When to call it quits?

[Poodroo]

Hi fellow ausfishers. Everyone inevitably gets caught out on the water when the weather becomes unpredictable including yours truly. The thing is at what point do we know that it is not worth it and head for home? I have seen waves breaking over the back of the transom and the fish were on the bite. Do you keep catching fish or high tail it out of there? At what point does common sense kick in?

Poodroo

[Great_White]

Keep fishing up until you feel the conditions are what you are capable of enduring in. It's always hard to leave them on the bite but better off to live to catch another day IMO #;D ;D ;D


Peter :)

[aussiefool]

When I had a boat big enough to go "outside" I would always have the radio on and as soon as I heard a strong wind warning I would up anchor and call it a day. Use to tick off my deckie but hey my boat my rules.Anyway the fish will be bigger tomorrow as they had an notherer day to grow. better safe than sorry

[charleville]

at what point do we know that it is not worth it and head for home?

That is a better-than-average question. What gets me is just how quickly the weather can turn sour on Moreton Bay. The attachment below is from a previous post of mine where I told the story of getting caught out quite horrifically at night at Mud Island but something that I have noticed since then by looking at the daily beacon charts on Seabreeze is just how often the change in wind strength happens as a step function.

That is, there is almost no notice that the weather will suddenly deteriorate. A few of these sudden changes are transitory but, although I don't have records of this, most last a few hours. Thus, the probability is that when the winds get up a bit, it is likely that they are going to stay pretty strong for some time - usually the rest of the day.

On that basis, it may be reasonable to suggest that the wisdom of aussiefool is worth heeding. That is, escape at the sound of a weather warning.

Likewise, it seems to me that if the winds don't drop after fifteen minutes, then perhaps it is not likely to be the +40% gusty weather that the forecasts always mention and so it may be best to at least start the journey home, even if via a sheltered spot for a little while.

[Smellier]

cHARLIE - GOT A LINK FOR THOSE GRAPHS?

[JasonT]

Personally, I check the reports before I go out and keep an eye on it (wind etc) when I'm there. As soon as it looks like it's heading towards being a bit too rough I head home.

I have a 3.75m tinny so don't take too many chances!

I have no probs leaving them on the bite if my safety is a factor.


JT

[charleville]

cHARLIE - GOT A LINK FOR THOSE GRAPHS?



http://www.seabreeze.com.au/graphs/qld.asp

[PADDLES]

seabreeze.com.au smelly :)

[BrandonH]

I have a little boat like you JasonT. 3.85 HD Clark with a 15hp4stroke. You need to be ready to head home QUICK if the wind picks up out the front of clontarf in a boat this size... Last weekend I was out there and it started blowing up (about 15knots) so we headed back in to the bridge. after fishing for an hour in 15 knots and for nothing worth keeping we dicided to head home, but this was just as the wind picked up again :-/ Was able to sit on top of the chop at an angle slightly away from the ramp and the ride was good at about 3/4 throttle, then tried turning back with the chop but didn't have the same angles to play with so had to drop the speed down and slosh our way back >:( When i got home i found that we were in 15+ knots and gusting over 20 knots :o :o glad i wasn't comming back from out the front in that....

Cheers N
Tight Lines

Brandon...

[Poodroo]

Be nice if we had some way of predicting the weather 100% eh? Oh well we just have to be water wise when we go out. As I mentioned it is so hard to make that decission to return when the fish are biting and I can understand why some boaties out there come unstuck as a result. "Just one more cast" may well be the last cast and a fatal error in some cases. Thanks for the replies everyone.

Poodroo

[Pitsta]

Hey poodroo Remember that movie THE PERFECT STORM . Mate theres alot of blokes out there exactly the same as cloonie!!!! Maybe even me .. ::) ::) ::) ::)

Mark

[Dirtysanchez]

Oh dear, many years ago in NSW I was fishing in a bay & the clouds came over as black as, Oh well we thought, we are in a half cabin, canopy etc, we'll be right, open another beer..

5 minutes later the lighting was all around us and we were hurtling back through the chop to the ramp, and the lightning was hot on our trail ! :o :o

I don't take any chances now, that was a brown undies day :-[

[finding_time]

It just depends on so many factors! Where you are, how far to protection, whats the forecast say the change is going to be ! I mean if the forecast say the winds going to get to 20 -25 knots and i'm only 15 km's from mooloolabah i'm staying till the fish stop chewing but if its forecast to blow 40- 50 knots well at the first sign of a puff i'm heading for port! ;) But say im at Cape Moreton and it's forcast to blow at 20-25 knots from the south and and the tide is running in and i have to cross the bay in that wind against the tide well i'm well and truly out of there before it hits.

Ian

[reef_king]

I stay out and fish.....takes some pretty bad weather to make feel worried.

[Sea-Dog]

When to call it quits?

That was almost my name.............................................. .

When I was born, the old man took one look at me and turned to mum and said


'Let's call it quits' :-[

[disorderly]

If your avatar photo is anything to go by then I can understand your parents decision,seadog!!!!!!
Generally,my reef fishing trips are something I look forward to greatly and it takes some serious weather to stop it ,have been caught out on more than 1 occasion by a front coming through earlier than anticipated,though,but just a case of closing the front hatch,letting out more anchor rope and clenching the butt cheeks tightly together until the worst has passed!!

[redspeckle]

I aways try go on a good forecast wind less than 15 knts or less
but I have been caught out in moreton Bay the best thing to do is not to panic too much if i am fishing near one the islands i head their for shelter sit it out or wait think about heading home I seen the bay go from calm to roaring its head off then back to calm in days or nights fishing
But when heading offshore over the south passage I look at the long range forecast of 10 to 15 knts for few days in a row and swell direction when it really blows up out there a limited chance getting back across the bar if not make enough fuel go around the cape and get home with (thank god haven't done this yet)
Mitch

[snelly1971]

Where i live i havent got much of a choice but...grin and bear it....we are the gateway for the roaring forties...which means near constant 2-4 meters seas 10-20knt winds....we had a reading here recently where our wave rider buoy peaked at 20 meters...nasty shit....eh....

[Black_Rat]

Hi fellow ausfishers. Everyone inevitably gets caught out on the water when the weather becomes unpredictable including yours truly. The thing is at what point do we know that it is not worth it and head for home? I have seen waves breaking over the back of the transom and the fish were on the bite. Do you keep catching fish or high tail it out of there? At what point does common sense kick in?

Poodroo

When the skipper has the Sh#ts ! no doubt

I'll continue fishing as long as I can & as long as the guys are willing too. #:)
But i'll never put the good times before #common sense when I know as a skipper, when we need to leave ! #;)

As a skipper you are responsible for ALL on board. #:)

[Glenn_Woods]

That's good advise Black_Rat "As a skipper you are responsible for ALL on board". There are heaps of weather sites out there. All have a degree of accuracy. Some more than others. It comes down to common sense. Iv'e come home in sheet rain and cannot see 2 feet infront at Mooloolabah with the aid of my chart plotter. Sometimes the best weather report can not pick unforseen storm cell.

Woodsy

[haggis]

I am glad now Its light at four thirty in the morning as I can see the tops of the trees and If they are bending and the forecast is fifteen to twenty knots I stay in the brissy river or pine river other wise who knows where
I might go .
cheers fae Haggis ............... :D

[Daniel_Trenfield]

I'd rather err on the side of caution to have the opportunity to fish another day.

[Big_Ren]

If you don't feel safe, trust those instincts. There is no better barometer.

Cheers
Paul

[Duyz72]

Again, as everyone else seems to be saying, err on the side of caution, a fish isn't worth your life.

If you feel in your guts you are worried, then listen to your gut instincts they are usually pretty right.

There will be plenty of blokes who can tell you about being in a mongrel of a storm and riding it out was the quickest way around it. Nothing worse than coming in 'with' the storm for a 3 hour slog when sitting it out would have only been about 1/2 hour.

But is better to be a cork on the top, then a wreck on the bottom.