WEATHER or NOT?

Originally Published the Week of June 6, 2017 in Western Outdoor News

For the last few months or so…well…actually since winter…I’ve been whining about the crazy windy conditions in all my fishing reports.  As many of you in the U.S. may have noticed, winter is being a tenacious boob about going away.

Memorial Weekend has come and gone.  I’m still hearing from amigos north of the border about abrupt snowstorms;  unexpected hail; crazy winds; and rain.  Folks are  uncovering their swimming pools; getting ready to mow lawns; pulling out the barbecue…and  winter sweeps in with an 11^th-hour punch.

Even, in Mexico City, they had historic hailstorms causing damage!

Well, it’s been the same down here in Baja.

We SHOULD be into balmy hot sunny weather about now.  I should be hearing from fishing clients laughing asking for “a little breeze” to knock back some of the heat.

Instead, we get sporadic windstorms that kick up the ocean.  They muss up my water.  They scatter the bait.  They get people seasick.  They gum up the fishing!

So, I bitch. And I whine.  And I rail about “the wind.”

In fact, as I write this column at about 4 a.m. in the morning, the winds outside are howling and I can hear it rattling my windows.  I can hear waves crashing outside and the palm trees are somewhere out there in the dark being rudely rustled by a strong northwind.

And I’m dreading putting out my fishermen in about an hour.  The forecast says the winds will calm down, but I know they’re gonna get wet.  And bounced.  And uncomfortable.  And that’s not what I want.   It sure doesn’t look like the fancy brochures right now!

But, last time I checked, I didn’t have a “weather control” button.  Dangit!

Anyway, a good friend asked me a great question that I don’t think I’ve ever been asked before.

“When is it too windy to fish?”

Relatively speaking, that’s an easy answer.

Like asking “When are the waves too big?  Or “When is it raining too hard?”  Or not.  You walk outside.  You figure it out pretty fast.   Yes or no.  You then decide to go. Or not.

But, if you’re like me, you want to play the odds a little better than just looking out the window or showing up at the docks.  This is especially true this year whether you’re going to Baja or anywhere else for that matter.

Since our livelihood down here with our fishing fleet depends on putting our customers on fish, I look at several variables.  Internet weather and wind sites are invaluable.  I use several to get the best picture of the coming forcast.

I look at:

1. Windspeed
2. Time
3. Direction

Obviously, with regard to windspeed, I want it to be as calm as possible.  If the windsurfing and kiteboarding crowd starts to gather on the beach, something is up!   I want to know if the winds will be single or double digit speeds.

If you’re going to be panga fishing, then double-digit winds could be problematic.  If you’re going to fish inshore, maybe it will be OK.  If offshore, you might want to re-think things.  If you’re headed out in a 50-foot sportfisher, probably not so much.

The second variable I check is time.  When will the wind be blowing?  If it’s going to be blowing in the early morning and calm down later in the day,  that’s not too bad.

If the forecast calls for double-digit winds, but during the fishing hours, it settles down then, I really don’t care.  Let the wind blow all it wants when I’m back at the hotel hitting happy hour after a good day of fishing!

The third thing I take into consideration is the direction of the wind.  If it’s going to be blowing harder than I would like;  if it’s also going to blow during the hours I want to fish; then I want to know where the wind is blowing.

If the winds are coming full-speed out of the north and I’m going to be heading north to the fishing grounds early in the morning, then I know it might be a long bumpy wet ride.

If we’re heading south and the winds are coming from the north, then it would mean the wind is at our backs.  It’s going to push us along very nicely to where we want to go.  (Although coming back might be an issue if the wind is still blowing.)

By the same reasoning, if those north winds are going to kick up and we’re going west or east, then it might create some swells and rollers as the boat goes side-to-side.  You might want to be sure everyone has their seasick pills that morning and stays away from the greasy breakfast burritos!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

______________

Jonathan Roldan has been writing the Baja Column in Western Outdoor News since 2004.  Along with his wife and fishing buddy, Jilly, they own and run the Tailhunter International Fishing Fleet in La Paz, Baja, Mexico  www.tailhunter-international.com.  They also run their Tailhunter Restaurant Bar on the famous La Paz malecon waterfront.  If you’d like to contact him directly, his e-mail is: jonathan@tailhunter.com

Or drop by the restaurant to say hi.  It’s right on the La Paz waterfront!

_____________