Santa Cruz: Swell is no obstacle if you know where to go

30th June 2009

posted at 6:19 PM in Fishing Reports |

We continue our absolutely abysmal record with “swell forecasting” today by noting that the nasty current due to tides we were going on about the other day (and which we suggested would be gone in just a day or two) has turned into a southern swell from hell. The NWS discussion is talking about a coastal eddy that’s supposedly going to be a feature here for the next few days. All we can think to do is to hang our heads in shame and vow once again to never utter a word of prediction regarding the seas.

Despite all that however Jenna, Pete, Dan, and Steve fished South Rock today as the swell there wasn’t as bad, and they managed to wrangle up a very nice variety of quality rock fish and lings. They started the day by jigging up sardines down by Rio del Mar then headed up to slightly calmer waters. Very nice catch!

In Capitola we only had three boats out today. One got two rock cod and one got (and kept) a whole lot of bait - jacksmelt, sardines, and mackerel.

And here’s the part where we will say absolutely nothing remotely resembling a prediction of when these seas well calm down. They’ll do what they’re gonna do. We’re not here. Pay no attention!

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1 On July 1st, 2009 at 6:19 PM , Maryann said:

Are the waters going to be safe enough for this Friday and Saturday out of Capitola?

2 On July 1st, 2009 at 6:19 PM , Capitola Boat and Bait said:

Well, Maryann, we are hesitant to say anything at all about it due to the fact that there seems to be some kind of painful karmic disjunction; when we say it’s gonna be good, it’s bad, and vis versa. And it doesn’t work to say “hehe - yeah - it’ll be bad” and expect it to be good. Go figure.

That said, here’s what you’ll want to look at:

http://capitolaboatandbait.com/forecast

http://capitolaboatandbait.com/forecast/monterey-bay

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/marine.php?marine=PZZ560

The first one explains a bit about how the microclimate works here, the second is the marine forecast for Monterey bay, and the last one is the marine forecast for the coast just outside of the bay. Here are the things to watch for:

* South to southwest winds in excess of 10kts
* South to southwest swell in excess of 3 feet

Be sure to read the last forecast - the “outside” one - to double check stuff from the south-westerly direction.

My reading of it (*not a prediction!!!*) is that winds will turn back into their normal summer W/NW direction on Saturday and there will just be some lingering small SW swell - nothing to worry about. Today the swell is down significantly, and we’ll likely make some comment about the swell at the end of each day in the fishing report.

The “swell from hell” has really only (apparently) lasted one night and one day - as I said it’s coming down already. And even then, the “hellish” part of it had more to do with how un-fun it is to launch boats - away from shore it was flat as a board.