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O.K…some of what I am going to talk about is obvious to some, but I thought I would share a recent experience flyfishing the lakes. For those who are not familiar with wind-drifting lakes with flies, I will first explain the technique:
Wind is your friend on lakes. It not only hides you from the spooky eyes of fish, but if you are fishing from a boat, it also allows you to cover water(troll) without an engine. Sometimes covering more water (especially when the fish are spread out) is the best way to find fish. The method is really pretty easy: 1. face your boat perpendicular to the direction of the wind and cast into the wind. 2. Shag line out to a reasonable distance (80-100 feet) and drag your flies behind the boat. 3. Strip when the wind dies and your drift slows. 4. Add a Sea Anchor to slow your drift if the wind is too strong. 5. Wait for the grab. If the wind is aligned along a channel or shore edge you would like to troll, it works out great. But if it isn’t, it gets a little tricky. That’s where we jump into “advanced wind drifting”.
I was fishing for rainbows with two other friends on a windy day on the High Cascade Lakes in Oregon a few weeks back. We were having trouble finding some fish by anchoring off drop-offs, so we thought we could search the shoreline by wind drifting. However, the wind was not facing the right direction to drift effectively…in fact it was slamming us diagonally into the shore. One of my friends, a big guy of about 260 stood up at the bow of the boat and told the two of us to sit down….he was going to turn the boat by using his body as a sail. Sure enough, it worked like a charm! He was the wind catch and since he was on the front side of the boat, the wind pushed it around. We avoided most of the wind by sitting down. We then all stood and angled towards the wind and it pushed us along the shoreline. Soon we we’re trying different combinations of standing/sitting to steer the boat in different directions. We ended up drifting around points and through bays with no problem.
If you are fishing alone, you are the only sail on the boat. This means if you want to turn the front of the boat, you move to the front and stand up. Vice versa for the back of the boat. Wherever you are standing, the wind will push that section of the boat around.
Lakes aren’t always fast-paced action…so when you are bored stiff and the wind is up, give the sails a try…and remember…the bigger the friend you got on board, the better you can steer.
Questions/comments/rips: kevin@fisheyesoup.com
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