Wind, Waves, & Musky Location

If you caught my TV show this past weekend, you noticed Spence Petros and me discussing wind direction and its subsequent wave action – and how to predict probable musky location via this information. It’s a fairly simple formula, and here’s basically how it works: Wind and wave action creates current. Wind induced current pushes volumes of water in one direction or another depending upon the specific wind direction at any given period of time. The result of this wind induced current are waves. The stronger the wind, the larger the waves . Of course, this is also why some shorelines are calm while others contain wild white caps.

A boat flows in a specific direction due the wind. Fishermen commonly call this a “drift”, due to two forces: 1) wind, and 2) water current. It is the wind that initiates the water current on inland lakes without a major river inflow or outflow. This wind induced current has a strong influence on fish movement and location, too.

Wind induced current (waves) moves water around structure differently depending upon its direction and velocity. Predator gamefish as well as baitfish are completely reactionary to current no matter how much or how little there is. As soon as there is current of any kind, fish like to turn and face into that current. If they are a dominant predator like the musky, they usually like to move up current along a structure until they come to the upper most front edge of the structure—where the wave action is first touching the actual spot. Some like to call this the “upwind edge” of structure. A dominant active musky will most certainly want to be in this spot. The dominant fish simply wants to be first. The more ideal the conditions, the more often various muskies suddenly appear in the same precise upwind spot.

So, what happens if the wind suddenly switches? In a nutshell, the hotspot suddenly goes completely dead. It no longer has current flow to that precise spot to attract a dominant predator fish. This same dominant fish might still hang out in the same locale, but more often it seeks out a new ambush site in accordance with the new wave pattern and its subsequent current. This seems particularly true of rock oriented muskies. They are really wind sensitive. They follow wind direction around like a compass. Always be very aware of this when you are on a good rock pattern with muskies. Wind direction and subsequent wave action usually plays a big role in musky location on rocks.

Weed related muskies react similarly to wind direction and wave action depending upon the spot. I have seen muskies suddenly turn on along the upwind side of a thick wall of weeds that was dead a few hours earlier. Usually, when the wind pounds steadily into one portion of a weed bed, whether it is in a bay, off a point, or any other type of weedy topography, a dominant active musky is apt to be positioned on the very tip of the upper most edge of it. This is also true of most other big gamefish species such as northern pike, walleyes and bass. They all basically relate to wind induced current the same way. When there’s more than one musky working a large weed bed, don’t be surprised to find the most dominant fish on the best looking spot, but lesser sized ones nearby on secondary points in the weeds or a very unique large clump of thicker weeds near an upwind edge.

However, don’t neglect to check the lee side of a weedbed; especially when it is situated off of a productive saddle between a point and an island. In real strong winds, I have seen the lee side of a thick weed saddle, or the “backside as Spence likes to call it, out produce the front side containing all the wind induced current and strong waves. Sometimes you discover a particular area on a weedbed is simply the best spot no matter what the wind is. Many spots we fish contain a specific pinpoint spot-on-the-spot that is a far better producer than the rest of the area. This may be due to better cover options, deeper water nearby or something else that you simply can’t see from the surface. This spot-on-the-spot phenomena overriding wind direction is more predominant on weedy spots than on rocks. But weed related muskies still do work this upwind pattern with a good deal of predictability so I would always check it first.

I’ll bet you’re wondering now, what happens when there’s no wind. Well, common sense pretty much explains the answer. If wind velocity creates wind induced current and subsequent wave action, which in turn, triggers a reaction from fish, no wind does just the opposite. In other words, when there is no wind, there is no reaction from the fish. There is no pattern. Musky location simply becomes far less predictable. With no current along a specific rock structure, for example, there’s no reason why a musky must position itself on one particular spot. Nothing is drawing a fish to one specific spot, so they are free to roam and feed where ever they want to. Again, there simply is no pattern when there’s no wind.

Summarily, if you are observant, you can often predict with some degree of certainty where an active musky is most apt to be on any given spot simply by looking at how waves slap into it. This is never a total slam dunk guarantee, but it actually works with amazing regularity. I learned this trick long ago as a teenage bass fisherman and later as a full time walleye guide, and it still serves me well today as a musky hunter. Always check out a good looking area thoroughly; especially if it has produced fish for you in the past. However, when rocks are the dominant substrate, it’s almost a guarantee that the active musky will be on the upwind side of the structure. Try predicting a musky’s location on your next outing by closely reading the wind direction and wave action. Wind direction dictates fish positioning on structure. It’s a simple fact.