When to go BTB

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MTStringerS
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Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2014 10:34 am

When to go BTB

Post by MTStringerS »

I am new to heading offshore and I am working at understanding the apps and websites to figure out when is a good time to go. I have been looking at windfinder.com a lot and tides4fishing.com. I know 20mph and 4ft wave height are not good from the windfinder app but what is the general cut off for go or no go.

One day I am looking at has wind speed at 10mph at 7am, 10am and 1pm. The wave height goes from 2.3 to 2.0 over that same time and the wave period is 4 to 5s. Is that still too rough?

I see these videos online of glass like water with what looks like a max breeze of 2 to 3mph but in 2 months of watching windfinder I have never seen these conditions.

Thanks for the help...
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kickingback
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Re: When to go BTB

Post by kickingback »

The best plan is to watch the internet sites that can give you all the information you will need for the area. Here are the sites I use specifically for offshore planning.

First is the Bob Hall Pier report. You can pay the premium membership to see 16 days in the future. Free you only see a few days. It is worth the price IMHO. I look for 1-2 foot surf breakers and no winds over 15 mph. Like this coming Sun the breakers are 1 foot and low winds with an outgoing tide through the morning.
https://magicseaweed.com/Bob-Hall-Pier-Surf-Report/361/

Second is Weather Underground for Corpus or the area you want to see. Go to "10 Day" view and see the wind and weather for the time you are looking from the Bob Hall site.
https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/u ... alwx_10day

And last, check the tides to see when they will be moving so you are aware for safety and ease of accessing.
https://tides4fishing.com/us/texas/bob- ... us-christi

Forgot this one. You can see the waves breaking at the pier to give you a view of the conditions before you go or plan.
https://www.webcams.travel/webcam/fullscreen/1486829163

Here is a good site to plan a route and give it to others to know where you will be.
https://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

Always try to go with a buddy for safety if new. Once you feel comfortable you can go alone but file a float plan with at least two people. Even if I go with someone I file a plan with my family in case.
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Kalait
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Re: When to go BTB

Post by Kalait »

To give you the information I found and was backed up by Blake, Floating, long battery life, waterproof, NOAA radio, 5-mile radius. I am thinking of adding GPS to mine which is available on Standard Horizon HX890 Handheld VHF with GPS. with an extra battery, the shipping is $250.

Good luck, and tight lines.
:D
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Kalait
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Re: When to go BTB

Post by Kalait »

Kalait wrote:To give you the information I found and was backed up by Blake, Floating, long battery life, waterproof, NOAA radio, 5-mile radius. I am thinking of adding GPS to mine which is available on Standard Horizon HX890 Handheld VHF with GPS. with an extra battery, the shipping is $250.

Good luck, and tight lines.
:D
Not sure how this happened, I was answering a question on VHF radios.
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Bwells
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Re: When to go BTB

Post by Bwells »

If you have to ask......

Kidding. Kind of.

Everyone's comfort level is different. If you can't launch in 2-3 footers on a 5 sec period you will be sitting on the beach alot....at least from Corpus south. Generally speaking, the forecast is the best you can expect to see on a given day. Check the weather. Many check the wind/wave forecast but fail to check the weather. A localized t-storm can blow up and double the forecast wave size for several hours.....among other things.

Main thing is get out there and give it the beans. You'll learn where your comfort level is pretty quickly. Good luck and tight lines.
Yakety_Yak
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Re: When to go BTB

Post by Yakety_Yak »

kickingback wrote:Free you only see a few days.
You get a 7-day forecast for the free forecast.

Overall, great info, kickingback! WTG with many of the sites used for going BTB.
DeeepSouth
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Re: When to go BTB

Post by DeeepSouth »

Anyone want to go on Sunday?

I haven’t checked anything yet as far as tides/weather/wind, but That’s the day I can fish so I’m heading down (probably Galveston) early sunday morning and will fish somewhere.

I’m new at this, so I’d love to go out with someone experienced that is willing to take out a newb. If sea is calm I may try it on my own and just stay fairly close to shoreline and fish for specs(?). If waves are too rough to go out front then I will fish somewhere in the bay.

Don’t mean to derail thread. PM me if interested.




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kickingback
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Re: When to go BTB

Post by kickingback »

I may go Monday but Sunday is a better looking day except for the morning showers. Winds wont be that bad but it can get hairy out there with high winds and thunderstorms.
I'll PM you if I decide to go Sunday instead. Like I said it looks better than Monday but there will be PB'ers out on the weekend. Hate them running their engines around the rigs spooking the fish.
SWFinatic
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Re: When to go BTB

Post by SWFinatic »

I'm going down Bob Hall Pier Saturday. Sunday looks a little better but can't make it then so Saturday it is.
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