Thoughts on Westport

You probably all already know this but... Westport water conditions change FAST!  My son and I hit the rocks today... I've been telling him I'd pull him from school for some dad/son fishing time and today seemed like as good a day and any other... after all, the south will was blowing and the swell was to be down most of the day.  It rained all day, but only bad witches melt... so we pulled the trigger and spent the day hunting bass and lings.  It was pretty slow from the rocks... while we caught more we only brought home one ling and 3 bass.  But that isn't what I wanted to note...

As I mentioned the swell was to be almost non-existent today, and it was... very good conditions indeed as far as that went.  So, I am just standing at the edge of the water listen to the wind howl over my and and the water dripping into my parka, and suddenly I have water rushing up around my calves.  What in the world... there was no warning gentle swells slowly increasing... it was just there.  I look up and all I seem are these swells marching in one after the other.  It was as if someone turned on the wave pool at your favorite water park... except there is no lifeguard, the water is cold, and there is no bathroom close by...

And it wasn't just that... within minutes the direction of the flow changed... all on the same incoming tide.  Westport is weird.  I just found myself considering what it would have been like in my yak.  The swells were closer together then the length of my yak and I wondered if I would have had the intelligence to take note and immediately head in... it was another highlight of the importance of safety equipment, experience with your yak, understanding your ability and having a buddy. 

I suppose that is all my rambling for tonight.

revjcp, Glad to hear you and your son did OK out there yesterday. I would never have thought about hiking out on the jetty in the rain. It was kind of breezy at times, too. There was a cold front moving from S to N just offshore.

I always have a lot of stuff I either must do or can do indoors, and I try to hold off and get that stuff done on rainy days, so I will not be doing it on dry days, when I have plenty of things to do outside. So when it rains, I am usually occupied with other things. However, when the Kings are running here in the late Summer and Fall, I'll fish for them in the rain.

After losing my footing on the wet rocks a few times in the rain out there back in the late 80's, I quit hiking out there in the rain. Living here, I could easily wait for drier conditions. I have always found the rocks out there to be very slick when wet, especially on the N side where the sun doesn't hit 'em as much. The rocks get even more slippery below the high tide mark, too.  I suppose that once you find yourself a good flat rock to fish from and don't have to move, its OK.

If I were to hike out there to fish from the rocks these days, maybe I'd take along some wading boots with cleats, and change into them before I worked my way down the slicker rocks to a good flat rock by the water. I used to try to stand on one with barnacles on it. They provide good traction.

Oh yeah, those Black Rockfish aren't "bass." Bass tastes like polluted lake water. Rockfish are yummy!

I regularly go out there.  I have always worn waders with my cleats and we go about 3/4 of the way to the end.  I don't mind the rain, if my rain jacket is keeping me dry.  As for the wind yesterday, it was whipping... there were a total of four of us on the jetty yesterday.  Although the first time my son and I went out it was not only cold, windy and raining... it was hailing.  Depending on the size of the swell I like to stand right on the edge of the water... or in it just a bit... although now days, I would rather be in my kayak.  My buddy and his son want to come down next monday... I keep telling him you can't fish when the wind is from the north... I don't think he believes me... I have since taken to simply saying I'm not going if the wind is northerly.