I went to IOP Saturday around 2pm not so many people on the beach incoming tide after casting with weight 3oz couldn’t hold the line.
Here’s my question any of you have some guides or reference before going to the beach to determine about the water current?
I just don’t want to waste my time driving that far only to find out that I couldn’t get my line hold due to strong water current…
Any guidance and help would highly appreciated.
You can search Isle of Palms webcams online to see how the waves look
If wind is blowing more than 10 mph from the north/north east then the current/water is going to be rough. In my short experience anyway
Here is what I have been using for a few years. Not 100%, but pretty close. Not very acurrate with wind speed predictions, direction is okay, but really close on surf height and “energy” or pull.
Did you try 6-8oz? Sometimes you got to go heavy. I use 6-7 often, whith cut bait on heavier line.
Mr. Jarvis how goes it:smiley:. There are several things you can do to help with strong currents that blow your line back in, thus shutting down your fishing. First indicator that you shouldnt make the trek from Summerville is strong NE winds, they suck. When I see the word 15 and above associated with NE winds I dont go, if I do I rarely have a “good day”, and Ive been shut down for less. Some people will tell you that they have caught plenty of fish in NE winds but from my personal experience I havent, and avoid them like the plague. Another thing that will help with stronger currents is your not using enough weight like Mr. Parker said, but you have to have the heavier line and pole to support this or you can snap your rod off casting, I speak from experience:roll_eyes:. Most rods will have written on the side of them what you can get away with. You can also use the out-going tide to your advantage, it helps pull the line out, thus keeping it straighter, Braid can also be a big help because of the thinner diameter it has less resistance to the current and wind and is not as easily pulled. Your bait is also something to consider for example: If your chunking a big square of cut fish it can act like a sail and get caught easier by wind and current and blown in vs. a thinner diameter strip of bait. Some people also use spider weights, but I dont like them so much, the line gets tangled around them easily, I just use pyramid weights anywhere from 3-6 oz. All these things help to cope with nasty currents, but sometimes you could throw brick and that wouldnt help. Happy Thanksgiving Jarvis:smiley: The saying is east the least west the best.
It seems like we’ve had NE wind forever this late summer/fall with very few breaks. The one thing I will do sometimes when the wind is NE is fish an inlet on the south facing end of an island. Those areas can be good for big whiting this time of year.
Jack Taylor
I dont have any 6 -8oz weight coz of my rod limitation although my braided line can handle 40lbs…
Here’s a sample information from the site
To better understand from the pro here maybe you can input your numbers in
So what is the maximum wave (ft) ?
What about the maximum Wind (mph)?
Wind State ?
To decide go or no go for surf fishing
Im trying to put together a reference information for Maximum so I can decide next time to go or not to go… This could help others too from the advice of some pro here…
go to this web site to see what the surf looks like for folly beach. The spot is a surfing spot called the washout. http://www.surfline.com/surf-report/the-washout-southeast_5293/
check this page to get live updates on winds and temps. this spot is at the north end of folly. very accurate. the station is right right behind the dunes. http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=fbis1
you can even check this page if you want to see swell size and swell period. again very accurate. however, by looking at the surfline web cam you can judge what the surf looks like before you head out. http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=41004
i check all of these daily for fishing/surfing conditions. I live in west ashley so I don’t want to drive 35 minutes to check it.