"Fishable" Wind Speed / Direction Port Clinton Area

[Rocket]

Thanks in advance for the advise. Trying to plan a trip later this week. Brother has a 20' boat and wind speed and direction on Erie seem to change daily.

Is there a general feeling for "fishable" or "doable" wind direction and speed? As Erie runs from NW to SE, a 10+ mph wind out of the North or East seems to cause major waves in the Port Clinton area. We've seen some ridiculous waves in years past trying to get out of Turtle Creek - so not going to deal with that.

Also - general feeling for how long it takes the lake to settle after a big North or East wind?

Good luck and tight lines!

[itsbob]

Alot depends on the direction,velocity and length of blow.How the blow muddied up the water. Sometimes it's not a bad as you would think.But not getting a satellite picture for days on end, can be hard to tell. But 2-3 days after a blow and can get good again.You are right about north and east bringing bigger waves and lousier catching.We definitely like south and west winds to fish in western basin.Would day 7-9 mph out SW on cloudy day the ideal conditions.

[gb1234]

I won't even try in my 16' mod-V unless the forecast at the link below is for "smooth seas" or "slight chop" AND the wind forecast is for less than 10 knots.
41.69 / -83.11 Marine Weather & Wind Forecast - Buoyweather

[tater140]

I try to find 15 mph or less sustained winds... hopefully out of the south or southwest. Yes, North or Northeast winds tend to bring more waves. With the marine forecast i am looking for 2' or less hopefully. If it is forecasted for 1-3's I am then paying closer attention to the direction of the wind, and maybe trying to launch at a particular location accordingly. For reference I have an 18' Lund. I tend to error on the side of caution... especially since I have a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive to get there. I think this year I have picked out about 5 different days to try to get trips to work out and only been able to get 2 of them to work. We are now headed to a more stable weather pattern time of year. Late July and August seem to be the most predictable times to plan a trip.

[West Basin]

Rocket,

Lake Erie actually runs more Southwest to Northeast, it's length. The Western Basin, however, is pretty much West to East lengthwise.

The worst waves as far as height in the Western Basin are from the northeast and east, because there are over a hundred+ miles of "fetch" or length of water for the wind to push up waves. However, since the Islands and Catawba Point block those waves, there is always some "lee" or calmer water around that area on the west side. West winds have about 30 miles of fetch, North and south winds from 30-40 miles.

As far as the Lake settling down wave wise, I've seen it go from 5 footers in the morning to nearly flat in the evening, when the wind dies off quickly. On the other hand, a slowly diminishing wind can keep high waves going for much longer. On the east side of the Islands, you will get residual "roller" waves even a good time after a big east / northeast wind, since it takes more time for the wave energy to dissipate in that long fetch of deeper water.

Another factor now that we've in non-fishing boat folks season is boat wake. The average size of boats on Erie has risen in the last 10 years. Those bigger boats cause big wakes. Combine a big wake with waves and you can come across a 4-5 foot wave in 2-3 foot wind waves.

Best thing as usual is find a good actuate wind forecast such as Iwindsurf, watch it, and make plans accordingly. You can also use the various Lake shore webcams to actually see what the waves look like at various places.