School me on wind and wind direction

[pcheesesteak]

In another thread, Gary mentioned "Not only are the wind speeds on the stiff side, they are out of the NE which is the worst possible direction."

I boat mainly Raritan bay, maybe south to the SRocks.

What are the worst possible direction of wind, which makes for worst conditions, and which direction which does not make for bad conditions?

[stugots]

Northeast east and southeast are the worst. Match that with an outgoing tide and it's hairy. Think of it this way, anything coming from the east has nothing blocking it so it's usually rough. West is best. That being said if it's blowing 20 West, the bay will be rough but tight to the bayshore and ocean beaches will be calm.

[PeteyHD]

WEST is BEST

[Gerry Zagorski]

Exactly Stu.... A lot depends on the direction of the tide or current in the location you are fishing. Yes west is best but not if you are in Raritan bay with a west exposure bucking an incoming tide. In the ocean a completely different story, yes west is best and even blowing 20 if you stay close into shore you'll be fine. Go a few miles out not so fine.

A lot involved in answering your questions with so many other variables but in general NE winds are the worst wind direction. This holds true because of how our coast is laid out, there is no place to hide no matter where you are. And more importantly, NE winds are not the norm in our area and that usually means there is some sort of weather disturbance in our area.

Having said this, Stripers love the snot a NE wind makes.

[EddieG]

Ocean wise..beast comes from the east.best from the west!!

[Taxman]

My grandfather who was a bay clammet and fisherman always quoted
Wind from the west fish bite the best
Wind from the east, fish bite the least
Also
Red sky at night, sailors delight
Red sky in morning, sailor take warning
Lastly
Don't mess with grandma

[MVP]

I have also found SW winds to be an issue as in brings in colder water which sometimes slows down the bite when bottom fishing.

[pcheesesteak]

Thanks everyone. Very helpful.

[1captainron]

Exactly Stu.... A lot depends on the direction of the tide or current in the location you are fishing. Yes west is best but not if you are in Raritan bay with a west exposure bucking an incoming tide. In the ocean a completely different story, yes west is best and even blowing 20 if you stay close into shore you'll be fine. Go a few miles out not so fine.

A lot involved in answering your questions with so many other variables but in general NE winds are the worst wind direction. This holds true because of how our coast is laid out, there is no place to hide no matter where you are. And more importantly, NE winds are not the norm in our area and that usually means there is some sort of weather disturbance in our area.

Having said this, Stripers love the snot a NE wind makes.

So True Gerry, most of my "FISHING IN THE SNOT VIDEOS" are taken when it was blowing 25 out of the NE! Not for the faint of heart or someone with a small craft looking for a nice day on the water...With that being said, every morning I look at the wind & current, it changes 100 times depending on the area you are going to fish. It takes years to get it right and know where and when you can fish an area in the conditions that were handed to you that day.
Buy a good plotter that will show "CURRENT ARROWS". All-though, not always perfect, it will give you a better chance of learning how the tides run. Keep a log of the Wind & tides for future use.

The only wind I can honestly say is the Worst is SOUTH! When the Wind is South, the fish close their mouth, and that's from the Bible.......Last but not least, We are all only as good as the fish want to bite. Perfect conditions doesn't mean they will chew, do you eat when your not Hungry????

[Arbutis]

My favorite is to fish the EAST-WEST wind. Very comfortable in any location. Fish might not agree.

[Joey Dah Fish]

If it's about conditions it's one thing if it's about fishing it's another. If you notice with fluking in the afternoon during the summer it tends to blow south. For the most part the shuts down the Fluke bite.