[Back Beach]

I do quite a bit of eel fishing and always try to get the wind directly at my back for maximum casting distance. Some of the places I fish you simply can't get the eel where it needs to be without a stiff breeze at your back. I call them my "Northeast Wind" spots. They're especially productive during a big blow due to the helping wind which might add as much as 50' to a cast. Not sure whether the fish only show on a NE wind, but countless nights its been good with the helping breeze. Same goes for any strong breeze you can get at your back. Some of the early fall SW blows this last year had us into fish we normally couldn't reach

Lesson leaned= flat water with wind at your back is good, don't believe what you read in the books about needing white water and all that crap to catch fish. I used to boat fish alot on the outer cape and noticed many, many nights the fish would be just out of range for the surf guys unless there was a strong SW wind.Since I got back into 100% surf fishing, I've always employed this principle of using the wind as a catching aid. I actually learned it as a result of my boat fishing experience.