Weather Question?

[bucbas3]

This is my second year taking my own boat offshore, and since it is a small boat (24') i have to pick my weather days. What do you look for in the forcast? Wave hight, wind spead and direction. If so which wind is best. I know 5 to 7 isnt bad as long as there rollers and not stacked on top of eachother. To me this is a saftey issue that im not sure about and need help.

[Russ D]

I don't fish 5-7'ers on a small boat no matter how far apart they are. The margin for error if a storm rolls up or if weathe rmoves in early gets really small if the waves are that big to start. We go if the wind direction is good and of the seas are less than 5 foot and the forecast is either stable or diminishing. I don't fish a building weather situation even if it starts at 5-10. Maybe we'll run inshore but I won't go off if weather is coming in the next 18 hours.

[27 sailfish]

My favorite day is the 2nd day of a high pressure system that is here for 3-5 days .Most times the ocean will be just big swells-no real waves.Only trouble-the fish seem to like when a low pressure is almost on us and the waves are building.

I prefer to run into the waves in the morning-theory being that if it builds,it will be behind us.Sometimes the wind shifts though - making for a rough ride home.

From OC-if you are in the Washington and it gets really bad from NW/or N-you can run west in the trough into Chic. and run the intercoastal back or tie up and bum a ride back to OC for the trailer/truck.

Only bad part of running a small boat offshore.You will get "lied to" by the weatherman but remember- raping him does not make you gay .

[Mike Avery]

Anymore I'm looking for the 10 knots or less in all segments from inshore to the offshore segment I'm fishing. And even if it says 10 knots or less on a NE wind, I'll stay home. Once the winds hit 10 knots, things start to get rolly out there. Now things are still good at 10 knots it's just stops being flat. 12 knots the waves start to get a little steep so there will be some waves you come down harder on you. Still fishable at 12 knots and you can stay on plane most likely in a small OB boat but there will be some pounding. Once you approach 15 knots the waves can get steeper and the intervals starts getting closer together to 4-5 seconds apart meaning you will pound on more waves. Winds at 15 knots things are uncomfortable on drift and trolling so fishing becomes a real pain just hanging on. You can still get home but you will have to keep your eyes zeroed on the waves in front of you because there will some bigger ones forming out there. This is why not all 10-15 are created equally. Closer to the 10, things are good....closer to the 15, things are not so good. Once you get over 15, it is becoming unsafe for small OB boats and you should have your bow pointed home traveling at whatever speed is safe for you (you may or may not be able to keep it on plane). Keep in mind marine forecasts are in knots and land forecasts are in MPH.

One thing I do after a trip is I look at the fishweather archives to see what the winds actually were vs what they were predicted to be. For example fishweather might have told you that at noon the winds increased to 14 knots so I can say to myself, that's why it got snotty for a few hours. It also helps you guage what wind speeds produce what sort of waves so you can gain your own experiences in your own boat on comfort levels. Those above are mine in my boat, yours will be different.

You also have to consider the angle you are traveling. Most OB boats do well in a following sea. A following sea directly off your stern or even quartering off your stern will probably produce a decent ride on most seas. A beam sea, a sea coming directly into your side will suck and is the worse in my boat, maybe due to my 23 degree deadrise. I'd rather have a head sea than a beam sea. With a head sea I can usually adjust my speed and tabs so I don't come down hard. You can try adjusting your running angle to see if it helps but keep in mind you are increasing your distance traveled for every degree off course you go.

If you intend to go offshore a lot in a small boat, you should consider investing in satellite weather from sirius or XM. You can not only track storms, it will give you buoy readings as well as updated text NOAA forecasts.

[surferbill]

We are in a 24ft CC also. I don't go out in anything over 3' wave height.

Also, I look for 5-10 mph winds, but no more than 10-15 mph.

We got the snot beat out of us by 17 mph NE winds off of HI this year, so I will not go out in N or NE winds anymore.

Anything over 15 mph can make things rough real fast, and any forecast with 20 mph wind is a no go.

Never try to beat a front coming in. If you guess wrong, you will take a serious pounding on the way in.

[Balt.Pursuit]

Ditto...........Surferbill and Fishdad.............I really don't like to hear "15" in the forecast at all........I will sometimes take a look at a max of 10-15 if from the swest.........................be safe!

[fullrut2]

must agree,
I like a following sea in my 26 world cat.I will take a head sea next but one on my butt I can really roll.
trying to wait for some solid reports before I spenda couple grand in gas??????