Well I think it was stated best on channel 68 mid morning when someone came over the VHF asking where the weather man lived.
Started out getting to the ramp about 5:15am and joined the other boats leaving wapoo cut. Made it to the jetties to see that the predicted 2-3’ seas were more like 5-6’ with the occasional 7-8’ wave standing straight up in the inlet. Ended up pushing through but noticed a handful of boats weighing out their options and turning around. Everyone on the boat was committed to fishing and we loaded way too much beer to turn around now. After we cleared the rocks it was a steady 4’ chop and I don’t think there was a dry spot on the boat.
Made it out to 69 degree water, put the lines in, and within 10 minutes we had the rod with the new rapala lure about 30’ down start screaming. Bring the fish up to the boat and the stripes reveal it all, Weeeehooo. First fish in the boat and out with the skunk, at this point all the weather is worth it.
The hipe of the weeehoo in the first 10 minutes of the trip wore off and then the sea sickness set in. Had a bartender on board that went from closing the bar to offshore fishing. Ended up regretting it the rest of day and chumming the waters.
Landed a gaffer mahi later in the day and pulled the lines in around 1pm. Ride in was smoother with the following sea but had to pay attention.
Congrats on the fish but seeing 6-7ftrs at the jetties and driving thru to fish in a 23 key West Big balls.
Glad you’ll made it back safe.
“Destiny” 35ft
Contender and “Scintilla” 20ft Keywest, Manning SC
If I didn’t have twin motors and back ups for all my back up safety items I would have turned around. I would never put safety on the back burner for fish.
you would never put safety on the back burner? My friend, I have a 45’ sport fisher that weighs 40,000lbs with twin 800hp engines and would never go if it was true 6-8 footers. A 23’ boat would be swallowed whole before you could deploy any of your safety devices if it catches you wrong. Not trying to preach here but the last sentence of your last comment is false.
No i here ya jeephohn , maybe your estimate of the seas was a liitle high 6-7ftrs turns around just about anybody myself included.
3-5s look big on your boat i’m sure. Like i said in another post i was out there that day but it must have been a different sea north of Georgetown as i did not encounter anything like most are talking about here. its always the Cpt’s call regardless of what the crew wants. Like i said glad you’ll made out and back and had fun if miserable wet is fun
“Destiny” 35ft
Contender and “Scintilla” 20ft Keywest, Manning SC
I was there - SkinneeJ is spot on! Solid 3 with an occasional 4 Footer rolling in. The 40 mile buoy was reporting 3.9 with I think a 4 sec interval! Not trying to call anybody out but we made pretty good time there and back; low to mid 30’s and that ain’t happening in 7-8 footers!
Bottom line - 2 footers or 8 footers - it was a Snotty Day for everybody!
The waves will be bigger @ the mouth of the Jetties, but not 5ft difference from the Edisto bouy. We were in 7-9 coming from Norfolk off of Cape Lookout & that’s what the bouy said as well. Some people need to learn wave heights.
No way I’m fishing in 4x4 in my 23. I have been caught in 4x4 when the weather turned quickly , no way I’m heading out in that.
Sorry jeep now trying to call you out, but my fishing partner was on a 30 footer and they were home by 8am.
Something we confuse balls and brains. There is a fine line, glad you have backup for your safety equipment.
Fishb8 (Fish Bait)
23 Sea Hunt “My Last Boat V”
If you can’t stand behind our soldiers, try standing in front of them.
The bouy is just an average. If the bouy says 4, I interpret that as 4 with a random 5 thrown in. Just sayin.
Actually it's the average of the higest 1/3rd of waves, so it's biased towards the larger sets... But yes a 4 with an occasional 5, but not a 4 with an occasional 8...
I find that people tend to overestimate wave height when they are on a short (STEEP) interval and underestimate wave height when on a longer (SWELL) wave interval…
I have two apologies.
One. I apologize for posting about my enjoyable, however very wet, fishing trip.
Two. I apologize that my wave estimations at zero dark thirty were not as accurate as I could have hoped for in the dusk light of the morning.
I was posting about my fishing trip, and from the deck of my boat, the waves may have looked larger than what I previously claimed. I did not state that the waves past the jetties were more than 4’ and that’s about what the upper range of some of the forecasts were for that day. The jetties on the other hand may have been larger than 4’.
To keep this a fishing post, the fish that were caught were put on the smoker after a quick marinade and were absolutely delicious. At the end of the day we all made it back to shore with smiles (even the sea sick one) and can’t wait to put some more meat in the deep freeze.
In the future I will only post a photo of a fish that I would proud to brag about and will now also carry a tape measure to accurately account the sea conditions.
JohnJeep… Never post observed wave heights here unless you have a tape or a story pole to measure them - there’s always going to be someone that’ll question everything. One other thing never ever ever bring a sail up beside the boat and attempt to touch it much less bring it on board… If you do forget about posting the pic… I’ve seen 4 to 6’s that looked just like 10 to 12s - LOL - it don’t matter, they were big waves in a 23’er. Glad everyone is safe - it was a good day when all of you return home…now the barkeep might disagree…!
Its a tough crowd on this board. Heed the advice from cummins and you will do well.
I too tried to get out on Sunday. We left Murrells Inlet at 0500, and one hour later didnt seem to be too far. We gave up on running to the stream and bottom fished. (as luck would have it - my first drop landed both a giant endangered black sea bass and a gag grouper). I would agree with the title to your post - The sea was ANGRY. We had one vomiting, and two others on the brink.
