How to use the wind to your advantage when floater fishing
Although at first glance the wind may appear to be your worst ene my, pulling your carefully placed controller and hookbait out of position, you can actually use it to your advantage. Here’s how…
“If the position of the carp allows me to, then I’ll always set-up with the wind coming over my shoulder. This makes controlling the end tackle and getting bait out two much easier tasks than if the wind was blowing into you, which is a floater angler’s nightmare. IAN POOLE
“If possible I’ll set up on the back of the wind, as this allows me to drift my free bait out to the fish. It will also help with presentation in terms of keeping my main line and hooklink in a straight line.” MARTYN SKOYLES
“Any side or head wind can make presentation very tricky which is why most of my floater fishing is done in smaller sheltered bays and off the back of the wind. Although sometimes it is possible to use the wind to cast out upwind of fish and drift the hookbait over the top of a group of fish without spooking them.” KEV HEWITT
“The disadvantages of the wind are that if you are not careful with your feeding then you can have the fish vacate your area and sometimes into other anglers swims if you feed too much in a strong wind and the fish are pulled off your spot following the freebies.
“Using the wind to your advantage can be a great method and if the water is quiet and the fish can’t follow the feed too far into other anglers’ water I will fish with my back to the wind and drift the Riser Pellet out across it which is a devastating method. Sometimes if I’m fishing a busy water I will opt to fish into the wind, eliminating the fish from being pulled off my area and hopefully only closer into my bank where it makes catching them even easier.” ALAN BLAIR
“The wind can be a great assistant, but it can also be a pain at times. Floating free pellets and controllers in on the wind is a great method to catch carp. The fish are often unsuspecting and can be easier to catch. Simply cast and catapult everything upwind and let the wind do the rest. However, the wind can also create its own problems. The wind is something that is often very unpredictable and changeable and what seemed like a good idea for a while can suddenly change into a disaster. Fish will often follow the food and if you put out quite a bit of bait they will follow it. Stay mobile and try not too feed someone else’s swim.” PETE CASTLE