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Wave heights

Fishbowl836
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ontherise

ontherise

Posted
Posted

They all stink... I usually look at the forest lawn beach web cam on the weather bug app... I fish from I bay so that's handy for me... maybe you can find some web cams from your area.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

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garrymny

garrymny

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3 hours ago, Sk8man said:

A lot of times whenyou get out there it seems as though it is roughly double what they say:)

Yes, it seems to be double what they say. 1 to 3 means 2 to 6. 2 feet or less means 4 feet or less. Only when they say 1 foot or less, I am sure it will be a good day. 

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TeamRampage68

TeamRampage68

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I've been told the buoy only measures the crest of the wave height, not the trough on the downside waiting for the next wave. Good rule of thumb is to double it. 0.5 on the buoy = 1 footers, 1.0 = 2 footers, etc etc. It's always worked well for me and definitely saved me gas and sleepless nights to check it before venturing out in a realitvely small craft ( 22 foot). Another thing to consider is that buoy is 20+ miles offshore so sometimes the best option is to still just make the run to check yourself. Might need 2 and 3 footers out that far on a southernly wind

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Jeremy Goodison

Jeremy Goodison

Posted
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I'm on the water at least two days a week. I don't think wunderground plus a local weather to check wind has ever failed me. I fish the shipping Lanes regularly in a 14' boat.
I check current report for waves, the following afternoon or morning for conditions and then local weather for wind speed and direction.

Sent from my XT1650 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

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momay4000

momay4000

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Posted
On ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 7:00 PM, Sk8man said:

A lot of times whenyou get out there it seems as though it is roughly double what they say:)

I disagree - I think it's the anglers (me included) that overstate what they think the wave height truly is. A true 2' wave is pretty damn tall and I think many anglers fishing in 2' waves think they are fishing in 4 footers

 

Just my two pennies,

 

Chris

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PhlyanPan

PhlyanPan

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, TeamRampage68 said:

I've been told the buoy only measures the crest of the wave height, not the trough on the downside waiting for the next wave. 

 

 

This is how it's been explained to me as well.  Which makes sense why when I see 2'-3' in the forecast it feels like I'm going 4'-6' up and down.  

 

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Sk8man

Sk8man

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, momay4000 said:

I disagree - I think it's the anglers (me included) that overstate what they think the wave height truly is. A true 2' wave is pretty damn tall and I think many anglers fishing in 2' waves think they are fishing in 4 footers

 

Just my two pennies,

 

Chris

I know what you are saying Chris and it is similar to judging fish weight :lol: but I've also been trolling for over 50 years on Lake O and all the Fingers except Otisco and have experienced 12 footers on Lake O in the past as well as having fished both oceans and I can tell 2 ft waves vs. 3 to 4 footers pretty accurately:). Sometimes some of the buoy reports appear inaccurate to me when I get out there.

Edited by Sk8man
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momay4000

momay4000

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Posted

From the National Buoy Data Center website on how wave height is calculated:

 

Detailed Wave Summary (Realtime data files only) 

#YY  MM DD hh mm WVHT  SwH  SwP  WWH  WWP SwD WWD  STEEPNESS  APD MWD
#yr  mo dy hr mn    m    m  sec    m  sec  -  degT     -      sec degT
2014 09 11 17 00  0.6  0.4  5.6  0.4  4.3  SE  MM        N/A  4.2 134
WVHT Significant Wave Height is the average height (meters) of the highest one-third of the waves during a 20 minute sampling period.
SwH Swell height is the vertical distance (meters) between any swell crest and the succeeding swell wave trough.
SwP Swell Period is the time (usually measured in seconds) that it takes successive swell wave crests or troughs pass a fixed point.
WWH Wind Wave Height is the vertical distance (meters) between any wind wave crest and the succeeding wind wave trough (independent of swell waves).
WWP Wind Wave Period is the time (in seconds) that it takes successive wind wave crests or troughs to pass a fixed point.
SwD The direction from which the swell waves at the swell wave period (SWPD) are coming. The units are degrees from true North, increasing clockwise, with North as 0 (zero) degrees and East as 90 degrees.
WWD The direction from which the wind waves at the wind wave period (WWPD) are coming. The units are degrees from true North, increasing clockwise, with North as 0 (zero) degrees and East as 90 degrees.
STEEPNESS Wave steepness is the ratio of wave height to wave length and is an indicator of wave stability. When wave steepness exceeds a 1/7 ratio; the wave becomes unstable and begins to break.
APD Average Wave Period is the average period (seconds) of the highest one-third of the wave observed during a 20 minute sampling period.
MWD The direction from which the waves at the dominant period (DPD) are coming. The units are degrees from true North, increasing clockwise, with North as 0 (zero) degrees and East as 90 degrees. See the Wave Measurements section.
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Sk8man

Sk8man

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I guess my point is this : If you are new to the lake and in a 12 or 14 ft boat you shouldn't rely ONLY on the buoy data or even the weather reports regardless of where they come from because there can be many other factors perhaps unanticipated  or not included in the data. For example it may be updated in intervals such that you may look at the info when you get up in the AM and leave for the lake and arrive there an hour or two later things may change significantly  like the predicted wind direction and velocity for example and this may alter the data that you saw before leaving and when you arrive at the lake things are quite different and usually not "calmer" either. Another thing I have wondered about is whether debris (significant right now in the lake) may gather around the buoy perhaps and keep it from rising accurately?). I have never seen the actual lake wave levels lower than the buoys have reported. The buoy reports are certainly much better than nothing as is true of the weather reports but things can and do change quickly on Lake O and you always have to be on your guard out there and not take anything for granted while out there or even before departing from home. She can be very unforgiving of "mistaakes"

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momay4000

momay4000

Posted
Posted
51 minutes ago, Sk8man said:

 

 

All very good points. My point is simply that our perception of very ****ty rough conditions is influenced by many variables (i.e we are bouncing around on the boat in 2 footers and the bow of the boat is bouncing up and down much higher than the actual wave height b/c use are going up and down the troughs, the lake looks nasty, it's windy, etc etc) and we instantly convert our perception into what we perceive the wave is in feet.

 

I think the buoy data is accurate.

 

If we were floating horizontal and the boat just went up and down without the bow bouncing up and down I think a 2' wave would be perceived as a 2' wave. However, when you add the variable that your boat is bouncing all over and your bow is riding the wave up and down like a roller coaster hill, you perceive it as much much rougher. I have no idea how to explain this in physics - and don't really care - but the distance you are travelling up and down the waves I think tricks your brain into thinking you are riding super high waves.

 

I only fished one time in my life in conditions that were so rough that I thought I was literally going to sink my boat and the central buoy data was just barely over 4'........

 

I cannot imagine your experience of fishing in true12' seas

 

Chris

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bondouley

bondouley

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, PhlyanPan said:

 

 

This is how it's been explained to me as well.  Which makes sense why when I see 2'-3' in the forecast it feels like I'm going 4'-6' up and down.  

 

exactly

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bondouley

bondouley

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, TeamRampage68 said:

I've been told the buoy only measures the crest of the wave height, not the trough on the downside waiting for the next wave. Good rule of thumb is to double it. 0.5 on the buoy = 1 footers, 1.0 = 2 footers, etc etc. It's always worked well for me and definitely saved me gas and sleepless nights to check it before venturing out in a realitvely small craft ( 22 foot). Another thing to consider is that buoy is 20+ miles offshore so sometimes the best option is to still just make the run to check yourself. Might need 2 and 3 footers out that far on a southernly wind

exactly

 

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Sk8man

Sk8man

Posted
Posted (edited)

I don't disagree with what you are saying about the wave perception Chris and I know you are correct. :) I also think TeamRampage68's advice is something to consider. By the way, I wasn't in the 12 footers intentionally ( in my 13 ft. Whaler no less) an unanticipated electrical storm came out of the west/ northwest  with very high winds while fishing out deep out of Sodus Point and I barely made it back to shore. The folks on the pier were cheering me on because the huge boats were also struggling to get back to shore. I later saw on the news that the waves were 12 ft... they seemed like the Empire State building to me at the time and I had about 6-8 inches of rain and water in the boat too:lol:  My scariest time ever on the water.

Edited by Sk8man
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