Give Me A Brake, Drift Socks are the Key By Gary Howey
As any walleye angler knows, in order to have good walleye fishing you’re going to need some wind or a “Walleye Chop”.
It doesn’t have to be a lot of wind, just enough to ripple the surface, cutting the light penetration allowing the walleyes to move up shallow to feed.
Well, what do you do when that little bit of wind you’re looking for turns into a heavy wind?
You have a couple of choices; one is to set it out, hoping the wind dies down. This could be a several hour wait or several days and if you’re out for the weekend, you’re not going to get a whole lot of fishing in waiting for the wind to lie down.
Your only other choice is to use a drift control device or drift sock. I’ve used the Lindy Drift Control Drift Sock for years and when the wind picks up, they’re the only thing that’s going to save the day.
These boat control devices have been around for years and are known by several names including; slow-down devices, boat brake, boat-petitioners, current-compensators and sea anchors.
Just what does a drift sock do for you? They slow down the drift or speed of your boat in the windiest of conditions.
They give you drift control!
With a Lindy Drift Control drift sock anglers are able to fish where others not having a drift sock will have all sorts of problems in heavy winds.
The Drift Control drift sock allows the angler to fish an area more efficiently and not have to be on the throttle all the time, fighting the wind.
They allow the angler to fish, keeping the boat straight, slowing down the drift of the boat and make fishing in the wind much more enjoyable.
As any angler whose had to fish in the wind can tell you, drifting or trolling too fast can be a real pain. By using a Drift Control sock you’re able to slow down your drift, allowing you to present your bait the way it’s suppose to be.
Drift socks can help an angler properly position their boat while drifting. It is also an excellent tool to keep high waves from washing over your transom or to hold your bow into the waves while trolling.
The braking action of Drift Control’s allows you to fish those hot spots more effectively, keeping you on the fish longer.
If you’re a bass or muskie fisherman, Drift Control drift socks give you more time to fish an area without blowing right on by it!
Another thing that a Drift Control drift sock will do is to cut the bounce, keeping the boat level, allowing you to fish an area more productively.
Drift socks will also help you to compensate for the current when fishing river, allowing you to position your boat so that you can present your bait properly.
They also allow you to position the boat while drifting so all anglers in the boat are able to fish through those productive areas.
Another very important thing that a Drift Control drift sock can do is be used as a safety device in case of a break down.
A drift sock can be deployed in case of an emergency, helping to slow the drift of a boat with no power, keeping you in an area, allowing searchers to cover less water in order to locate you.
I don’t know how many times drift socks have saved the day for us, allowing our crew to film and fish in some of the windiest of conditions.
Take for instance last year on Mille Lacs in Minnesota, we were scheduled to be on the water four days and once we arrived, the weather forecast didn’t look good.
Winds up to 30 MPH were predicted, which makes fishing tough and filming almost impossible.
The first morning we weighed our options and came up with the only logical answer and that was to launch the boats, look for a productive area where the water wasn’t too rough and fish using our Drift Control drift socks.
When we arrived at the area we planned to fish there were other boats there, those that were using drift socks, were working the area and catching a few fish, those that didn’t have them were bouncing through the area at beak neck speed, taking a fish every third or fourth drift.
Our boats put out the drift socks and almost immediately started catching fish and filming as our pace was slowed and there was a lot less bouncing around.
There are numerous ways that drift socks can be used, the only way that they don’t work is if you don’t use them.
If you’re looking for a way to fish in the wind and to control your boat better, then give drift socks a try.