Wind
 

What do you look for in regards to wind? Some say if the wind is in your face you'll catch, I have also heard arguments that a wind at your back will help your casting and also help you catch.

Is wind as important as tide and current to you? Does it depend on the month or season?

In my neck of the woods I've never caught anything in a 15knot plus E or NE blow. I don't even bother going out on the skiff if it's blowing hard in those directions. Westerly winds seem like a light switch around here.

I have caught many bass with the wind in your face. The theory is the wind will blow the bait into the beach. BAIT = BASS

wind blows in sea weed which brings in the bait which brings in the fish

This is not an easy question to answer. Soooo many variables!
Time of the year is very important because the wind will effect the water temps.
Not all bait gets blown with the wind. Bunker tend to swim into the wind.
Wind against tide and wind with tide will have a huge effect on the current and on when slack water occurs.
Wind direction and strength will effect how rips set up.

Too much wind from the same direction for too long is NEVER good.
A major shift in wind direction (usually due to a weather front) is almost always good.

Of course that is just my opinion.:o

wind is the spoon that stirs the soup

Wind is a pain in the a..ss and has ruined many more fishing trips than it has aided in my experience. Dead calm sucks, too.

Dead calm really sucks for the plug fisherman. I think it is that much more difficult to fool a fish at night with a plug on a calm night. I fish one or two spots that are the exception and in both places I've never caught on anything other than a 1 oz. bomber. I believe this is because the action of the plug has to be much more suttle. I big surface plug on or near the surface is going to spook a fish on glass calm water more than it will attract. Well that is my belief anyway. I guess a needlefish on the surface has done ok too on a couple occasions. If it's dead calm more often than not I'm going to eels.

I would be curious to see some opinions on how some make decisions based on wind as far as where to go. East facing beach on what wind etc? Nothing is set in stone but some some general rules to start from would be helpful. This is probably the piece of fishing I struggle with the most.

Luds
I very well could be wrong, but I really think that depends on where and when you are fishing. IE: Big difference on where I will target if the wind is NE and it's May as opposed to NE in October.
Wind against tide; new moon or quarter moon...
How much wind? Where I fish, a south wind and a south facing beach would be fine IF the wind is, say, less than ten knots.
Another area I fish I hate a NW wind in my face, but a spot not very far from there really works with a NW in my face.
What I'm trying to say is that wind direction is almost (to me at least) as important as tide. If I've picked a tide to target, the wind will dictate where I'm headed and that will vary based on time of year etc, etc. Or the wind might help to decide what tide - high flood might become high ebb on a different wind. Then it gets logged and added to the info used to decide where I'm going next week or month or year.

If my boots are in the sand I like an an onshore wind 10 to 15 is fine. Some spots I like 25 to 40. Lots of exceptions though, the wildest nite of fishing I've seen, big full moon, flat calm, all nite mayhem. 20# to 40# fish a cast with a 52# thrown in for giggles. Small white needles, so I go when I can, you never know.