how rough is to rough?
 

a question that has bugged me all season. how rough is to rough? do lots of big crashing waves scare away the fish, or do they just make it difficult to fish? my favorite is fishing ocean side, but the bay is only a hop skip and a jump away. lately the seas been fairly rough putting me into the bay.

so whats the limit for the fish before they decide to head for calmer waters?

Pretty freaking rough... I've had GREAT nights in 6-7 ft Heave, ocean side. Been skunked too.

When a wave knocks you and your brother 5 feet back on the breachway and you weren't fishing the end rock to begin with - we'll it's too tough....

IMO its never too rough for the fish. In fact , I think many times the fishing is good cause the oxygen in the water is high where its all churned up but we can't stand and fish the spots safely.

If your attention is focused on the water/waves instead of the fish, it's probably too rough.
Fishing in the canal with an easterly wind and create some nice swells.
Turn your back for only a second, and WHAM, you either soaked, or screwed.
I've been nailed by rouge waves a number of times, but I always try to keep an eye out for them.

I dont think its ever too rough for the fish, BUT - if the water is very dirty, sand, weed etc, churned up by a storm, it may be too dirty for a fish too hunt.

Look at your other post - bass feed on crabs, lobsters, clams - walk along a beach after a good storm, what do you see? Those same things washed up dead. So what do you think is going on in the water during the storm? Excellent feeding opportuniteis for bass!

personal safety is another issue, but I dont think its ever too rough for the fish

ive ran into this issue all last week. Swells where I fish were abnormally big and made the fishing dangerous and on the verge of impossible. Came to the point where I was more worried about the surf than fishing, which is my cue to take off and head to the coves and inlets. Just happened that the coves and inlets were on fire!!!!! Maybe the fish had the same idea.

I got the s**t knocked out of me during huge surf one night last season, landed a 32", a 46", and lost one that I couldn't stop and made the 46 feel like a schoolie. Got abrasions on my hip through neoprenes and jeans from being wave-pounded. Dangerous surf, didn't stay in it too long, but it had large bass.

This guy makes sense, its all about common sense, yes it does get to rough to fish and water thats to rough also gets to dirty and silty and drags your plug and gets a knarled mess of seaweed on the line, gets you soaked, puts your life in danger, is stupid and most times its worthless..The truth is most guys wont admit it and say they are tough because they fish in hurricanes....most times they come home skunked , soaked and tired....Plenty of fish are caught on the better nights, there is no need to punish yourself....Bottom line is use common sense..when its to rough to fish outside, look up in estuaries..or the better option is to catch up on sleep.....:cheers:

I hate fishing big surf/wind in your face. I have never done well and have actually seen fish shut off due to the swell. During the full moon in september we had good fish up to 35pounds for 3 nights in row, same conditions flat calm light offshore wind. The fourth night a big groundswell picked up and the fish were gone. Give me a good offshore breeze with minimal swell and I am happy.

welll i i'm not gonna go out in dangerous surf..i maybe desperate but i'm not stupid.. it's jsut i have a large beach two steps away from my place.. and most of the time ignore it if th waves are one after the other.. that spot produced most of my fish this year. so i would like to fish it more often. especially now that i have waders. just usually i dont fish there in rougher surf. i'll give it a shot this week see whats happens.

Probably never too rough for all the fish but the odds go down once the water is overly clouded and the weed gets to be too much.
If the fish are there, but you can't fish because your lure gets blown in or you pick up five pounds of eel grass with each cast, then the point is moot: they might as well not be there.

As has been said... I think it is an issue of safety and water clarity. Once it is too dirty or too dangerous, time is up.

Me too. I hate "surf" fishing. The more like a freshwater pond, the better as far as I'm concerned.

I like 2 to 4 feet. Over 4 (spot depending) and I move on. Places like Beavertail or the Avenues, a 4-foot wave on a foggy or dark night can seem bigger than it is. Wave heights are easily exaggerated. Same with wind speed. Things get crazy at night.

Some of us have more agility than others. Some of us have better studs on our cleats, better balance, bigger nuts, more ambition.
It really helps to know the spot really well. How the waves break, how the sets come in.

I don't weigh enough to take a real bashing. A 300-pound surf caster responds differently to a wave, than one that weighs 147-pounds.

if your fishing the tail or the avenues with 4 fters....your playing russian roulette

Jim you're right but a lot of people don't know it. The hear wave heights in the four-foot range and think, "No big deal." Then they get there and end up casting from the beach plum bushes.

It is spot dependent though, and wave direction dependent. Swells are different from a wind chop. I like a chop over a swell.

I've seen (never caught) redfish slam live shrimp off the outerbanks in 7 foot swells. It depends on the quarry, but generally no time is to rough. The conditions generally turn off the fishermen before the fish. Sometimes, when the cabin fevers forces rationality into a vice, I fish Boston Harbor (shore points only), primarily for cod or flounder (once awhile, I even land a stray schoolie), in the dead of winter. I usually catch more cod at night during rough debris clouded swells that accompany and succeed nor'easters. Foot warmers, hot beverages, thermals and heatpacks are a MUST in addition to layer, upon layer, upon layer, upon layer, upon layer. It may sound crazy, but cod up to a dozen lbs bite, sometimes often. When most of you begin to retire your rods, the shore cod season has just kicked off. Let your intuition be your judge when its time to call it quits. Safety 1st, thanks to my shanks, I worry more about the weather than roving bands of probing vans filled with thieves, teenage flunkies and penniless junkies.

If your not wet your not doing it right. the bass pray on the bait in big waves and if ya cast behind the waves as the tides is pulling you will get big bass. but its for the young guys. so know your limits.

I got a few big hits the other day in big surf and high wind. Nothing after that though. My keepers have been in clam conditions at first light or dusk.

i was at the tail last week with over 4's and we forced it for like 25 min. I found myself just standing there trying to time waves and knew it was pure stupidity being there.

I know it was too rough for me to get any work done today! YUCK
:af:

tomorrow doesnt look better...

for what it's worth, I think fish bite better in rougher water, BUT you can fish more effectivly in calmer waters.

I prefer tide/moon to wind/chop (unless it isnt safe)
dark night, high tide I'm happy with most conditions that are fishable....

My best night this year was a few weeks back with the wind blowing in my face SSW, maybe 30-35 mph and 5-6 choppy waves. Tough going, but well worth it. But, I was on the beach or on low boulders and I wasn't getting knocked around.

A couple of years ago, I was at the end of the B-way, standing 20-3O ft back and stepping out to the end between huge swells and got hit in the chest by a big wave that had deflected off a rock face in front of me. Airborne and dumped on top of a rock point. Hit my butt, not my head. Put me out of works for almost a week. Not smart, no way. I need to remember that water weighs over 7 lbs per gallon and 30 gallons slamming me in the chest is the same as someone throwing a 210 lb ball at me.

So I think there are spots that are safe and spots that aren't and if I'm worried about it, then NOT is the correct answer. If I'm just uncomfortable, that's different. As for the avenues or ledges or b-way ends... nope.

Add me to the list. Less is more, for the most part.

If I can't cast where I want to cast due to the seas, then it's too rough. And that doesn't take long.

I'm on the list also.

maybe all of us that like calm weather are just lazy...
it's all about presentation and landing them... if I cant present the eel or plug the right way; forget it!

agreed!

I've fished from the dune above the parking lot at HOM. I was crazy then, but caught fish. Now, 4-6 foot waves is about it.