I was supposed to take the ferry boat across Lake Michigan from Muskegon to Milwaukee recently, but gale-force winds were expected to whip up five- to seven-foot waves on the lake. So, they cancelled the trip. Which is probably a good thing because while I don’t get seasick myself, I’ve been on a couple boat rides with people puking all around me, and that is enough to make most people lose it too.
So, I guess I’ll go fishing and take the boat the next day!
But wait… what about that “W?” The dreaded W-word that few anglers and even fewer guides who row dories and rafts down rivers dare to utter.
Wind! There, I said it.
Because I’m not afraid of fly casting in the wind. In fact, I rather enjoy it.
Making friends with “W”
Years ago, whilst chasing redfish around Aransas Bay in Texas with Chuck Naiser, I was struggling with the wind, until he finally slowed me down and said something like, “Son, you’re going to have to make friends with the wind, or just come back here in the summer, but then everyone’s out looking for the chickens that blew out of the yard.”
Another lesson, this one in the Bahamas, came when I watched a friend complain about the wind, only to have the (anonymous by choice) guide ask for the rod. The guide put the boat in gear, pointed straight into the wind, told me to grab the steering wheel and stay the course… and then he walked to the front of the boat and cast the entire line until the backing knot popped through the rod tip. Reeling in, he handed the rod back to my buddy and said, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
So what is the way?
A few quick tips to conquer wind phobias
- The wind is your friend—even a headwind—because the most important part of a cast in the wind is the backcast. You want to generate line speed to form a tight loop. A breeze in your face adds velocity to your backcast. Think of it this way: the backcast is the engine and the forward cast is the steering wheel. Accelerate to a stop on the back, and gentle but deliberate going forward. As they say on Andros, “Rude boy, soft boy.”
- Power from your arm doesn’t bust through wind. Tight loops bust through wind. Learn to form compact loops, which is all about stopping the rod tip, forward and back, and you’ll be good. Pretend like you’re flicking a cherry tomato that’s stuck to your rod tip into the water. That’s the feel you’re looking for. It’s perfectly okay to watch your loops when you practice or even as you fish if you feel something off.
- Choose your rig wisely. The most important bit of gear for wind casting isn’t your rod. Maybe not even your fly line. It’s a well-built leader. If I know it’s going to be windy, my leader-to-fly line connection is at least 3X—even if I might ultimately taper down to a 5X connection to the fly. Beyond that, remember that your rod is designed around the kinds of flies you’ll be throwing, not the fish you’re chasing. Big fuzzy flies in the wind aren’t so great, but shorter leaders definitely work better in the wind.
Do those things… maybe adjust your casting plane a bit so you’re looking right over the top of your casting thumb on the delivery and you can play around with good effect on just about any day, within reason.