You don’t often root for the weather report to be wrong, but with 10 to 20 mph winds predicted, this was the case.

But as whitecaps rolled up the Allegheny River and the last of the season’s oak leaves rained down upon us in a torrent, this was not to be the case. The tranquil morning had quickly turned into a blustery one.

The wind and fisherman have a touchy relationship. Slight wind can be a good thing. Ruffling of the surface can make gamefish more aggressive, thus easier to catch. On windswept lakes like Pymatuning, species such as walleyes often feed on the windy side of structure, likely zeroing in on the disrupted food sources found there.

But strong wind can be too much of a good thing. It makes boat control a challenge, as well as one’s ability to detect bites.

On this day my friend, Deron Eck of Kittanning, and I had been consistently catching smallmouth bass on finesse jigs. But when the wind whipped up, fishing a light jig was not an option. And even if it were, the surface of the river was now covered with a fresh layer of leaves.

I picked up a rod rigged with a half-ounce blade bait.The structure we were fishing was a relatively shallow flat that quickly dropped into 20-plus feet of water. Holding the boat on the deep edge of the flat, I dropped the blade bait to the bottom, jigged it a few times, and was fast to a chunky smallmouth bass.

Deron rigged up a rod in similar fashion, dropped the lure down to the depths, and was hooked up, too.

The action continued for another 10 minutes as we took several more bass, all from an area not much bigger than the length of the boat. The fish weren’t exceptionally large, but represented a moral victory in that we’d taken them in some rather tough conditions, having made the necessary adjustment.

Rarely are we blessed with ideal fishing conditions, which is part of the challenge of fishing: Adapting to whatever conditions come our way. In this case, wind was the culprit and we adjusted by fishing vertically, right under the boat, so that wind would have little effect on our presentations.

Another option is to find an area out of the wind. The rivers and streams of western Pennsylvania rarely run straight for any appreciable distance. If you go around the bend, you might find yourself out of the wind, at least the main brunt of it.

The same holds true on many reservoirs. Twisting (and aptly named) Crooked Creek Lake is a good example. On larger lakes you can often find calmer water back in a bay or cove, or behind an island.

In more modest breezes, one can lessen the effect of wind by lowering the tip of the rod so that it’s close to the water. With less exposed line, there’s much less for the wind to push against.

Lures such as crankbaits, spinnerbaits and soft swimbaits trigger strikes by their built-in action, needing little input from the angler. Often these cast-and-crank lures can be the answer in windy conditions.

When fish are scattered, controlled drifting can be effective. In this case, one works with the wind, allowing it to drift you over expanses of water while your trail baits behind.

The bottom line is, when dealing with the wind, don’t try to fight it, as you’ll likely lose. Work with the wind, however, and you can often make something good of the day.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle