Wind...

[FlaFly 0]

I thought about getting a kayak paddle. When you're paddling alone, to go straight you either have to feather the oar (which cuts down on the forward thrust) or keep switching sides (which makes you lose headway). That's what gave me my problem. Instead of a kayak paddle, I opted for making a motor mount (already had the trolling motor).

[Swamp Fly 0]

The yak paddle helps and with the added benefit of you being equally sore on both sides later because you know you won't really split time between left and righthand paddling. LOL! I thought about a TM but I already register 4 boats and it is kind of nice just tossing the boat in the water and going.

[Jaydub 0]

I don't have any numbers but when I can make a back-cast and just hold it there indefinitely, it's getting close. In a kick boat there comes a point when it's more work than fun.

[NohackleHS 0]

I don't normally like to fish if the wind is more than 15-20 mph. However, this one time the wind actually helped me out. My brother and I wanted to fish the Henrys Fork of the Snake at Last Chance, Idaho. However, the wind was blowing about 30 mph. It was blowing so hard that my brother and I were the only two guys dumb enough to be out on the river. We walked downstream a couple of hundred yards and, naturally, there weren't any rising fish. However, when I was walking back upstream I spotted the snout of a nice fish rising right next to the bank. I realized that the wind was blowing a lot of insects into the foam line within inches of the bank. I backtracked and entered the water carefully. By waiting and watching I finally spotted the fish again. I cast a beetle to it and landed a 17 inch rainbow. By repeating this approach I landed another 17 incher and a capped off the day by landing a beautiful 21 inch bow, my biggest fish from the Fork. It took a lot of patience to find the few rising fish, but it turned out to be well worth the effort. And these fish were there all because of the 30 mph wind.

[islander727 0]

Over 20 today.

[kennebec12 0]

On a river I fish until I can no longer make decent casts, then I fish downstream tight-line nymphing and use the current to get me in place. On still waters I fish what the boat can handle, this has got me in a sticky situation more than one though. I've shored boats more than once after severe winds kicked up. We had a monster thunder storm roll in one day and it took everything to get off the water without capsizing, 3ft swells in an old cedar canoe is no fun. Worst I've ever fished in was probably 30-40 mph sustained with heavy gusts and 8-9ft swells on Lake Michigan, caught some beautiful salmon though, it was a good thing I don't get sea sick, we actually ended up rigging some quick disconnect ropes to the boat and our waists for fear of being thrown over board, you couldn't even sit without being tossed around. Learning how to use the wind to your advantage rather than fighting it is really the trick.

[Gene L 0]

I've fished in ponds where the wind was so strong it would blow my flyline out of the water. Not evey time, of course, but it with strong gusts happened. I did this twice and both times caught fish.

[mikechell 0]

Whew! I guess that ol' tale about if a fisherman's lips are moving he's lying has some basis in truth.

[Gene L 0]

The wind blew the line out of the water, but not the tippet or fly. Caused a big bow in the line. I don't know what the gust wind speed was, but it was strong. The first time I was walking the bank; the second time I was in a kick boat until the wind blew me against the bank.