# Prevailing winds spring versus fall...



## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

Here are some wind roses that I created for various times of the year for Beaufort, NC. I would have used Wrightsville but the period of record is only 8 years for them as opposed to
13 years for Beaufort. One thing that strikes me right away is the prevalence of south to southwest winds in April and north to northeast winds in November. The summer is
definitely characterized by southwest winds. Early November has more nights with light winds than April. These are probably the chilly nights with northwest winds that die off
after sunset.

http://bangladeshtornadoes.org/misc/winds2.png

The stronger sw winds probably help blow the smaller Whiting up the beach (from the southwest parallel to coast) in late March and early April, with the more scattered but bigger ones
to follow from late April into early and mid May. In the fall, the smaller whiting probably get pushed by northerly water currents southward in October, with the bigger but more scattered ones to follow in November and early December. This is probably why you want to be on the southwest side of the pier in spring (fish get blown into the pier on the south side) and the northeast side in the fall. Ive always wondered if the wind and not just the water temperature is responsible for fish migration patterns. But of course, the amount of southwest wind you have is surely positively correlated with the temperature of the water. Ive read some opinions that northeast winds blow Spot and Mullet toward the shore in the fall. I dont really understand this since a northeast wind at Topsail and Bogue is not onshore at all--perhaps at Kure it is. Im sure there are people out there that know a lot more about fish migration that I do and I welcome any commentary. But the fact that the smaller fish generally show up first leads to me believe that the strength of the wind has something to with the smaller fish appearing first--generally speaking.

Also, I wonder if wind direction becomes less important as you get deeper into fall and spring. Early in the Fall, perhaps you really do need a north/northeast wind to get the Spot/Mullet in big numbers.
But by late October into early November, once these fish have been migrating through for some time, it is not immediately clear to me why you would need a north/northeast winds. Then in the
spring, perhaps a strong southwest wind is really need to get those first fish up the beach, but my early May, perhaps its not as important. 


Ok, now someone educate me on all of this....

OH BTW, its annoying to compose a message, then by the time im fishished and hit send, im logged off already...


hugehail


----------



## HStew (Jan 8, 2009)

Yep, pretty much spot on. Although local weather predominates at times, the bigger fronts ( high or low) move warmer air,water, and the bait in the water or from the tidal zone i.e. crabs,fleas,clams. All of this is a big pot of yum that gets the fish moving . Crabs come out of hibernation, fleas become active etc. Make no mistake about it, the wind never ceases to be important. Lets not forget gulf stream eddies,tides,and what I personally very important -moon phases.


----------



## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

Ok thanks Stew.

BTW, I saw on Kure Beach fishing report once that as long as the south-southwest wind during the day stays below 12kts (14 mph) then the water can stay partially clear, at least clear enough for the Blues to be able to see the plugs. I would like to test out this theory but Im not down there enough to get a reliable sample size. Any locals on here who can add to this? But anyway, right now im operating under the assumption that if you want to do plugging for Blues, the sustained wind should be less than 14 mph for best results. And its also a lot less annoying when ure fishing. Although, if ure fishing from the southwest side of the pier, in spring, that annoying wind is usually in your face (unless a cold front passes in which case the fishing is probably crappy anyway).


----------

