What’s everyone’s thought on sea state and fishability? When is rough too rough?

S

Saltwater Cowboy

Active Member
I’m heading up to WH next weekend and I’m looking at forecasts, and knowing the stomachs of my crew.. just wondering what everyone uses as their bench marks to go offshore or not... current forecasts are calling for 10-20mph NNW winds with 1.5-2.4M seas at anywhere from 9-14 seconds apart.. I know there are a lot of variables and for me as I’m getting a little older I’m less likely to want to beat myself up.. but I do want to be productive! Lol. I have a Grady White 232 and it’s a tank so I find 2M at 10 seconds to be what I use as a max these days unlike my 20’s when 3.5M and stupidity were common! Thoughts? We usually try to leave the dock by 430am and head North so we can always head back with it when it blows NW.. hoping the bottom fish will not be so far away as they are in the summer.. would prefer less than 10M offshore for my back’s sake! ‍♂️
 
It is time to head back in when:

one person swears (out of fear)
two people puke
three people stop fishing and are curled up hanging on.
four people break out in spontaneous prayer
five people hold a filet knife to the captains throat and demand to go back.

These are good benchmarks and do not require advanced mathematics.
 
As you stated...the older we get the lower the risks we tend to take.
20+- years ago fishing off Camper out of Port Renfrew 21ft swells with a good 2ft? chop ,no problem. We were looking up at the water when down in the trough
Now forget about it.
Also depends on crew and your ride, but reallys comes down to personal comfort and safety of all on board.
 
I pay a lot of attention to wave period as much as wind and wave height. I've fished in 20 knots but a 4 second plus and a 2' sea and it was no problem. This is in the straits and the wind was an easterly so it was sort of cool. Tighten the wave frequency and no thanks.
 
Great info above. Let me add the following:

If using a forecast, realize that (unless there is a storm) that the forecast conditions are for when they are at their worst; usually in the afternoon.

If based on forecast or weather buoy data, there will be the occasional wave that is twice as high as forecast.

If there has been a storm, it will take 2-3 days for the seas to calm down, and these waves can travel thousand of miles.
 
we were there in 2014 with almost the exact weather you just described. jigging for halibut with a buddy boat about 100 metres away. didn’t see the boat for minutes at a times due to the large waves between us. no thanks
 
When I knock another took out on the helm, its about time to at least START think about maybe returning to the dock. That was me at 30 , now it depends on if I can pour my coffee or not lol
 
Wave height is one factor, but as stated the biggest is wave period. Pretty obvious that less time between wave crests the rougher it will be - but there are other factors to consider. For starters - your vessel. Small vessel = small capacity to handle closer wave periods and higher waves. Having fished offshore for 30 years or so now, I have also learned that bottom structure and currents can have a large impact on making the observed wave height and periods reported a LOT worse. Pay close attention to local conditions and learn through observation where you will encounter problems. Tides are a factor, and anyone who has fished off Cape Mudge on a flood tide and SE wind/waves knows what happens. Similarly, if the predominant wave direction is going against the wind direction, that will have a calming effect on the wave action. So there are a many factors to consider beyond the forecast or buoy reports.
 
Something to bear in mind is the impact local conditions/ features play on the measured or average observation, which is often what is being reported at a specific spot. That’s not to say those conditions Reported are uniform. Shallowing in an specific area will result in building waves as will the effect of current. In addition wave/swell direction can have major impact on comfort. Once in the open ocean it’s important to understand waves as well as swell! All to say your own observations as well as local knowledge are huge factors. Regardless of predictions, things can change fast and anticipating and reading those changes is critical.
 
What’s weird is the winds are dying from 15-17mph on Wednesday yet the swell height says it’s building from 1.3M to 3.3 M even though winds say 7-10mph. Strange?
 
Swells are built by weather events far away. It looks there is a big storm churning way offshore that may send bigger swells that way on Friday.Screenshot (7).png
 
looks like light winds and a 2.8m swell tomorrow. 10 knots and 2m on Saturday
Listen to the buoy reports on the way out. Good luck.
 
With 25-35kn being forecast by enviro canada I would not be going out. Also for swell the period in between is very important like others have said. 8 plus seconds is usually just rollers, less than that like 7 and 6 is when it gets rough.
 
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