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Not dying when you go fishing

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6 hours ago, cesarcap said:

Slightly off topic but was in Montauk yesterday in my boat.  Forecast said N wind was laying down but was not.  Still blowing 20kts.  We still sent to Shagwong point where there were birds all over the place was the tide began to ebb.  Waves  were stacked and a few came over the bow which didn’t happen to me before on my boat (23 Outrage Whaler).  We left.  We did come back 2 hours later when the wind really laid down and was safe.

A huge, and I cant express this enough, HUGE practice is to NOT put all your cards into a "wind forcast". Literally I'll say a good 75%+ of the time I've looked at a wind forecast thinking it's a good idea to go out, and it was howling. Or, vice versa. 

 

But man can wind change fast. I was out one day on a bar I know like the back of my hand, zero wind. 1 hour later without even so much as a breeze it started SCREAMIN wind like someone flipped a switch. That can be disastrous if you're on a boat yak or sandbar.

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You know whats hilarious and ironic?!? You are on a social media site, pissin & moaning about social media!!! 

Bro you can walk outside to goto work, and just as easily get killed in a car accident. You could fall n hit your head in your house too! My coworker has this say. Your death was planned the day you were born and there isnt a damn thing you can do about it. 

Edited by StripersBR
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16 hours ago, ThrowinPlugs said:

A huge, and I cant express this enough, HUGE practice is to NOT put all your cards into a "wind forcast". Literally I'll say a good 75%+ of the time I've looked at a wind forecast thinking it's a good idea to go out, and it was howling. Or, vice versa. 

 

But man can wind change fast. I was out one day on a bar I know like the back of my hand, zero wind. 1 hour later without even so much as a breeze it started SCREAMIN wind like someone flipped a switch. That can be disastrous if you're on a boat yak or sandbar.

I've been using the Fish Weather app for the past few years, and find that it predicts wind changes with remarkable accuracy.  Not perfect, but if you check it within 12 hours of a trip (I'm a boat fisherman and like to make the go/no go call the night before if I can), it's usually just about dead on.  I plan shark drifts around its hourly wind predictions, and it works out pretty well.

 

As far as wind coming out of nowhere, that's almost always driven by a cold front.  I still remember one November, years ago, when I was down at Robert Moses on the South Shore of Long Island, fishing the beach for bluefish, which were running very well at the time.  It was dead calm, and then around 11:00 am, the flag on the pole snapped from limp to standing straight out from the pole as the front rolled through.  A friend was fishing for cod out on the Virginia wreck, about 36 miles from the inlet.  He felt the wind begin to rise and by the time he got the anchor up, it was howling.  He was in a 33' Bertram, and it took him 6 hours to come home, pointed right up into the wind.  He said that he was doing his best to ignore the waves that were wrapping around the hull and spilling into the cockpit, figuring that either the pumps would work or...well, he didn't have any other option.

 

In the summer, the same cold fronts can turn into explosive thunderstorms when they butt up agaist hot, humid air.  I once had a front speed up unexpectedly when I was fishing on a glass ocean about 63 miles from shore.  Fortunately, radio chatter gave me enough warning that I got in about 5 miles ahead of the heart of the storm; a couple of folks who didn't have the head start never made it.  For a long time, I had real doubts that I'd get inside the inlet in time; when I stopped at the gas dock on the way home, my face must have showed it, as the owner's wife reached under the counter and pulled out a bottle, telling me that I looked like I could use a shot.

 

Bottom line is that you can never let your vigilance slip.

Edited by CWitek

"I have always believed that outdoor writers who come out against fish and wildlife conservation are in the wrong business. To me, it makes as much sense golf writers coming out against grass.."  --  Ted Williams

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52 mins ago, CWitek said:

I've been using the Fish Weather app for the past few years, and find that it predicts wind changes with remarkable accuracy.  Not perfect, but if you check it within 12 hours of a trip (I'm a boat fisherman and like to make the go/no go call the night before if I can), it's usually just about dead on.  I plan shark drifts around its hourly wind predictions, and it works out pretty well.

 

As far as wind coming out of nowhere, that's almost always driven by a cold front.  I still remember one November, years ago, when I was down at Robert Moses on the South Shore of Long Island, fishing the beach for bluefish, which were running very well at the time.  It was dead calm, and then around 11:00 am, the flag on the pole snapped from limp to standing straight out from the pole as the front rolled through.  A friend was fishing for cod out on the Virginia wreck, about 36 miles from the inlet.  He felt the wind begin to rise and by the time he got the anchor up, it was howling.  He was in a 33' Bertram, and it took him 6 hours to come home, pointed right up into the wind.  He said that he was doing his best to ignore the waves that were wrapping around the hull and spilling into the cockpit, figuring that either the pumps would work or...well, he didn't have any other option.

 

In the summer, the same cold fronts can turn into explosive thunderstorms when they butt up agaist hot, humid air.  I once had a front speed up unexpectedly when I was fishing on a glass ocean about 63 miles from shore.  Fortunately, radio chatter gave me enough warning that I got in about 5 miles ahead of the heart of the storm; a couple of folks who didn't have the head start never made it.  For a long time, I had real doubts that I'd get inside the inlet in time; when I stopped at the gas dock on the way home, my face must have showed it, as the owner's wife reached under the counter and pulled out a bottle, telling me that I looked like I could use a shot.

 

Bottom line is that you can never let your vigilance slip.

I'll check that app out. Sounds much better than the Windy App. Crazy stuff!

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I think that many of the veteran anglers have seen enough to know when a situation is too risky.

Rookies tend to believe that the ocean should b the same wherever you go, so they don't do the research or take precautions.

 

That being said, even experienced, time-hardened veterans cannot predict everything, and it tends to be the "1-in-a-million" thing that causes catastrophe. One misstep, one blink ay the wrong time, one wave when the wind had your eye watering, and even a muscle spasm while balanced on a rock in high surf. On their own they're nothing. Add them to a dark jetty with crashing waves and wind, and who knows what could happen?

 

I've learned my lessons the hard way, but there were no injuries except for my pride at getting caught off guard.

Since then, I know that you NEVER turn your back to the ocean, NEVER presume that you know how many waves are forming in a set, NEVER ignore the weather reports or the changes occurring while you are out. I know about rouge waves and that they can/WILL come from anywhere (and usually when you aren't paying attention).

One thing that I don't forget is that if I feel like it's too risky to go, I don't go. (If I can find a safer option, I'll consider it but still I weigh it against the risk factor.

 

 

 

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy!
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On 10/14/2019 at 5:08 AM, StripersBR said:

You know whats hilarious and ironic?!? You are on a social media site, pissin & moaning about social media!!! 

Bro you can walk outside to goto work, and just as easily get killed in a car accident. You could fall n hit your head in your house too! My coworker has this say. Your death was planned the day you were born and there isnt a damn thing you can do about it. 


Such a foolish way to think. Risk management reduces the chance of losing one's life, it's that simple.

Edited by C.Robin
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