Westerly Swell???

[Berleyguts]

I’ve got three days off work and was hoping to go fishing now the local ramps are open to local residents. Had stuff to do this morning but might go for a beach session this arvo, even though it’s a falling tide. Was hoping to fish outside tomorrow - but wet and windy; and/or Friday - but strong westerly winds and a WNW swell predicted. Has anyone seen a westerly swell on the east coast before? Is it possible? Is it fishable? 🤷‍♂️ 😐 

[JimT]

westerly swell well basically flat along the coast but as you travel eastwards swell gets bigger and bigger....then when you come back in you are travelling into it. ( I'm not a boaty but from my limited experiance)

Jim

[JimT]

usually good conditions for rock fishing especially live baiting with balloons etc. however need to be careful in the mornings as you often get a ground swell which comes back towards the coastline which can be a trap. Once the westerly wind kicks in during the day the swell usually flattens out...

Jim

[Yowie]

Baz,

There have been a few westerly swells recently, only short lived though. Swell close in was  small from the east, nor-east, sou-east, however, once out a few kms, the swell was from the west and building further out.

With the predicted westerlies over the next few days, there will be a westerly swell a bit further out, though the wind will switch more sou-west during the weekend and puff up a big southerly swell.

You would need several days of strong westerlies to flatten out the swells on the east coast. Have seen it happen a few times, though over many years.

[Berleyguts]

27 minutes ago, Yowie said:

Baz,

There have been a few westerly swells recently, only short lived though. Swell close in was  small from the east, nor-east, sou-east, however, once out a few kms, the swell was from the west and building further out.

With the predicted westerlies over the next few days, there will be a westerly swell a bit further out, though the wind will switch more sou-west during the weekend and puff up a big southerly swell.

You would need several days of strong westerlies to flatten out the swells on the east coast. Have seen it happen a few times, though over many years.

Thanks Yowie. I’ve just never noticed a westerly swell in the forecast before. Maybe because I wasn’t looking as I wasn’t thinking about going for a fish! 🤷‍♂️ Anyway, the forecast called for lots of rain and 18+ knot NNE winds, so I decided not to fish today. Of course, we only had a little rain and the winds are not so strong. Go figure!

[JimT]

there is a lot to said about looking out the window when weather forecasting

Jim

[Berleyguts]

28 minutes ago, jot said:

there is a lot to said about looking out the window when weather forecasting

Jim

True that... but it’s often quite still at 3 or 4am when I get up to go. 😉 I like to know what’s its going to do the rest of the morning and early afternoon. 😎 it turned out to be blowing a gale soon after my last post in this thread, so it could have caught me out offshore. Was better I stayed at home. There’s always next week. 😎

[61 crusher]

Hey @Berleyguts have a look at marine wind forecasts at bom.gov au it has a predicted wind direction & speed forecast every three hours, I’ve found it to be 90% accurate