Tuna fishing: Weather and Sea State/ Forecasting/Planning
- Thread starter Birdsnest
- Start date
Tidal Chaos
Active Member
Well Jay I may as well get this going for you; and I guess saying "I wait to see what everyone else is doing" isn't going to cut it! LOL
Typically we all start trips by talking to others and see what they think, at least I am one of those people that will talk to others but I am also one that will look at multiple swell forecasts, wind reports and future reports; buoy reports and just plain and simple watch the forecasts and base my decisions on that, but the big one for me is the swell forecasts, they will tell you what is out there and what is coming, we all know the wind and environment Canada change all the time; but if the swells are falling you know that somewhere out there the winds also have come down, but for myself I will not head offshore when I know the swells are building, that tells me there is some wind out there somewhere and if the swells are rising the wind is still blowing and will travel with the front that is creating the the wind and swell. I have only done 4 trips for these addicting little critters, but I also commercially dove for urchins for a number of years and worked in some pretty bad conditions and know my limits. I have checked the weather every 2 hours through the night for 2 of our tuna trips and we were unsure what we were going to do as the weather was saying it would blow but swell forecasts were to come down through the day and when it was time to leave the dock we made the decision to go and they were the two calmest days I have ever seen offshore; if we had gotten out around the corner and it was rough we would have pulled the plug and returned to the beach. I know what I am comfortable in; in my boat as well as my fishing partners, if anyone of us is unsure or have a gut feeling we will not go. I think we all have our own sources we check religiously and people we talk with to see how they are reading the weather and conditions and know what we can handle or are even ready to handle, but I am sure if your buddy boat said they weren't going most of us would not go; unless we knew something we weren't telling; and frankly that isn't what this fishery is about and most if not all will help someone read the weather to the best of there ability; but it comes down to you and what you think.
Sculpin and I ran out the second to last day of the derby in september as we saw another boat heading out and we knew of two other boats out fishing but couldn't raise them for conditions, and it was nasty with the tide and short period swell and we called it approx 7 miles offshore and returned, both of us were not comfortable and we could just make out the warnings from the other boats offshore to return to the beach, we were gonna get pounded and burn alot of fuel which in turn would have shortened our day. For me I had fished in worse conditions in the past but I think I am wiser now; at least I hope.
I think plain and simple; if you don't read the forecast or believe in what EC is telling you and that is your go to for fishing; you won't get a good day to go tuna fishing; I am a week end warrior that plans weeks in advance and watches the forecasts daily and sometimes hourly the week before I go; it is a huge expense for all of us and we want to have a good experience for ourselves and crews and feel comfortable about what we are taking ourselves into, but have also spent the time to understand what we are looking at and how to read what we are looking at. I don't know about anyone else; but every time I read a thread and there is a weather web station someone says they are using; I bring it up and compare it too my others; if it is more accurate than another site I mark it or add it to my phone, which has 7 weather sites and 3 swell chart sites, all that I continually flip through during the season. Another good site I use is Marine traffic; if the commies aren't out there or the draggers are all in port when EC says variable winds; you know better, they maybe bigger boats but they will run and hide if it is going to be big for a couple of days or is going to come up!
Lots to look at and figure out; and if you have common sense it will prevail and you will be out fishing tuna or on the beach wondering what everyone else is doing, all else fails; read the tuna adventure thread and see what everyone is doing and then look at the weather and see how they are reading it and ask why or how they are seeing it differently than you; as alot of us have done and will continue to do; I don't think anyone on here would send anyone out into bad weather, no matter how much they disliked them! Hopefully!!!!
Typically we all start trips by talking to others and see what they think, at least I am one of those people that will talk to others but I am also one that will look at multiple swell forecasts, wind reports and future reports; buoy reports and just plain and simple watch the forecasts and base my decisions on that, but the big one for me is the swell forecasts, they will tell you what is out there and what is coming, we all know the wind and environment Canada change all the time; but if the swells are falling you know that somewhere out there the winds also have come down, but for myself I will not head offshore when I know the swells are building, that tells me there is some wind out there somewhere and if the swells are rising the wind is still blowing and will travel with the front that is creating the the wind and swell. I have only done 4 trips for these addicting little critters, but I also commercially dove for urchins for a number of years and worked in some pretty bad conditions and know my limits. I have checked the weather every 2 hours through the night for 2 of our tuna trips and we were unsure what we were going to do as the weather was saying it would blow but swell forecasts were to come down through the day and when it was time to leave the dock we made the decision to go and they were the two calmest days I have ever seen offshore; if we had gotten out around the corner and it was rough we would have pulled the plug and returned to the beach. I know what I am comfortable in; in my boat as well as my fishing partners, if anyone of us is unsure or have a gut feeling we will not go. I think we all have our own sources we check religiously and people we talk with to see how they are reading the weather and conditions and know what we can handle or are even ready to handle, but I am sure if your buddy boat said they weren't going most of us would not go; unless we knew something we weren't telling; and frankly that isn't what this fishery is about and most if not all will help someone read the weather to the best of there ability; but it comes down to you and what you think.
Sculpin and I ran out the second to last day of the derby in september as we saw another boat heading out and we knew of two other boats out fishing but couldn't raise them for conditions, and it was nasty with the tide and short period swell and we called it approx 7 miles offshore and returned, both of us were not comfortable and we could just make out the warnings from the other boats offshore to return to the beach, we were gonna get pounded and burn alot of fuel which in turn would have shortened our day. For me I had fished in worse conditions in the past but I think I am wiser now; at least I hope.
I think plain and simple; if you don't read the forecast or believe in what EC is telling you and that is your go to for fishing; you won't get a good day to go tuna fishing; I am a week end warrior that plans weeks in advance and watches the forecasts daily and sometimes hourly the week before I go; it is a huge expense for all of us and we want to have a good experience for ourselves and crews and feel comfortable about what we are taking ourselves into, but have also spent the time to understand what we are looking at and how to read what we are looking at. I don't know about anyone else; but every time I read a thread and there is a weather web station someone says they are using; I bring it up and compare it too my others; if it is more accurate than another site I mark it or add it to my phone, which has 7 weather sites and 3 swell chart sites, all that I continually flip through during the season. Another good site I use is Marine traffic; if the commies aren't out there or the draggers are all in port when EC says variable winds; you know better, they maybe bigger boats but they will run and hide if it is going to be big for a couple of days or is going to come up!
Lots to look at and figure out; and if you have common sense it will prevail and you will be out fishing tuna or on the beach wondering what everyone else is doing, all else fails; read the tuna adventure thread and see what everyone is doing and then look at the weather and see how they are reading it and ask why or how they are seeing it differently than you; as alot of us have done and will continue to do; I don't think anyone on here would send anyone out into bad weather, no matter how much they disliked them! Hopefully!!!!
Charter Tofino
Well-Known Member
I remember that day. After a week of 2-4 meters the 1.5 m was tempting but we knew it was too short of a period to pound. As birdsnest said swell height can come in all types of packages and that was about as bad as 1.5m could get.
fishweather.com has some canyon reports, takes a bit of playing around but cool site.
fishweather.com has some canyon reports, takes a bit of playing around but cool site.
Tidal Chaos
Active Member
You would think that 1.5m at 6 sec would be like a rough day in the gulf; but with the swell and wind change in direction overnight that laid it down just made for a mess, and a few broad side waves over the boat we called it. My buddy shot a video on his phone of the whole run out and when we watched the video we realized we had no business being out there.
I will post later a few of the sites I have on my phone that I use as well!
Birdsnest
Well-Known Member
Thanks for getting this started. Amongst a handful of not great days 2 days stand out for me from the past few years.A few years ago I did a trip where the forcast was all good except for the explorer southeastern half which was forecasting SE winds 15 to 20 kn. The tuna area is just on the edge of this area so while I was aware of the possibilities I went for it because I would not be in that section. The run out was immaculate and 20 miles out I was happy that it was so nice. I mean it was glass with a smooth surface but with a 2 meter swell at 11 or 12 seconds. This was fantastic but ahead I could see a dark line on the water and by the time we got to the fishing area it was blowing 13 to 15 kn SE and crapy with rain. I was ready to go home and my buddy said that we were here now and we may as well try. So we fished and it was fishable but not nice. We learned to troll along side the swell with the swell coming from the NW and the wind coming from the SE which is awful but we could fish. In the first 15 mins we had a triple header which we snapped 2 off. We only fished for 3 hours and we caught 7 but the limits were being pushed. I have not fished a day like that since.
Since it was so rough, water/waves were hitting my fuel vents on each side of the boat where the drivers sits. I had just replaced them and it turns out they take on water where the old one did not. So we had water in the fuel the whole trip and on the ride home had to drain the racor every 5 to 10 mins. That was not a good situation and IMO is how accidents start. It started with a know factor, it was rough, then the water in fuel problem happened. If the motors would have died that would have been it for power and PAN PAN would be next words from my mouth on 16.
On the way home the sea turned to glass and was smooth for the last 25 miles to town. Go figure.
on Another trip I had the opposite where on the way back in the last 12 miles was blowing 20 to 25 kn where the day of fishing was fantastic out there. What a grind that was.
From this I have learned to disect the trip into 3 areas: 60 miles, 30 miles and 5 miles off shore. I will check the weather for all three locations. The more uncertainty there is the more forcasts I persue to back up what ever data I am using.
I used to not pay attention to the canadian forecast until one morning I showed up at the dock and it was misty wet and the flag was straight out for it was blowing SE 12 to 15. I was confused and uncertain about going but the guys with me said it was forecast to do that near shore and it was to calm down early that morning. IT was 5 am. So we though we would poke out and see and sure enough it was barely 12 kn and it died off fast.
I have not even been using buoy weather to its full capability as sculpin pointed out to me the other day. I still have lots to learn.
My rule is if it is forecast to blow more than 10 kn I do not go.
Since it was so rough, water/waves were hitting my fuel vents on each side of the boat where the drivers sits. I had just replaced them and it turns out they take on water where the old one did not. So we had water in the fuel the whole trip and on the ride home had to drain the racor every 5 to 10 mins. That was not a good situation and IMO is how accidents start. It started with a know factor, it was rough, then the water in fuel problem happened. If the motors would have died that would have been it for power and PAN PAN would be next words from my mouth on 16.
On the way home the sea turned to glass and was smooth for the last 25 miles to town. Go figure.
on Another trip I had the opposite where on the way back in the last 12 miles was blowing 20 to 25 kn where the day of fishing was fantastic out there. What a grind that was.
From this I have learned to disect the trip into 3 areas: 60 miles, 30 miles and 5 miles off shore. I will check the weather for all three locations. The more uncertainty there is the more forcasts I persue to back up what ever data I am using.
I used to not pay attention to the canadian forecast until one morning I showed up at the dock and it was misty wet and the flag was straight out for it was blowing SE 12 to 15. I was confused and uncertain about going but the guys with me said it was forecast to do that near shore and it was to calm down early that morning. IT was 5 am. So we though we would poke out and see and sure enough it was barely 12 kn and it died off fast.
I have not even been using buoy weather to its full capability as sculpin pointed out to me the other day. I still have lots to learn.
My rule is if it is forecast to blow more than 10 kn I do not go.
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Sculpin
Well-Known Member
Thanks for starting this one Birdsnest. It's a really important topic to cover for this fishery. Probably the most important. Great info and thanks for sharing.
Now, if Tidal Chaos would just get that video off of Kevins phone and post it
.....
Now, if Tidal Chaos would just get that video off of Kevins phone and post it
.....
Last edited by a moderator:
Tidal Chaos
Active Member
Thanks for starting this one Birdsnest. It's a really important topic to cover for this fishery. Probably the most important. Great info and thanks for sharing.
Now, if Tidal Chaos would just get that video off of Kevins phone and post it
His phone won't let him pull it off as one video it will only download overlapping videos in small data and when you watch it is like a short blury pieced together bad movie. I have tried many ways to get it off but it is an old iPhone that isn't cooperating. That is why I bought a gopro for this year. Let the mayhem begin.
searun
Well-Known Member
Great thread. TC I concur with your approach. If you have a bad feeling about going it pays to listen. A pilot buddy told me there is a saying in aviation that applies to what we do. It is .....there are old pilots, but there are no old bold pilots!
I'm off shore a lot and one other thing I do is check and compare the wind speed, wave height and period, plus barometric pressure to see what the trends are coming from up island. By checking conditions along the coast you can get a comparative picture as to what is coming our way. Also if there is a wind shift to beat down that sw swell that can be a positive game changer. Usually 16 plus knots is cut off for my boat.
I'm off shore a lot and one other thing I do is check and compare the wind speed, wave height and period, plus barometric pressure to see what the trends are coming from up island. By checking conditions along the coast you can get a comparative picture as to what is coming our way. Also if there is a wind shift to beat down that sw swell that can be a positive game changer. Usually 16 plus knots is cut off for my boat.
Tidal Chaos
Active Member
I don't think we had a swell below 1.6 m and 11 sec the few times I went tuna fishing and the wind was always calling for 10 kn to 15 kn west of estevan pt. both nights before it was blowing 15 kn at perouse and would be 10 kn when we would wake up. But poke are noses out and she was tide with chop that would lay down around 5 miles off. Guess we will never see ya out there!
Maybe once I sell my boat for $2500 you will! Since my boat is not capable I am a deck hand when it comes to fishing tuna. However, my days of getting my butt kicked for a bunch of fish is over. If the day im going and the day after aren't good, id prefer to stay home~!
Charter Tofino
Well-Known Member
Chris said the same thing as we beat him to death in 3 meter slop.
If you guide salmon/Hali offshore wcvi you can't really pick your days. The Tuna fishery "should" force us all to pick our days so the weather shouldn't be too bad in comparison. Bod remember that day August 20-25th last summer where you, Ian and I went down south and the currents threw up that heavy stuff. I was running Jonnys Hourston and lost count of the waves I took on the window.
Sculpin
Well-Known Member
Good two points in this post.
#1 - They are only fish
#2 - A good two day forecast trumps all.
Thanks for posting.
CrabbyChris
Member
I want to go on record and say that day was not fun,and I will never take myself and my boat 65 miles out in that **** again!
Plus...tuna don't hit worth a **** in sloppy water!
I watch Bouyweather.com and enviro Canada when planning my tuna trips.If its in the teens for swell spread and under 10knts wind its heaven!
Charter Tofino
Well-Known Member
20 Tuna and a couple beers in you were havin a hoot.
CrabbyChris
Member
True,getting on top of a big school of fish and a bunch of beer's have a way of cheering me up,plus the water came down 6 feet or so in the afternoon...
I should have said,the first 6 hours of that day were ****!
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Bod
Well-Known Member
Some days I would just like to forget! I left Bamfield once on flat water with a good forecast. At about 50 miles I was down to 11 knots so I figured I would slow to 7 and put the gear out and keep going. Trolling accros the swell the wind would occasionally pick a clone up and toss it over the other lines. Trolling into it, the waves would roll over the roof and put 20 gallons of water on the floor. I gave up without a bite.
Later in the day, and the next it was flat calm.
To get back on track. If the forecast is reasonable I'll give it a try. The worst you will do is turn around and come home. I never go if the forecast for the next day is not as good or better than the day I'm going. I always plan that if I'm broke down and dead in the water there will be good weather for help to come and find me the next day.
Plain and simple I won't go if there is only a short window before the next blow.
Like others have said. Sea state can vary a lot. I've been there in 3 meters that seemed flat and have been beat up in a meter and a half.
And you will burn a lot more fuel in rough water, for time and distance traveled.
getbent
Well-Known Member
Well said....
getbent
Well-Known Member
So true kelly
Birdsnest
Well-Known Member
This comment is a tackle and weather thread combo:
One of the advantages of using a noisemakers that have allot of drag is it keeps the lines from crossing. Commies use chains in rough weather to keep the clones down. This year I am thinking of doing a splasher/chain combo where the main line splits where one line has a splash bird chain above and the other has a piece of chain with the clone behind that. Just to get that extra few inches of depth on the clone. Might just have a high potential for tangles tho. Maybe just have 4 lengths of chain in the arsenal for a day where you may want to use them.
I think the tuna do not like the rough weather but they do like a slight chop. I could care less about having chop, I like the glassy days and thats what I am looking for.
One of the advantages of using a noisemakers that have allot of drag is it keeps the lines from crossing. Commies use chains in rough weather to keep the clones down. This year I am thinking of doing a splasher/chain combo where the main line splits where one line has a splash bird chain above and the other has a piece of chain with the clone behind that. Just to get that extra few inches of depth on the clone. Might just have a high potential for tangles tho. Maybe just have 4 lengths of chain in the arsenal for a day where you may want to use them.
I think the tuna do not like the rough weather but they do like a slight chop. I could care less about having chop, I like the glassy days and thats what I am looking for.
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