FOG - to Go or Not? - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

fishonnelsons · 10-05-2007, 11:40 AM

This is not really a question, and maybe should be in Grumphy Old Farts, but anyways...

We had a charter this morning, left at 7 a.m. from Ptown and it was really fogged in tight, maybe 100 ft of visisbility. We have radar, GPS, etc etc so I just take it relatively easy and off we go.

We hit the spots, hit the fish, and then we start heading for the barn, maybe an eight mile run or so . The fog never let up, and even got worse in sections.

Now the bitch - I must have passed at least ten boats on the way in -and probably about 8 of them had no radar. My feeling is that in fog like that, if you don't have radar, don't go out. You are putting yourself at risk, and depending upon those boats which do have radar to watch out for you. I can understand going out in the clear, and then getting caught in the fog, but when it's that bad out why chance it?

Rip Runner · 10-05-2007, 12:39 PM

I'll be going out tomorrow morning on a charter in the fog, but I know I am properly equiped with an open array radar and two chart plotters. But I also added a high flyer deflector on a small pole that goes into one of the rocket launchers on the T-Top. This helps my boat look bigger to other boats with radar. Also I use an auto hailer so boats fishing around me know where I am by sound as well. It's difficult enough keeping yourself on your numbers, watch your radar, and leader fish without having to remember to keep blasting your horn.

When traveling to my spot I often plan a slightly alternate route and stay out of the main channels where most boats will apt to be, especially the ones working off just a GPS because they will make sure to stay right in the channel. While traveling you need to keep a close eye on the radar and assume the boats around you don't see you and be ready to react. If I didn't have radar I would stay home on days I know are going to be foggy.

blue oyster · 10-05-2007, 04:05 PM

i go out in the fog now that i have gps with no radar but i tend not to travel great distances and i stay out side of the channels , dumb thing to do maybe but that also happens to be some of the best fishing i have ever had and it keeps the googans home .

Duke41 · 10-05-2007, 04:37 PM

I fish BI Sound in the fog if I have to. My advice is you better have radar. And stay the hell away from any nav bouys as every dude with a GPS only will be going from bouy to bouy looking for a mark point. Geez its a wonder there aren't more rescues out there.

macojoe · 10-05-2007, 06:10 PM

Well maybe its stupid luck, but I am always in the fog and no radar, I have passed the ferry from the vinyard many times, passed a cruz ship off Nantucket, couldn't see 50 feet!
I just go real slow and watch the water, and I have been fine for 15 years.

But I will be going for radar next year on the new boat. But I have to get the radar tower first.

BigPete · 10-05-2007, 09:31 PM

After fog blew in at the BE buoy last summer and I had a very close encounter with a container ship that crossed my bow 200' ahead of me so silently that you would have thought it wasn't running. It scared the heck out of me and I now have a Furuno 1623 on my T-top so I don't get run over out there. I have had a bunch of close calls over the years with just a plotter and the big ship was the final straw.

fishonnelsons · 10-06-2007, 04:06 AM

Great point on steering your own course if you have radar and all the right equipment, and not nav buoy to nav buoy because those without radar will tend to stick to that course.

OLD GOAT · 10-06-2007, 03:37 PM

I have found that runing by gps out of the chanel is not allways safe because other boats are doing the same. Some are runing WIDE OPEN.

Raider Ronnie · 10-06-2007, 05:02 PM

Having radar or not, common sense should allways be used in fog !
We pre fished the friday before FLW in Dennis on the Ave Maria 2 that has $20k worth of electronics, including the 4k 48 mile Raymarine radar (thats awesome)
We were close to Nantucket drifting in pretty thick fog.
We picked up a boat coming at us on radar, and eventually heard a boat coming at us going pretty fast!
The boat nearly rammed us going WAY too fast, and of course, they had NO radar!
Turned out to be another boat fishing the tournament !
I would bet more than 3/4 operators of boats don't know fog signals according the rules !

stiff tip · 10-07-2007, 02:44 PM

i have radar... the fog $ucks....i hate the stuff.

parker23 · 10-10-2007, 10:16 AM

Running in the fog w/o radar is something I would not do. There are too many boats on the water. I have radar/chartplotter and fog still makes me nervous. I run @ 15kts max.

Hooper · 10-11-2007, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

Having radar or not, common sense should allways be used in fog !
We pre fished the friday before FLW in Dennis on the Ave Maria 2 that has $20k worth of electronics, including the 4k 48 mile Raymarine radar (thats awesome)
We were close to Nantucket drifting in pretty thick fog.
We picked up a boat coming at us on radar, and eventually heard a boat coming at us going pretty fast!
The boat nearly rammed us going WAY too fast, and of course, they had NO radar!
Turned out to be another boat fishing the tournament !
I would bet more than 3/4 operators of boats don't know fog signals according the rules !

Reading that makes me want to choke that jerk! I fish in the fog quite often, Chatham & Nantucket and I would never, ever think of doing it without radar. These pinheads out there in 17 foot Whalers off Bearses in heavy fog ought to be shot on sight. I can't tell you how many times I have been at a slow cruise, 15-20 kts with my eyes glued to the radar only to have a Whaler type boat appear dead ahead. Radar won't catch everything, and all it takes is one minute of looking off the screen to miss a blip.

Years ago a charter boat out of Chatham got run over in the fog by a large flybridge sport boat running without a watch. Well, the 36' charterboat went to the bottom, one person died and another lost a leg. That's criminal behavior.

Flaptail · 10-11-2007, 12:19 PM

Just like when I fly, VFR. No IFR rating no go, should be same in boats, I don't care how lucky you have been so far but not only are you a danger to yourself but every other boat as well.

Fog sucks. There has been a lot of sea sense lost with all the new electronics from GPS to affordable radar. When I worked on the charterboat all we had was a flasher, compass and cb radio. Skippers would often meet in the morning and discuss the cloud formations, wind and tide times and decide on the feasibility of the trip by "sniffing the weather".

The guy I worked for paid close attention to water color when caught in a fog and his compass for which he had detailed times and headings written down in a book of distances from landmark to landmark and bouy to bouy for all of Cape Cod Bay and Stellwagen that was always at the helm. He would dead reckon his last position he was at when the fog closed in and get out that book, set the course and by his watch, compass, studying the water color and rpms get us home 99% of the time with uncanny accuracy.

Wonder how many do that just in case your radar or gps happens to freak out while on the water in a fog?

Rockfish9 · 10-11-2007, 02:00 PM

It all depends on where I'm fishing, if I'm fishing the river, I'll go, if I'm fishing the beach, I'll grab the surf rod, no fish is worth dieing for...if I'm fishing the river, most of the time, boats over 18' cant get where I'm at.... fog gives me a reprieve from the crazies that haunt my grounds from July - September....

When I first started fishing almost 4 decades ago, the ONLY thing besides rods and bait in my boat was a compass, a paddle was my depth sounder, I got caught in plenty of fog banks, I always made it home....
Things are differant now, my skiff has radio, color chart machine and a gps.... my most important piece of equiptment is still my compass... I use it every night I fish...Fog or no fog....