Why Barrier Islands Are the Answer to a Bad Wind Forecast Keith Lusher 08.04.26Most saltwater anglers have the same reaction when the forecast shows 15 mph winds: stay home, or grind through a day of dirty water and a boat that won’t sit still. “No matter which way the wind was blowing, I could fish it,” Welch said of the island, called Bastian Island. Bastian Island sits along the outer edge of Bastian Bay, where Louisiana’s marsh breaks apart and the Gulf takes over. A light south wind off the Gulf means he works the south beach, sitting his boat about 75 feet off the sand. The one direction that tests him is a west wind, the same wind that muddies inshore water across most of the Gulf Coast.