Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 16, 1995 TAG: 9504190007
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Wind?
Wind and fly fishing aren't exactly synonymous. Wind can wrap a back cast around a fly angler's neck. Wind can make tossing an unwieldy streamer or skipping bug as laborious as heaving a shot put. Wind can be the enemy.
Wind is what we got. Gusts. Whitecaps. But it wasn't the kind of wind Wilson wanted.
``The wind needs to blow out of the south or southwest for two or three days, and blow hard,'' he said.
Wilson likes a warm wind to fan into the coves and flats that are bathed in the late-afternoon sunlight of an early-spring day. That attracts the baitfish, and there is an unwritten law that says: Where you find the baitfish, you also find the striped bass.
The wind becomes a border collie that herds the baitfish to shallow-water areas, where it is easier to present a lure to stripers. That's exactly what you need for fly fishing, every advantage you can muster. Even if it is wind.
When the conditions are just right, Wilson can toss a sparsely dressed, one-quarter-ounce bucktail designed to imitate a baitfish and catch and release enough stripers to give him a sore arm.
``The most I've caught in one day this spring is 39, and that was about three weeks ago,'' he said.
Given those conditions, I figured a fly fisherman should be able to pick up a fish or two on a streamer.
Just how the wind works its magic, Wilson isn't certain, but he has theories.
Maybe it shoves nutrients into the shallows and the baitfish come along to siphon them, setting a banquet table for striped bass.
Or could it be the wind produces waves that reduce underwater light penetration, making baitfish and game feel comfortable and safe, as they do in discolored water or darkness.
One thing is certain: Smith Mountain hasn't seen the kind of upstream rains this year that give the water turbidity.
``This is the clearest I ever remember seeing it in March and April,'' Wilson said. ``The pollen probably has it colored up more than anything.''
Back to theory, the wind also can be the bearer of warmth, which is pretty important when you are dealing with cold-blooded creatures.
But what we had was a cold wind, a wind born in the north. It dashed the surface water temperatures to the mid-50s. Our hopes went with it.
I didn't bother to break out my fly rod. I am not a die-hard. For me, a fly rod for striper fishing is a tool of opportunity, one kept ready to be applied when chances for success are at their apex. This wasn't one of those times.
``This wind has taken the heat out of the water,'' Wilson said.
So we tied on bucktails and worked hard to catch four fish as the wind grew in intensity and made the surface of the lake rough as a plowed field.
I kept hoping we'd turn into a cove and find a pod of eager stripers and I'd grab my fly rod and a fish would roll onto my fly. I'd see its yellow, predator eyes and the black bars running the length of its silver sides, and its broad tail would create a washtub-size swirl.
Most of the swirls this outing were wind-created.
by CNB