Weather?

[LeeC]

Hi guys,

I've noticed that the last few days hasn't been the best out there for boats and as a result have not seen many venture out.

Got me thinking, what measurements do you guys use to determine if you go out or not?

Had a walk along the south Shields pier on Saturday and whilst it was okay in the bay area I wouldn't have went beyond that.

Was at RQ to organise mooring for next week if all goes to plan with the boat and noticed Slinky Kate and Wor Lass etc not out.

[KeithB]

We use Wind Map - Britain Observations for forecasts.

It's rarely wrong.

We got out early (5am) Saturday morning and the sea was fine.

[drifter]

The RQ's lads are waiting for the wind to swing into the West which we hope will flatten the sea quite quickly. As a rule of thumb it's never a good idea to venture out when the wind has any East in it unless it's a gentle breeze. Northerlies usually bring an unpleasant swell and Southerlies can sometimes chop up and bring poor visibility but strong South Easterlies are a definite no no.
There's a number of good weather sites and I've got at few on my computer favourites although I tend to use XCWeather most of the time.

[Wasabi]

We use Wind Map - Britain Observations for forecasts.

It's rarely wrong.

We got out early (5am) Saturday morning and the sea was fine.

did you catch anything??

i opted against going out Saturday early because of everyone saying there is nothing...combined with the awful SE wind direction and a too fast tide, I thought I would only lose tackle and preferred a sleep in. ��

i do not really mind easterly winds if not too strong. The killer wind is if it goes with or against the tide, so S and N are the worst. NNE and SSE add to the miserable drift a miserable windswell...
on top those are getting stronger the further you go out.
westerlies are annoying on the way in, especially if freshening.

in summery: Wind is always annoying for drift-Fishing but some directions are way worse than others. I would not go out if a S or N is forecasted over 8knots, whereas for westerlies, I would go up to 18ish if the other factors are ideal (tide, swell, clarity, season)

[KeithB]

We got nothing at our usual spots so headed up to St Marys area, fish were biting straight away but as soon as the flood tide ended so did the bites.

We ended up with 13 codlings between the two of us.

[Kev1n]

The forecasts for Saturday morning looked OK, but it was supposed to rapidly worsen from midday. The strong winds came later than forecast so we could have had a session out after-all.

Strong winds make fishing a drift hard work as the boat goes too fast. That’s less of a problem early in the season when fishing at anchor.
Wind direction is important, ideally it will be offshore.
Sea state is the other one to get a feel for. A big long swell can be OK to go out in as the boat gently rises and falls. Short seas even with small waves close together can throw you about too much. The wave period mentioned in some forecasts, shows if the swell is long and lazy, or a short choppy sea to avoid.

Most of the lads on here look at several websites to form an opinion about when to go and when to stay. The met office has been very reliable for winds, and a couple of others are pretty good for predicting the sea state. Unfortunately they’re not very promising for the next week.

Tynemouth - Longsands Surf Report, Surf Forecast and Live Surf Webcams

Marine weather forecast for Exposed Off Whitley Bay | Marine | United Kingdom, Coastal Areas

[alcaucin]

south easterlies can be very naughty especially against the tide, something to think about when planning your trips, what will the tide be doing when I am coming in. can be a pain if you get it wrong it slows you right down, but gives you a bit of experience of you and your boats capabilities, It's a bit of catch 22, try to avoid them all together and gain no experience(then get caught in one)
or give it a go now and then and see what you can do. I've been caught out a few times and learned a lot of valuable experience and now feel very confident in mine and my boats capabilities

[northeast1]

Welcome Lee, I am also in the Royal Quays though not of forums much. My boat is On_A_Roll and docked on Pontoon B along with a few others from here.


I am always on Ch8 and 16 when at sea if in range and will always answer anyone who calls, I like being out alone so never go out with other boats but since an old friend has started boating again we will be doing some off shore trips together this year, safety wise it is the way to go and even more so if you are still finding your feet.

Anyway weather wise, well its been a shocker the last 2 years with the jet stream knocking the weather to hell, meaning we now seem to be get stuck with the outer band of the jet stream that causes a lot of spring n summer winds.

As mentioned already on here I use Met office for long range weather forecasts and XC weather 24hrs before hand, still pot luck though. As Tony says anything with east in is not good but a SE is the only wind direction that scares me at sea and I wont go out in anything over a 15mph SE EVER, I like fishing a big north swell as always seem to have my best days with a north swell and edding tide.

So far this year I have been out 7 times and called off 3 times that many due to weather but looking back at records the season is 2 weeks max away from really coming to life so hopefully your all settled and ready to hook a few by then.