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The Rant:
Needless to they meteorologists have their inconsistencies, but it still baffles me as to how different sites show such different results. Accuweather claimed that the weather was supposed to be perfect all day with winds only increasing in the late evening hours. Weather.com claimed that the day averaged at 16mph winds with the mid section of the day 10am - 3pm having wind speeds dropping just below 10 mph winds. Obviously for a crazed angler with a wife gone for a few months I favored the results that showed me good weather all day. The actual conditions were nothing close to what they claimed.
The Discovery:
Google saves the day. If you search hourly weather at the location that you are in it will give you the most up to date weather condition in a matter of minutes. Great tool when trying to decide whether you want to wait out the storm or call it quits.
The Story:
Arrived about 8:30 to be greeted by a combination of cold wind and rain. Bad start, but with the winds not being to bad (about 10mph winds) I thought I would jig around the pier for some flounder until winds died down like reports suggested. I was on the water for about 30 minutes and winds picked up to what seemed like 15 - 16 mph winds. Chopped picked up and paddling at full speed I was staying still or even possibly being blown backwards. Thankfully the wind was blowing south pushing me back to shore. After losing 2 jigs I let the wind do the work and push me home.
Worn, defeated, and just shy of angry. I drove down Lewes Boat Ramp to check out the canal hoping that the little bit of shelter would provide some favorable conditions. Conditions were no better. Checking various sources nothing had changed. Remembering that Weather.com reported winds supposedly tapering off around 10, but I checked it again on my phone, but for some reason the phone version did not show wind speeds on hourly. Then I discovered google." Checked it out and it suggested wind speeds dying down about 12 pm. So I ate lunch and checked the weather a bit later and noticed that wind speeds had gone up slightly up through noon and lower winds speeds had been pushed back to 1 pm. A bit disappointed, but fascinated by sudden update I decided to stick around and "watch" google. Checking it more frequently now I saw minor changes every few minutes, but at about the 12 o clock hour I noticed that wind speeds had dropped down to 3 mph winds. After a bit of hesitation I decided to trust it and launch.
By the time I launched around 12:30 the wind must have been at about 8 mph winds. It was more than fishable so I thanked google for keeping me around and I threw out a line to troll out to the wall in case I ran into some gators. No one there. Arriving at the wall the water I noticed that the water was murky with about 1' of visibility if even that. For an hour there was no life to be found. Then the wind had died down to 5 mph winds or less and the tide started to turn clearing up visibility to about 2 ft or so. I hooked a 10" short and a few cunners then another hour of silence. At this point there nearly no wind the water was like glass and the sun even made it's appearance. These conditions along with now what seemed like a 3' visibility invited more welcomed guests. A few nibbles (what felt like cunners i'd like to believe) and 3 bites that produced 3 keepers at 17", 15" and 15". After limiting out I threw the towel and slow trolled back to the launch enjoying the weather. Who would have thought the day would end like this after I got swamped by waves hours earlier. Talk about getting caught between the storm.
Side Note:
I thought my kayak was going to rip off my car if my car didn't flip first.
20160403_150942.jpg
Needless to they meteorologists have their inconsistencies, but it still baffles me as to how different sites show such different results. Accuweather claimed that the weather was supposed to be perfect all day with winds only increasing in the late evening hours. Weather.com claimed that the day averaged at 16mph winds with the mid section of the day 10am - 3pm having wind speeds dropping just below 10 mph winds. Obviously for a crazed angler with a wife gone for a few months I favored the results that showed me good weather all day. The actual conditions were nothing close to what they claimed.
The Discovery:
Google saves the day. If you search hourly weather at the location that you are in it will give you the most up to date weather condition in a matter of minutes. Great tool when trying to decide whether you want to wait out the storm or call it quits.
The Story:
Arrived about 8:30 to be greeted by a combination of cold wind and rain. Bad start, but with the winds not being to bad (about 10mph winds) I thought I would jig around the pier for some flounder until winds died down like reports suggested. I was on the water for about 30 minutes and winds picked up to what seemed like 15 - 16 mph winds. Chopped picked up and paddling at full speed I was staying still or even possibly being blown backwards. Thankfully the wind was blowing south pushing me back to shore. After losing 2 jigs I let the wind do the work and push me home.
Worn, defeated, and just shy of angry. I drove down Lewes Boat Ramp to check out the canal hoping that the little bit of shelter would provide some favorable conditions. Conditions were no better. Checking various sources nothing had changed. Remembering that Weather.com reported winds supposedly tapering off around 10, but I checked it again on my phone, but for some reason the phone version did not show wind speeds on hourly. Then I discovered google." Checked it out and it suggested wind speeds dying down about 12 pm. So I ate lunch and checked the weather a bit later and noticed that wind speeds had gone up slightly up through noon and lower winds speeds had been pushed back to 1 pm. A bit disappointed, but fascinated by sudden update I decided to stick around and "watch" google. Checking it more frequently now I saw minor changes every few minutes, but at about the 12 o clock hour I noticed that wind speeds had dropped down to 3 mph winds. After a bit of hesitation I decided to trust it and launch.
By the time I launched around 12:30 the wind must have been at about 8 mph winds. It was more than fishable so I thanked google for keeping me around and I threw out a line to troll out to the wall in case I ran into some gators. No one there. Arriving at the wall the water I noticed that the water was murky with about 1' of visibility if even that. For an hour there was no life to be found. Then the wind had died down to 5 mph winds or less and the tide started to turn clearing up visibility to about 2 ft or so. I hooked a 10" short and a few cunners then another hour of silence. At this point there nearly no wind the water was like glass and the sun even made it's appearance. These conditions along with now what seemed like a 3' visibility invited more welcomed guests. A few nibbles (what felt like cunners i'd like to believe) and 3 bites that produced 3 keepers at 17", 15" and 15". After limiting out I threw the towel and slow trolled back to the launch enjoying the weather. Who would have thought the day would end like this after I got swamped by waves hours earlier. Talk about getting caught between the storm.
Side Note:
I thought my kayak was going to rip off my car if my car didn't flip first.
20160403_150942.jpg
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