Where's the Most Wind?

[Clay Prince]

I am relatively new to fishing the gorge; weather forecasts seem to indicate there is generally a little less wind toward Manila than toward Green River. Can anyone with experience comment on whether that's the case? (Planning to launch at Buckboard, but wondering if fishing further south would be better to avoid more of the wind?)

 

[jacksonlaker]

If you want to avoid the wind at the Gorge, you should try another lake !! The key is to get out early, the wind usually blows from 11 ish until the next morning. Afternoons are tough to fish. You may think you can tuck into a cove or bay and get away from it, but you can't....it's just part of fishing the Flamer !

 

[SuperD]

Wyoming starts with a "W" and so does "Wind". Manila is windy at times but a little less windy than Buckboard. Also, there are parts of the canyon, which is right across Linwood Bay from the Lucerne launch that can provide some shelter to the wind.

 

[AlreadyGone]

Saturday at Buckboard was very unusual. The wind didn't come up until later in the afternoon-I'm guessing around 3:30-4. Sunday was starting to get a little ugly by noon. I have found that over in the Lucerne area thunderstorms and lighting will come through more often on the Utah side-you can outrun the lighting and rain and go north up towards buckboard, but then it's the wind you will be contending with. According to Les and Tom, Buckboard Marina has had much more wind this year than in years past.

 

[Bduck]

There is nothing stopping the wind that hits Lucerne. The only way you can get away from it is deep into the canyons on the Utah side. There are some very nice campgrounds that are protected. But the best fishing is the "W" side.

BTW, welcome aboard Clay 101welcomw where is your location?

 

[Clay Prince]

Thanks for the info everyone.

I'm in Rexburg, ID, coming in from the Kemmerer side and getting inspected near Alpine which, by the way, is a great inspection with very little traffic, in my experience. We are in a 34 foot houseboat circa 1970s, with a 4 foot deck on the back and that's where we'll be with our downriggers, until the wind comes up. Then we have to hunker down because that behemoth does not fish well in the wind. On the other hand, we can camp wherever we want on the water, so there's a tradeoff I guess. We will be there 6/12-6/14.

 

[mtncat1]

don't worry about the wind . as the summer progresses the wind seems to come up later in the day. but ive have many days where the wind didn't really blow much all day. you just have to be ready and adapt to the wind. by changing your runs . and fishing different areas. I've rarely been forced off the lake by wind and some of the best fishing of the day is after the light weights leave and you get the place all to your self.

 

[freshie]

I'm with JacksonLaker. If you want to avoid the wind, try someplace else. The mornings tend to be flat, but plan on winds of 40+ in the afternoon (even with a forecast of 15mph wind). Tie down the camp and have a beer....

The winds turn on like a light switch. If you don't have a large, sea worthy boat, don't get caught too far from port.

 

[mtncat1]

come guy's it can get bad but in general its not as bad as people are saying. most the time it's just annoying . freshie is right about safety though always have a plan. no fish is worth your life.

 

[Propnut69]

I live in Green River 20 minutes away from the gorge.Usually after the middle of june through July and August, on a typical year we don't get much wind. It has been a very windy year, even this winter ice fishing was more windy than the norm? I work outside at one of the local soda ash plants, I have noticed from around 4 or 5 oclock until dark, if there was a breeze it seems to die off.

 

[Clay Prince]

Had a great trip

Thanks to everyone for the great information. This forum is great for those of us who don't get to come out very often and want to make the most of the trip. Very nice of you to share the info.

We were there 6/12-6/14, fished all around Buckboard, North and South, slept in the boat and fished all day, every day. The wind did come up, as advertised but not enough to blow us off the lake like it did in May last year. Fishing was slow but steady. It took us all three days but there were five of us and we pretty much limited out. Kokanee were nice, in the 18-22 inch range, healthy, tasty. Wanted to catch a good size laker, but couldn't really even find pups. I think we caught two, and of course the usual complement of scrappy flaming gorge rainbows. They were so firm that we even kept some of them. If I could figure out the forum's system I would post a couple photos.

In case anybody cares to know our report: couldn't really find schools of fish, more random strikes, at all depths from like 10-40 feet. The action seemed to be quickest right in the middle of the bay to just North and West of the island. We caught them on hoochies, assassins, wedding rings; pink, white, chartreuse. No rhyme nor reason, just random. Then again, maybe I just don't know what I'm doing. Let me rephrase that: For sure I don't know what I'm doing, and 3 straight days didn't really seem to provide a lot of education. So, maybe the fishing was spotty, or maybe I'm a slow learner. In any case, we caught some fish, and had fun.

By the way, has anyone but me noticed that the lady at Buckboard Marina is about as ornery as they come? Wow, I'm a pretty amiable, happy go lucky guy but she was pushing my buttons. Somebody needs to get that woman some flowers or something!

 

[jacksonlaker]

I finally made it down there also. We fished Saturday morning and Sunday morning. The wind on Saurday afternoon was ridiculous ! West at 25 with gusts to 38. We battled on Saturday and put 17 in the net, kokes and rainbows, all healthy, nice fish. Pink was the color and fish were caught from 15 to 35 feet. Sunday was much nicer and we did about a dozen before leaving at 10:30. These were bigger, 4 year old fish, only a few shakers all weekend ! We caught more fish Sunday on spoons, long lining with snap weights, 120 back. Calm water, shallow fish, they like it away from the boat. We adjusted the setbacks on the downriggers to get more hook ups. This is the first time I have ever fished the Gorge and did not catch a lake trout. We did try for them by stacking under the koke gear, but no takers...weird.

 

[froggie]

Thanks for the reports...we'll be getting there on Sat. Can't wait...hope the wind calms down some!!

 

[mtncat1]

yeah I've noticed the lady there in the marina store, it goes against the adage that to work retail you have to be a people person