I have had many many phone calls this Spring with one common denominator - people ask me am I catching many bass? The answer is a plain and simple no, I'm not. The reason is of course the wind, or at least the wind direction and probably its particular unceasing source of direction and strength.
Take a look at some comprehensive data sets here and scan down through the wind direction field for 2010. Look particularly for the frequency of the North/North Easterly, Easterly and to a lesser extent even South Easterly breezes. The source frequency is pretty high this Spring. You will see similar frequencies during the previous three years although not quite as intense or as frequent.
This is as a result of high pressure anticyclonic weather systems forming and then remaining fixed over Ireland during Spring and early Summer. Lake and river systems are well down on water levels as a result of low rainfalls.
Now I don't fear an easterly breeze provided it doesn't last for more than two/three days and blows strong too - any longer than that and then I know I'm in trouble (lighter winds are exceptional) - from this simple set of data you can see how much trouble we have had from a bass fishing perspective over the last few weeks. So don't go blaming yourself for spending all that money on expensive gear to catch no fish - I'm afraid theres a bit more to it than that!
Bear in mind that these patterns existed from 2007, 2008, 2009 and now 2010 - they were all immediately followed by wet summers that broke all rainfall records - can we conclude that this trend is set to continue, who knows?
