Upwind vs downwind shores

[MuskieBait]

How about casting from the upwind side of shore, toward the downwind clump of weed, so that you fish the edge of the weed clump?

Seriously, if there are bigger predators patrolling, they are more than likely to be around the edges...instead of hiding directly under a big mat of weed...unless you are talking mid day.

Wind driven weed mats are usually disorganized and tangled. There are usually very few holes within the mat where you may pitch lures through the mat. It's completely unlike a weed bed where growth is more organized and there are gaps and holes. As such, from personal experience, I have much less success trying to reach the fish that may or may not sit under the mat. However, I have more success making presentations around the edges of the weed mat.

Prey always look for cover. A wind driven mat of of weed is great cover, especially for minnows or juvenile sportfish. They will either travel with it, or loosely associate with it. As such, the presence of prey does attract predators.

Also, don't forget that wind also drive what we often don't see...the plankton and zooplankton that smaller fish feeds on. So even if there may not be cover, if wind pushes microorganisms against a shoreline and concentrate them there, you can be sure that the foraging species will not be far away either.

It's good to cast into a shoreline with the wind on your back