Schoolies in the Rough

The float and jig lured big numbers
of schoolies today in some white
and rough water.

Today was a rough day along the oceanfront, far rougher and windier than the predictions.  I would guess that at times the wind was gusting over 40 knots out of the northeast.  And, that really kicked up the ocean and generated a lot of white water along east facing shorelines.
I like fishing rough water and have had some memorable days in those conditions in the past.  Once again, the roughness delivered as I found big numbers of schoolies right at the water's edge in the white water.  With the wind in my face, I was barely able to heave the float and jig 25 feet, but the fish were a flip cast away.  That often happens in places where the water drops off. That same float that was delivering my fly to albies in the past week was delivering the small bucktail jig to the schoolies today. The fish were around in good numbers yet I saw no bait or fish breaking.
The weather was so bad today that I never met another fishermen all day while traveling from spot to spot. I know many fishermen find these conditions difficult and somewhat dangerous and maybe that was why I found no other fishermen.  It could also be that nothing was showing and many fishermen don't try when they don't see anything, a big mistake in surf fishing.
One key to fishing this rough water brought on by a northeast wind is to find rough but clean water. I looked in many places today but only found clean and rough water in two locations, and both those spots had fish.