Froggy Morning

[ProfessorM]

Steve I have done that a few times without a compass. Stupid I know. At least all you have to worry about there is running aground on a sand bar and then get out and pull, and if you stay in close no other boats can float there either. So did you catch anything?

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

Steve I have done that a few times without a compass. Stupid I know. At least all you have to worry about there is running aground on a sand bar and then get out and pull, and if you stay in close no other boats can float there either. So did you catch anything?

Couple things I was taught by Ol Capn' "Lucky Singleton o' the Sea Witch back in the day.

1. Hazy and visible offshore fog and outgoing tide you have the tide time, if no breeze, with clear visibilty, The tide will keep the fog from rolling in on you.

2. Incoming tide and fog offshore but clear inshore and calm watch for a breeze from the direction of the fog, you have 20 minutes tops to make for the harbor before she brings the fog in on you (yesterday was a perfect example of this) breeze went w/nw.

3. Make note of the breeze diection in relation to the land fall you want to make before the fog rolls in. When visibilty goes and no compass or gps you can keep the wind on that quarter and follow in general direction home.

4. Study the bottom where you fish and as you travel and know your tide movement across that structure especially rise and fall rates.

5. Even a hand held compass is better than nothing. I keep a bubble compass in my gear box. The Ritchie is twenty years old and still works like a charm.

6. When in doubt throw the hook and wait it out.

Paul, one weighed just over 25lbs and the others were all small, 10 to 15lbs on the hsw. Yellow Bernzy Howdy was the tiket cept the bigger one came on the Gibbs Yellow pro series pencil 2oz.

You know where.

[blue oyster]

i went out this moning in the fog (i have gps but no radar) the fog didn't lift till 11:30 even with gps it is still nerve wracking not a big fan but i have had some of my best fishing in the fog , today was not one of those days .

[MarshCappa]

I sent an email to a local charter Cpt. in Dux that had an interesting comment about last Sat. He said he dosn't get on the bay in fog because of the big boats that barrel thru the stuff full steam using the GPS. His comment was that it dosn't pick up the boats that may be in front of them. That's what really stressed me out while I was out there, hearing the motors going full steam thinking to myself how can they be sure that no one is floundering in the channel?

[likwid]

Most anything under 30 feet without a good radar reflector won't show up on radar.

Just something for you to think about with all the morons blowing through the fog at 20+ knots.

[BassyiusMaximus]

Down my way, at night, no one is ever out, which is always nice for me as I've the whole place to myself. Years ago I bought a Magellan Explorist 300 for under $200, basic, no detail, just trails I could use to get myself to and from where I need to go at night or in the fog at night, it did the job and was my backup in case the primary GPS' I have somehow went down. This past month, while fishing on Stellwagen, I had the unit in a velcro'ed pocket in my PFD when I reached over the transom on my buddies boat, there goes my blue GPS, slowly swinging down to the bottom of the bank. I thought about diving in for it but without a change of clothes, I'd have been cold and miserable for the rest of the fishing trip that day.

Magellan since has quit making the Explorist series so for under $150, I got an even better color model along with the chart which is as detailed as the chart on my big/primary GPS as a backup. If you can, get one, sure helps better than not having one for sure. Best thing about the Li-Ion battery is that it is rechargeable so no more me buying AA batteries or AAA's anymore, just leave the thing on and either charge it up at home or use the 12V on the boat/truck to recharge, nice.