TOO MUCH WIND BLOWS!

Wind is nearly a constant on the Kansas landscape in the spring.  And at this time of year it doesn't seem like there's much middle ground and usually it leans towards way too much.  There's never much rhyme or reason but you can bet whenever I schedule a fishing trip it's going to howl.

A couple buddies and I had a wonderful trip to Glen Elder Reservoir last May.  A gorgeous afternoon on our first day allowed us to find some fish and despite bad weather the next few days we managed to do well.  We caught boat loads of walleye and huge crappie.  Last fall we decided to return again so we booked reservations for one of the cabins in the state park for last weekend.  Our hopes were high for another great trip.   

We were leaving Thursday morning.  The previous four days prior to our departure were absolutely gorgeous.  Winds 10-20 mph with temp's in the 70s and 80s.  But the closer we got to Thursday the forecast didn't look favorable as far as the wind was concerned.  And they were right and then some.

Don't get me wrong.  I generally like SOME wind, particularly for walleye fishing.  But everything is good in moderation and the extreme makes me grumpy.  It's hard to find fish and if you do big winds don't give you a lot of options on how to catch them. 

We got on the lake at noon as most boats were leaving the ramps like rats from a sinking ship.  They'd "had enough" they said of the giant winds.  Wind speeds were constant at 33-38 mph with gusts well into the 40s.  Undaunted, we headed out.  Amazingly we caught enough fish to consider it fair success.  But at the fish cleaning station we got more wonderful news.

"Did you hear it's supposed to be worse tomorrow?" one angler asked as we discussed the wind.  "Yeah, it's supposed to blow 60 mph tomorrow!"

Granted, he was an angler and prone to exaggeration, but he wasn't too far off.  Friday was worse.  Again, we still managed to catch fish but I would consider our success mediocre.  My chair up front was a lonely one.  I couldn't even sit in it at anchor as waves would crash over the front with my added weight. Several times the winds blew my rods up and out of the rod holders.  Brutal.

Saturday the winds finally backed off about lunch time.  We'd been on the same pattern catching enough keeper 'eyes for a few fish frys.  Add a couple dozen wipers, white bass and huge slab crappie, including several 15-inchers, that ate our jig-and-nightcrawler combinations each day and it still wasn't a bad trip. 

Of course, Monday, my first day back at work was absolutely perfect for a day on the water.  I guess that's the way it works when you fish in Kansas.  I'll take the good with the bad...I just wish the bad wasn't SO darn windy!