you. The grass is always greener at the other side of the lake.

ed

That takes me back. I had my Dads old shakespeare level winde 1965 professional, on a fiberglass rod with line that looked like heavy thread. A hand full of old crankbaits that he had let me have. Jitter bug,hula popper,crazy crawler,creek chub,grumpy, devil horse,rapala minnow,bomber long a. I spent the whole summer trying to learn how that reel worked. Caught alot of trees and fish. Still have the reel and rod and most of the lures. Really makes you apprciate how much better the equipment has gotten. As I got into high school and more into fishing I had my Diawa millinaire with the pistol grip rods and of course my Roland Martin polerized sun glasses. LOL and I still use the reels.. Their great for deep crankin!!!

You know, it's funny how someone can tell one story and it triggers a whole bunch of memories in our minds. Sitting here reading both of your recollections, I remember back when I was also stuck on the bank and wanted desperately to get to all of those place that could only be reached by boat. I ended up buying a small inflatable 2 man raft... the really cheap ones that you can get at k-Mart (I think I got mine from a "Modell's Sporting Goods")... it wasn't even a multi-chamber one. What a blast I had going out in that thing.

I think it was on my second trip out when my sister's boyfriend and I found a big 4 man inflatable stranded in the middle of nowhere with a hole in the main chamber. We dragged it back to shore, took it home and got a patch kit. That was some upgrade! We could take turns standing in that one. It lasted at least two seasons (as I recall) we patched it many times from all of the hook holes.

It was on Schroon Lake in the Adirondack Mountains while away on a family vacation, when the vessel's hull was finally breached beyond repair. My cousin's boy friend was the villain... you see, he did not have the respect for that raft like I did and would be careless when casting... I warned him several times to "be careful", but it was no use... I think we took the hit on the starboard side from a Jitter Bug... and of course, the lure was more important than my raft, so he decided to try and "rip it out" rather than wait until we could carefully extract it while safely on shore. I'll just say that it was a long swim back to shore... and a long ride home. But then I got this rig and my whole perspective changed forever:

Boy do I remember my first boat. Dad and I had found an old jhonboat that was made into a bass rig. It was 10'with 2 mounted seats no casting deck, 18 horse evenrude with stick steering. trolling motor, livewell, depthfinder. We fished out of that little boat for years. Till 1991 WE got a 17' bass tracker. Which I still use. Dads been gone now for 5 years. But I still remember that little jhonboat. And alot of happy memorries

whoooooo booked my room for next weeks tournament. Got lucky it was the last room in town. Looks like two other tournaments are going to be there also. I'm super stoked! Barren river will be a blast!!Hitting my home water this week to get some practice in. It feels like Christmas!!!

Hey buddy, good luck with the tournaments. Gets my blood boiling too. We have nothing around here until April-got to make sure the ice is off the lakes! Johnnie

Thanks Johnnie the itch has been driving me nuts. we'll be at Barren River Kentucky. About an hour north of Nashville. It's a bit warmer there in the mid to high 60's. And the water temp is rising. From what I've heard the fish are starting to bite good right now. I'm excited as all get out! Can't wait to get there..

Hey, kick some butt alycat...

Thanks Brendan. It's great to finally get out on the water again. I've been working hard to get better. I won two tourneys last year and placed in the money twice. I want to better that this year.I'll let you all know how I did monday...

Well folks back from Barren river it was a rough weekend. Cold Saturday dropped to the 50's but warmed up by the end of the day.Sunday had thunder storms and high winds. But managed to weigh in 8.7lbs. to take 2nd place. 9.5lbs took first place. My biggest fish the for two days was 3.5lbs. biggest fish for the tourney was 4.6lbs. The water was 21ft below summer pool so there was alot of ledge fishing and off of points.water temp was only 50 to 55 with an average clarity of 3ft and stained. Most of the fish were taken on crankbaits mid to deep divers and 3/8oz to 1oz jigs. My thanks goes out to the people at the Comfort and Days Inns in Glascow,KY for making it a great place to stay with accomidations for boats with outlets for charging your rigs. We had a great time!!!

Great job. Sounds like you had your work cut out. What trailers were you going with on your jigs?

It was a 1/2oz strike king jig with a netbait craw both black.

Nice job with 2nd place... Which species were you targeting?

I can't remember seeing wind blown shad but I have seen them drive into the back of coves by schools of bass.

So crowded and scared in there that they start to jump up on the shoreline as the big boys barrel in for a mouthful.

We were going for lm bass. Caught a few spots and some short smallies. But did take home a good striper prefishing.