East wind

Is there any truth to fish bite the least when the wind is from the east

yup

I think it depends on the body of water. That saying is commonly used on big water lakes by people who fish the west side of big water. Strong East winds on the Great Lakes are not very fun if you’re fishing on the west side. A hundred plus miles of open water to build waves can make fishing hard for anybody. Those waves can be huge with an East wind.

That being said, many of my better days on the Mississippi have wind with from the East or with an easterly tint to them. I think one of the big things is that many of your really strong winds during the warm months are from the East.

People associate those strong winds and less than ideal conditions with the East wind.

I think the saying refers to the generality that when you get an east wind in this neck of the woods, it is usually during or preceeded by a period of unstable weather and/or barometric shifts… Which often times puts the fish into a more negative mood than stable weather periods. The period just prior to a drastic change, though, often can be lights out fishing.

Another generality – river fish are often less affected by barometric and weather related changes than are lake fish. There are always exceptions though, I suppose.

Mike

Wind from the East fish bite the least.
Wind from the west fish bite the best.

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Strong East winds on the Great Lakes are not very fun if you’re fishing on the west side. A hundred plus miles of open water to build waves can make fishing hard for anybody. Those waves can be huge with an East wind.

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Just as an aside, salmon fishing Michiganders who fish the east side of Lake Michigan (the western coast of Michigan) pray for east winds all summer. The reason has much less to do with barometers and weather than it does with water temps. For the east side of the lake, a constant east wind will “push” all of the warm surface water offshore, and “pull” all of the coldwater in to shore in a deep water undercurrent, causing coldwater upwellings. Since most salmonids and trout like the water roughly around 50 degrees, these cold water currents usually provide stellar fishing.

Likewise is true for the Wisonsin coast of Lake Michigan. Usually we hope for constant west winds to blow the warm water over the Michigan, and bring the deep, cold water in close to shore. This last July, we had some steady west winds for a period of a few weeks. Fishing was lights out for a while. What was really cool was there was upper 40 degree water all the way to the beach. Guys were hauling in limits of 20 lb salmon fishing 10 feet of water due to the incredible cold water conditions! Very cool for us WI guys, but the MI guys at the same time were having a (relatively) lousy time due to all of the warm water stacking up on thier side of the lake.

And yes, it certainly does make the big pond much more fishable when you have an offshore wind vs one that is traversing 140+ miles of open water.

Wind from the North don’t go forth.
Wind from the South blows the hook into their mouth.

River fishing ~

Wind from the east fish tend to feast.

Wind from the west fish bite the best.

Wind from the north fishermen go forth.

Wind from the south fishermen go to the bar & play cards.

A “New” Northeast or “NEW” east wind even with a full ice cover is a tough bite for me.. and when I do fish in an east wind I try to ignore it as best I can. When I have no choice because of guiding or tournament commitments I just grind through it and fight to keep my head in the game… but in the years that I kept track, (about 10 years in a row at one point), I found there was almost always a reason to frown when “New” Northeast/East winds were blowing. I guess I should add that a North wind had almost as bad an effect. The reason I put “NEW” in front of Northeast and East winds though, is because like any enviornmental change the fish seem to adapt to it when it is the third or fourth day of the same conditions.

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River fishing ~
Wind from the east fish tend to feast.
Wind from the west fish bite the best.
Wind from the north fishermen go forth.
Wind from the south fishermen go to the bar & play cards.

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I love that one Bosman!!

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The reason I put “NEW” in front of Northeast and East winds though, is because like any enviornmental change the fish seem to adapt to it when it is the third or fourth day of the same conditions.

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Excellent info Lawrence! It seems to me that by the third day of any weather pattern, fish are much easier to come by.