Raritan Bay question
 

My buddy has a 21' seaswirl CC that we keep in belmar and fish out of shark river. We plan on trailering it up to the bay to target stripers. Obviously when we fish the ocean we pick our days and know what we can safely fish in, however the bay is a bit more unknown for us. I know the bay can get really nasty especially with wind against tide. My question is how bad would it be with a 15-20knot wind against say an incoming tide? Or would it be best to wait for change of tide?

We are driving from PA hour and a half to belmar then trailering up to keyport/Laurence harbor and would like to avoid getting up there and finding it unsafe.

Re: Raritan Bay question
 

The bay can be evil in a wind against, especially west wind against since you have a western exposure in the bay. I’d wait it out until after the change unless you want to loose some fillings in your teeth :eek::eek:

Re: Raritan Bay question
 

Where you plan on launching from? Makes a huge difference.

Almost any wind/ tide combo is fishable depending on where you are, where you plan to go and how you plan to fish.

Re: Raritan Bay question
 

Good point Duff!

If you launch out of Keyport the harbor will afford you some protection from the west winds and you'd have a very short ride to the grounds. If you poke your nose out of the harbor into the open bay and it's uncomfortable, you could always turn back and fish the harbor until the tide changes.

If you were to launch out of Atlantic Highlands and try to make the run to the back bay with west winds bucking a incoming tide, you could be in for a very long, wet and uncomfortable ride.

Point in case, the end of last season we had some strong west winds forecasted. I knew if I could get out to the ocean and fish fairly tight into the beach, it would be flat, reason being the land buffets you from wind and since your are close to shore, the wind does not have a chance to build the seas. Now go a few miles off the beach a totally different story. The further from the beach the worse the conditions...

So I figured we'd run out and back on the outgoing tide to avoid the wind against conditions we'd have in the bay... First part of the plan worked well. The bay was not too bad since the tide and wind were in the same direction and when we turned the corner at the hook, we had a flat calm ocean in spite of 20 MPH winds out of the west...

Second part of the plan didn't work very well....

We struggled the first few hours to find fish but we finally started catching.
I knew the tide change was going to be at 4:00 so around 3:00 we stated home. On our way up the beach we spotted birds working and had Stripers up on top and could not resist the temptation to stop.

I should have known better and sure enough, we had overstayed our welcome. Not only had the tide changed but the wind had also picked up to 30.

The ride back up the beach was beautiful but when we turned the corner of the hook and were now exposed to open bay it got bad, really bad.. I'm not talking uncomfortable, I'm talking white knuckle evil...White caps, tight standing waves etc. Pulled the throttles back put the trim tabs down and hunkered down for a serious beating the rest of the way home :eek:

Point is you can't let your guard down and think " hey I'm not going far, I'm just going to fish the bay". Fact is in certain conditions the bay can get really nasty and in many cases is much worse place to be then the ocean.

I was thankful to see the dock that day and glad I brought a change of underwear :rolleyes:

Re: Raritan Bay question
 

I have seen RB foaming white and have seen it where would be unsafe in any boat... thats not something you see all the time of course.. However, the boat is a 21 foot seaworthy hull, and usually in the bay thats plenty of boat to keep you reasonably safe,even with 25 knot wind against tide.. However, being "reasonably safe" out there and actually being able to enjoy the day and fish effectively are 2 different things..
strong E winds with an outgoing tide are bad if you area anywhere near the Hook to the Staten Island side..... Not as bad if you stay in the lee between say the Hook and the ammo pier, but still can be choppy as hell... If you are going to get battered, and not be able to fish, why bother?... I usually keep a close eye on tide and wind direction/speed before heading down to NJ, as well as approaching cold fronts... bob

Re: Raritan Bay question
 

Thanks for the replies guys!! Thats what makes this site the best!

Most likely we would be launching from keyport and fishing towards the back right now, would not be messing with a honking east wind and an outgoing tide near the hook at any time!!! Looks like we wont be able to make it out tomorrow anyway but should be a go for Saturday. At least now I have a little peace of mind and have some more of an idea of what to expect and what to look for.

Re: Raritan Bay question
 

Sat you’ll have 5-10 NW switching to W later on. You’ll be fine. Low tide is 7 so wouldn’t cut west until your past the sailboats.

Re: Raritan Bay question
 

Very well said Gerry we downsized to a 23 CC last year and battling your way to get around the hook to a calm ocean is a rough ride. Stay outside to long on a great bite and the winds pick up make for a long, bumpy, soaked ride back at 5 to 10 knots. Everyone thinks we have the best of both worlds having the bay and ocean but getting to the ocean and back can be a white knuckling nightmare.