Pic: a wind day reward

Central Wyoming is fishing great as the wind abuses Grey Reef anglers. Yesterday it NUKED! Tomorrow we have a high wind warning. These conditions have no ill impact of the fish’s willingness to eat but it does impact an angler’s ability to get the food to the feeding zone. Lets talk about the wind and methods of making it your advantage.

#1 If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen…or stay home with 99% of the anglers. OR use the wind as your opportunity to have ZERO competition on the water and truly enjoy fishing as a beautiful solitary experience. If the answer is yes proceed to #2 if no then turn on the TV.

#2 Grey Reef has fish almost everywhere, pick a wind protected spot and train yourself to fish there. As guides, we often have to show our guests a good day regardless of the conditions. They traveled a long way and spent hard earned money to visit us and we are obligated to make the best of the situation and go catch fish.

#3 Use alternate techniques like back handed, water haul or tension casts and timing your presentation with the rhythm of the wind.

#4 Open up your cast with nymph rigs and tighten them with dry fly. The plop without a tangle is far more effective than tangled mess and a pretty presentation

#5 Change your rig but don’t change the bugs that the fish really want to eat. It may be as simple as adding weight and adjusting your depth by moving the indicator…often times this means heavy and short rather than the more intuitive heavy and long.

#6 Change your indicator to something that doesn’t get pushed around as much in the wind or eliminate the indicator all together. You can’t change the fact that the water at the surface is moving at a different rate due to the wind and this will impact your drift.

#7 Look for water piling up in places that would ordinarily not be a great place to fish. An upstream wind can add depth to spots that are unassuming and can get fish piled up and feeding…this is always a cool phenomenon and it will likely not happen for you in that spot ever again. But, bank that experience because these situations are about as isolated as our winter and spring wind days.

#8 Embrace the inevitable, this is an outdoor experience