Does the wind help or hurt your chances of catching lots of Catfish?

Given the fact that catfish frequent deeper waters, surface conditions, such as wind, don’t play too much of a role in their living or feeding habits, as a rule, but, since you will still be up on the surface, when fishing, the wind can and will affect you. How this ends up, though, is more a matter of your willingness and ability to work with the wind, rather than against it. Harmony, Grasshopper. If you are fishing from the river bank or lakeshore, the best advice, is to use a slipweight, or, maybe a Carolina Rig. Carolina Rigs, ideally, need to be cast out and retrieved to work right, and so, in windy conditions, this might be a bit difficult. A slipweight, though, can be cast out once and set, and, if the rod tip is kept fairly low down, and you are using an adequate sinker weight (use a bit more, in higher wind), you’ll find this system works very nicely, in all but the highest winds, and doesn’t let the wind affect the bait presentation, either. If you decide to get onto the water, drift fishing may still work well, in the wind, as long as the wind is moving in a direction which doesn’t make your drift speed too fast (underwater drag parachutes can help counteract this), or push you onto the shore constantly, as part of the value of drift fishing is silence. Most forms of setlines, especially trotlines, are essentially impervious to wind action, as they are usually tied at both ends, and are otherwise totally submerged. Jug fishing can work well in the wind, too, since the jugs will tend to cover more and different ground, than they will on a calm day, and this can yield some great results. It’s mostly a case of assessing and exercising your options, and adapting to the conditions of the moment.

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