How to read rocky shoreline?

[Nebe]

i walk the rocks at a mean low like nightfiter suggested, but also, i read the water like you would a beach. i look for eddies and rips off of points, whitewater about 50 feet off the shore is a good bet of a reef or boulder field. snorkeling is a good bet as well. the beauty of rocks is once you figure out the structure, it never changes

[nightfighter]

Originally Posted by Nebe

the beauty of rocks is once you figure out the structure, it never changes

Mr Chairman, I must contest the statements by the gentleman from the state of Rhode Island........

Eben, I'm gonna drag your butt up here a couple times to show you how a reef/boulderfield can get changed drastically. I bet I got half a dozen requests from Luds, Clogston and a few others asking how a certain spot had changed over the course of a couple noreasters. Hmmm, do we want to show him where all this fast current is, boys???

[Sea Dangles]

Tides do strange things to water and its current in different situations.Dont look for more of the same old same old but rather something that appears out of the ordinary.I can think of a nice spot where ALL the fish are(in R.I.of course)that has a nasty rip going towards the sea at a certain tide stage,I wonder if this holds fish?

[King Neptune]

try doing a google satelite image search on the area (google local) You can see a good amount of what's underwater. Rocks, sandbars, eelgrass beds.... everything but the fish. The hybrid mode is pretty cool too, it overlays street names on top of the satellite image.
I've wasted many, many hours going through these things! It's a good tool.

here's a link to a map of nobska point....Check it out

http://www.google.com/lochp?hl=en&ta...lmouth%2C%20ma

[Rockport24]

wow great info here guys, thanks, I love doing recon, now I have more of an idea of what to look for. I actually use google a ton for the sattelite images and such, I am also going to check out the charts though.

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by nightfighter

Mr Chairman, I must contest the statements by the gentleman from the state of Rhode Island........

Eben, I'm gonna drag your butt up here a couple times to show you how a reef/boulderfield can get changed drastically. I bet I got half a dozen requests from Luds, Clogston and a few others asking how a certain spot had changed over the course of a couple noreasters. Hmmm, do we want to show him where all this fast current is, boys???

true, but a boulder the size of a VW bug isnt going to roll 40 feet or disapear. my point is that if there is a rock pile about 30 feet out in 10 feet of water, it will always be there, the rocks may roll, but i dont think that they would vannish.. of course im talking about RI where we dont have major tides like north of the cape and the canal.

I fish places like this from time to time.. not much changes here. lobster gear is about the only thing that changes.

[spence]

Eben, that picture is from last year...here's a more recent photo from after the big nor'easter this spring.

-spence

[Nebe]

i knew it.. well there ya go.

[Clogston29]

Originally Posted by Nebe

true, but a boulder the size of a VW bug isnt going to roll 40 feet or disapear. my point is that if there is a rock pile about 30 feet out in 10 feet of water, it will always be there, the rocks may roll, but i dont think that they would vannish.. of course im talking about RI where we dont have major tides like north of the cape and the canal.

Our boulders don't move, they just get buried by all the gravel from the the adjacent rocky beach. Last year there was atleast 6' of gravel covering the rocks. Winter NE storms bury it and the steady S/SW of spring and summer usually digs it out. Last time I was up it looked pretty promissing for this time of year and hopefully things will turn on earlier than last year at that spot. If not, its a big ocean and I won't waste as much time waiting for it to turn on as I did last year

[baldwin]

3 Factors:
1. Close access to deep water
2. Structure
3. Current