How Rough of Water???

[Michael S]

Ok guys I have a question for...How rough of water have you guys been in on a bass boat. And what is roughest you feel you can handle safetly in your current rig....not really talking about offshore stuff.



My 17' xpress has taken me through some 4 to 4.5 ft slop before, it wasn't the driest ride I ever had but i never felt unsafe while navigating through it.



If I had to I think I could probably safely navigate 5 footers maybe 5 1/2's anymore than that and I would beach it until conditions improved.....



I know this will be a walk in the park for some of you guys but I feel in a 17' rig its pretty good.

 

[Lamar Gilbert]

but..........why would you want to?

 

[Larry Harp]

I have another question before I can answer your queston. How do you determine how big the waves are? I've been in what I considered some pretty rough water but I don't think I've ever seen waves that would come up to my chest if I were standing at the base of them. Have I just really never seen the really rough stuff?



Harpo

 

[Bob G.]

You fish in 5 footers when you don't have to? You sure your tape measure is in feet?? Bring that rig on Champlain in 5 footers and I'll see ya on the 6 o'clock news when the Coast Guard is rescuing you!



I've fished in 3 to 4 footers in other guys boats and it sucks! Everything takes a pounding including the passengers. I won't take my boat out in stuff like that. I don't have a sponsor that will give me a new one when it breaks except my paycheck!



Bob G.

 

[Michael S]

Well I stop the boat and then pull out my tape measure and wait for the right time....:lol:



In all seriousness my dad and I have always done a lot of surf fishing along the coast of La and Texas and you just develop a good feel of wave height after you get beat up by them all day.

 

[Michael S]

Bob I don't go out in 5 footers....but there are plenty of times where a calm morning brings in a rough afternoon. Like I said the biggest I have been in is 4 to 4.5......and if I need to get home I will do what I need to do as long as I feel safe. If the morning starts of that rough I will stay close to the ramp to try and find more protected waters.

 

[Dave Stevens]

I've had my 640 in 2 to 2 1/2 foot waves... needed a kidney replacement after that.:unsure:

 

[Michael S]

I will agree with what Pat said I do measure from the bottom of the trough to the top of the wave. So I guess I am at 2 to 2.5 footers by the coast guards standards.

 

[Bob G.]

JimBob,



It's a different story if the winds kick up and it turns ugly. I've launched and loaded my boat alone on rough days and always wondered, WTF am I doing out here!! If you launch when the waves are already pounding ya.....you're insane!! LOL!!!



Bob G.

 

[Michael S]

Bob I totally agree with you....I will not fish in conditions that I feel unsafe in......I will say this very rarely down south do I run into a problem where I can not fish due to rough water, places like Rayburn, Toldeo Bend do get very rough but there are plenty of coves and creeks you can fish to stay out of the rough stuff. I get kept off the water by more Thunder Stroms then rough water.

 

[Jim B]

I have been in stuff like Pat described on Winni in NH. Where all you could see was water. The local radio claimed they were 6-8 footers that day. All i know it it was NASTY out there. It was flat calm in the morning when we left and on the way back it was bad. At the time i didnt own my nitro i had a 15'7" champion. It got us back, i just had to really take my time. My 882 would have been no better in those waves, there was just no way i was going to be able to run them in any bassboat. I just had to pick and choose and run the troughs to make it back. We got wet but made it back safely. There were lots of broken boats back at the weigh in that day, mine wasnt one of them.

 

[Rob LaMoy]

I've been caught in 8 footers. But that's a loaded question. The heighth of the waves is not as important as the spacing and frequency. You can run 8 footers on Erie and Ontario, you cannot run 8 footers on Champlain. And other great lakes guides will tell you that, even some from MI! LOL



Each rig is different, each day of rough water is different. But the most important thing is the person behind the wheel. Don't run it if you don't have to. That' s just plain nuts.



As for everday fishing and most tourneys, anything up to 3 footers I feel comfortable in and can navigate and run considerable distances in. 4 footes and beyond.....there had better be a good reason and I won't run far.

 

[Bill McElroy]

Have been in REAL 4-5 footers up here...a LOT!! :blink::wacko: It's not fun!! That's why I prefer 19-21 foot boats! Bigger is Better, but nothing takes the place of "experience" when driving in that stuff. The more "BIG water" experience you have,...the more confidence you'll have and the less scary it is to deal with. Throttle control, angles of attack and awareness of water depth are all key factors to safe passage!! LOL....and a good GPS!!!



Oh yeah....ALWAYS wear a life jacket and keep the kill switch attached in that stuff,...common sense is always a good first mate!!



Carry on,

Mac

 

[Greg J.]

4 - 4.5 waves! No way. When it gets near 1.5-2 I head in to the ramp. It just ain't worth it. We bought our boat for the pleasure of it, not to be beat to death by mother nature. Whenever it starts getting rough I think back to my last sea duty days....15-20 foot seas in a 213' ship (and it rode like a cork) for over 10 days straight. Mother Nature will get ya :wacko:

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

White caps and I'm worried...



Bill

 

[Michael S]

I have really been into the new show on Discovery right now the deadlest catch......Alaskan Crab Fisherman.....I don't know how they do it.....riding in 15-20 seas on a daliy basis...just watching them eat with everything sliding back and forth makes me sea sick.....



Since I was measuring waves wrong....does a true 4ft wave really look like a 6-8ft wave?

 

[Jim in VA]

I'm with Bill. I start to see white caps (even small ones) and I'm thinking - uh oh! time to go!!

 

[Steve Dear]

The great lakes are a whole different animal. I have friends that have 25 foot plus cruisers that wont venture on to Lake ontario some days. I have a 17' Nitro and will only go onto the main lake if there is a south wind. Even then you have to be carefull it can change at any time.



I fish the bays & the small finger lakes were you are dealling more with boat chop then from the wind. 2 footers are enough for me to call it a day.



But i seem to always be able to find some place to fish.

 

[Dan J.]

I've been in some ugly offshore situations, but nothing more personally terrifying than running out of the mouth of the St. Lawrence Seaway into Lake Ontario. When I've run it during tourney's, just about every doggone day was 15-30mph winds, rolling 6-8ftr's consistently into the mouth. (Freighter/barge wake almost doubling that.) I've done it in 896's, 929's and a 911, with the 9 series being the best overall ride/handling, propped small for control. The stretch between Cape Vincent and Grenadier Island is just brutal in a West wind! The amount of assorted brand hulls that are routinely trashed up there during those tourneys is amazing!! (You get a raw inside peek at how just about all mfr.'s build boats and how the conditions up there can "un-build" them. LOL!)

 

[JAMES MOORE]

amen Dan: I've run that with my Avalanche and with my old 16' Ranger. I'll take my Avalanche any day in those conditions. Pat has it right along with Mac. Experience makes or breaks the boat. I've been on Champlain and Lake Ontario where all you can see is a wall of water around you. You learn very quickly how to get up onto the crest of a wave and ride it like a surf board.

 

[Staci Matheis]

About 7 or 8 years ago, I had gone out on Mississippi Pool #25 (?) (the damn is at Winfield, MO). There was just a slight breeze when I left in the morning and I ran upstream about 15 miles in my Nitro 180 to a back channel to fish.....



I stayed there until mid-afternoon..... I knew the wind was picking up, but as sheltered as I was, I didn't realize how much.....



When I headed home, I got to the main river to find 35+ mph winds blowing directly upstream..... The rollers were breaking OVER the front ends of barges! Most rollers were 3' to 4'. I'd guess the largest of them to have been about 5' or 6'.....



I had no place to take out except where I had put in 15 miles south at Elsberry. MO / Hamburg Ferry..... I wanted to run close to shore - but then I knew I would end up hitting a submerged wing dyke..... So I stuck to the open channel...... I found that, if I could keep it right at about 30 mph, the boat would just manage to bounce from crest to crest - most of the time..... Can't count the number of rollers I speared. I kept the bilge pump running the full distance.



It wasn't over when I got back to the ramp - it was in the main section of the river - not in a side channel. Ever try to load a boat with a 35 mph wind and rollers coming from 90 degrees to the trailer? What a bit##.



That was the worst beating I've ever had in a boat.....

That Nitro 180 came through without a scratch! Tough little s.o.b.!



There had been a B.A.S.S. tournament out of Memphis on the Mississippi that day. I heard that several of the competitors lost their boats.....

 

[Bill McElroy]

We get 2 footers just from boat traffic,......if those waves cause concern,...better take up golf!!

 

[Steve Rizza]

I made about a five mile run on Erie in 5 1/2 footers in my Pro 17.

No rollers,every wave had a whitecap down the face.Luckily I was going into the wind and not with it.

I would just power up the face,the prop would sometimes blow out at the top,and just freefall to the bottom.

I was never really scared,but it really wasn't my favorite thing to do at the time.



Once they hit about three feet,the trolling motor turns air at the tops of the waves,and water washes down the front deck in the troughs.

That's when it's time for me to head into safe water.

 

[BJ Laster]

I've been in a nice chop on Texoma in south Oklahoma. Never been there on a real windy day. I've been in 4 footers on Lake Hefner (local Oklahoma City Lake) and in some nice waves at Grand Lake in Northeast oklahoma. I've never felt uncomfortable in navigating through that stuff. I'm just cautious.



I'll never forget my first trip in a Nitro. It was at Grand Lake with a buddy of mine. High of round 49, little bit of rain and some wind to start us off. Waves were probly around 2 to 3 footers and we were in a 929. I once heard this guys wife describe him as "speed crazy Shonn" one day when i was at their house. I was fairly new to "big boats" I only had my skiff at the time with a 9.9. Going a long at 50 or so was FAST to me and i thought we were just bouncing around. I remember thinking "i'll never own a Nitro". Well looking back now, that wasn't rough at all, i just wasnt used to it. And never say never...i now own a Nitro

 

[Mini]

I am not going to even begin typing an answer.



When you read this.....go into your living room. Sit in the middle of the floor and look up where the ceiling meets the walls. Thats the tops of em and they are that close. I have seen it too many times and have been lucky to survive it everytime (so far).



pmgoff is right. You better have your boat right or you will die.



Rob you are correct. Erie, Huron and Michigan are pretty easy in 8-10's as long as they are rolling and not breaking close together. Champlain and St Clair are different. Champlain gets bad, St Clair does too. NOTHING that I know of gets as bad as Saginaw Bay. You can see the bottom between the waves.......



Mini

 

[Larry Harp]

It all sounds like a good reason to join a bowling league.:lol:



Do any of you guys have any pictures of those kind of waves or is it not a good idea to let go of the grab handle?



Harpo

 

[Bob G.]

Harpo,



The last you think about is taking a picture of your own death when you're being pounded into a pulp!!! LOL!!!



Bob G.

 

[Larry Harp]

I understand. No normal person would even think of pulling out a camera in those kind of conditions. I would take a madman to ....... Hey!! Neeley would you show us some of your big wave pics?

:lol::lol::lol:



Harpo