Conventional wisdom tells you to always fish the downwind side of a lake for the best fishing, but I wanted to see if there's anyone out there who thinks its better to fish the upwind side of the lake? And if you do, why do you think it's better, and in what conditions?

This might be a reach, but bear with me.

I do a lot of fishing on the Great Lakes and in the summer it is often times best to fish the upwind side of the lake because as the wind pushes the warm surface water downwind cooler water from down deep comes up to replace the warmer water on the upwind side of the lake (upwelling). This brings the fish right up to the surface even in the warmest days of the summer because thats where their preffered temperature is.

I was wondering if something similar to this takes place anywhere in the boundary waters, and if sometimes you might find the fish shallower than you would expect because of upwelling currents bringing cooler water closer to the surface.

I would imagine this would be more likely on lakes that have whitefish or cisco where much of the main forage is deep suspended baitfish. Upwellings would bring the whitefish/ciscos up and the predators would follow?

I am an amateur fisherman by all means. Very limited knowledge here so take what I say with a grain of salt. I’ve ALWAYS heard to fish the wind-blown shore. Following that advice (at least consciously following), I’ve never caught a fish lol.

I think there is so much we don’t know. I’ve caught fish on the upwind side of the lake. Mostly because the wind was so bad I couldn’t fish the windward shore. My wisdom is I can’t catch fish if I don’t fish…Sometimes I’ll fish the back side of a point or island but it’s an area where the wind is creating current and the slack area makes an ambush point so I wouldn’t call it the upwind side. Your theory could be true on lakes that are deeper or in the deep water basins for fish relating to ciscoes, I don’t know if I have much personal experience…a little bit with lakers maybe but not enough to say it is a pattern more to say it doesn’t seem like wind has as big effect on lakers as other species.

I will say though my experience is almost always the windward side produces when fishing, especially for walleyes. If the weather is really bad and you are windbound look for a shore that is really getting pounded, then when it calms down in the evening…if it does…that spot can be a gold mine too.

Then there are always outliers…maybe a mayfly hatch or minnow spawn is going on in a calm upwind windless bay and that draws the fish in.

T

Out of a canoe fish what you can

i've experienced success fishing the windy side when the wind has blown for more than just a day. especially on larger deeper lakes.
Now on my local lake Waconia (it's a 3,000 acre bowl) so i'm generally fishing the calm side most of the time and we catch fish, as the water warms up like it is , calm water doesnt seem to produce so good ,

I like to fish the calm side of whatever body of water I'm on if I'm trying for a topwater bite.

But I also agree w/ the sentiment of IF you can fish it out of a canoe...go for it. No matter what the wind might be doing

I find fishing a bay that has had a few days of windy weather blow into it good fishing. I think because of thats where the bait fish are.

It sounds like most people agree that if you can be on the windy side of the lake you will catch more.

I still wonder if upwelling could concentrate fish in areas conventional wisdom would not suggest. Especially this time of year when the surface water is in the 70s. Surface currents pool the warmest water on the downwind side of the lake. In July/August you would think all that warm water pooling up would incentivize the fish to move to cooler water.

For those that insist on fishing the windy side of the lake - do you notice fishing is not good in July/August? Do you need to switch up your patterns to find fish when the water is really warm? I know this is a tough ask, because generally fishing is tougher that time of year for everyone, but I'm not ready to give this hypothesis up yet!

timatkn: " My wisdom is I can’t catch fish if I don’t fish…"

This. Well said! It's pretty much my approach. I'll admit I'm not the most knowledgeable about BWCA fishing or even fishing in the midwest. But I sure love the variety of species, the chance for lots of fish, and the possibility of a giant!

jwettelrin89: "
For those that insist on fishing the windy side of the lake - do you notice fishing is not good in July/August? Do you need to switch up your patterns to find fish when the water is really warm? I know this is a tough ask, because generally fishing is tougher that time of year for everyone, but I'm not ready to give this hypothesis up yet!"

I think July/August is a great time to fish. Fish are cold blooded, warmer water they need to eat more food and more often…now the kicker is there is more food available that time of year, but wind creates current which usually stimulates fish to feed. Early August I’ve pulled lakers, smallys, walleyes, Nortons, even lost a monster sturgeon at the boat on the wind swept side of the lake all caught side by side…

Still not saying you are wrong. I just can’t strongly concur from my experience.

T

When trolling for lakers, always troll the calm side. In theory, cooler water will be near the surface. Watch for surfacing baitfish and troll there.

In a Canoe I always fish the calmer water when available and still catch fish. If you’re fishing in windy conditions it’s hard a lot of the time to effectively fish a spot in my opinion out of a canoe .

Basspro69: "In a Canoe I always fish the calmer water when available and still catch fish. If you’re fishing in windy conditions it’s hard a lot of the time to effectively fish a spot in my opinion out of a canoe . "

100%.

I think the 'follow the wind' advice is good in early and late season. Mid-summer...the wind will blow the hot surface water into the hot shallow bay...doesn't seem ideal.

In a canoe, I like to fish where it isn't painful. In July I was trying to fish structure in the wind but, you really only get half a cast before the wind moves you off it or blows you into shore.

I fish where I can fish and I can't fish the way I want in the wind.

Alot of great advice here. Mid/late summer gamefish (Lakers, SMB and walleye) have moved out to points, reefs, saddles, islands. downwind shallow bays would be the first water I would eliminate on any lake this time of year. Just sayn. Not so sure about fishing upwind bays either. Fish points, reefs, saddles, islands with wind blowing across or into them, troll cranks and find them, anchor/ fish jigs downwind and crush 'em. Tight lines!

I fished this evening and it was windy. I trolled a Whopper Plopper and then a Mepps and did pretty well, but come the gloaming, I happened to find myself on the windblown shore, which had calmed, and the fishing was amazing. There were bass on nearly every cast and on one cast, I caught two. I was using a Whopper Plopper. Here's one of the fish. Note that I'm trying to get the fish as far from the camera as possible to fit the fish into the frame, so it's not going to look as big as fishers who position the fish as close to the camera as possible, but you can still see it's a swell fish.

I think there are many variables, lake clarity, whether your fishing shoreline breaks, weeds or mid lake structures. In the BWCA I do run a portable hummingbird depth finder and work edges and tips of points or mid lake humps, I use the wind to drift across these structures with a small drift sock to keep a manageable speed drift, I target walleye using 1/4 to 3/8 oz. Jigs tipped with leeches or crawlers. I have not found a real pattern in the BWCA based on wind, fish relate to the structure mostly, but I do think bait will get pushed to the wind side of structure or into the wind blown shoreline areas.