Weather For Fishing

[groperman]

Gday guys,

I do alot of fishing off the rocks and I know when its 2m to 3m swell not to fish. However when fishing on the boat, giving tomorrow as an example, the swell is 2m to 3m but the sea is 1m. Is that good for the boat? I mean it just means I cant fish in close on the boat but further out would that be calm?

[msech]

Sea and Swell are two different things... the swell may be 2 to 3m which means that the rollers are of approximately that height, however waves are then created on top of that swell by the wind conditions. 2 to 3m swell with 1m sea on top means that you can be facing some pretty hectic conditions. Click onto the seabreeze icon via this site and go to graphs for a better understanding... and no, it has nothing to do with how close you may or may not be to the shoreline, if anything the coastline can protect the shoreline from some of the conditions meaning that the full brunt of the conditions are not expereinced until you are outside. Good luck.

[slinkymalinky]

G'day Groperman,

Sea conditions and what it will be like on the water are effected by a lot of variables mate. The distance between the swell (period) is important too... a long (period) swell is much less treacherous than a short swell. Having a sea pushing against a current will also make conditions worse.... etc, etc, etc

The boat makes a huge difference too... Ive fished the continental shelf in my old 7m boat in conditions that I wouldn't even consider crossing a bay in, in my current 4.8 Quinnie.

I'd strongly suggest that you don't ever go out in conditions about which you are uncertain. If you wouldn't fish it from the rocks, don't fish it in a small boat... at least until you're experienced enough to know your boat's and your own limitations.

And if it's hairy, head for home. Last night we left a great fishing session with the fish still biting their heads off because the sea conditions deteriorated. No fish is worth unintentionally swimming for.

Cheers, Slinky