Columbia River Bar in a SC 17?

[pickle_rick]

I recently moved to Astoria, and would like to try my hand at ocean salmon in Marine Area 1 this year. Clearly, there's lots to learn, but first thing I need is an appropriate boat. My little 16' Smokercraft Osprey just ain't gonna cut it. Would it be reasonable to cross the bar for fishing the North Buoy 10 Zone* in a 17' Sea Chaser, assuming a knowledgeable operator and good wind/weather/tides?

* Here's a link with a map showing the specific area I'm talking about: https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/locations/marine-areas/ilwaco#major-fishing

[E-TEC Pacer]

My home town, born and raised there. Launching out of Astoria and getting back can be tricky at a tide change and with the afternoon nor'westers. It can pile up pretty good under the bridge during a change with a fair amount of water moving during an ebb. There are people that do it but I would really keep an eye on the tide and wind. Then a person has to keep an eye out so ya don't get run over!! Just be careful and use common sense.

[pickle_rick]

My home town, born and raised there. Launching out of Astoria and getting back can be tricky at a tide change and with the afternoon nor'westers.

How about launching out of Ilwaco? Does that make life easier, or any safer?

[E-TEC Pacer]

I've never launched out of Illwaco but went to the Motor Lifeboat School there in 1972. Would sure make for a shorter run. I think there's a launch in Chinook also.

[BestBoats]

I recently moved to Astoria, and would like to try my hand at ocean salmon in Marine Area 1 this year. Clearly, there's lots to learn, but first thing I need is an appropriate boat. My little 16' Smokercraft Osprey just ain't gonna cut it. Would it be reasonable to cross the bar for fishing the North Buoy 10 Zone* in a 17' Sea Chaser, assuming a knowledgeable operator and good wind/weather/tides?

* Here's a link with a map showing the specific area I'm talking about: https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/locations/marine-areas/ilwaco#major-fishing

100% capable

[xplorz]

I fish out of Ilwaco and have had my 17 SC across the bar many times. Its been out past the CR Bouy and south of Cannon Beach. But you really have to pick and choose your days wisely. You must learn when and how to safely cross that bar.

A couple of years ago I moved up to a 23.5ft boat and moor that at Ilwaco summer and fall, keeping the Arima at home for lake and river use. When the big boat comes back home, the Arima get some salt as my late fall & winter crabber in the mouth.

[Erik1990]

My friend and I crossed the bar just this past Saturday in an Arima SR17. It was a really nice and flat day, but in the bar there were still bigger than listed swells. Pick and choose wisely.

[First Cabin]

I've crossed with my SC17 numerous times.  As others wisely say, "Pick your days and times wisely".  Here's my checklist:  1.  What are the tides?  How big is the exchange?  2.  When is slack high and slack low?  3.  What is the weather forecast?  Wind?  4.  What is the ocean doing and predicted to do?  Swell and wind waves?  (If you don't fully understand the importance of all those questions, you're not ready to go)

If everything isn't right, I don't go.  I set my trip times and I stick to them.  No fish is worth extending my trip to a rough bar or windy return.

All that said, I've been caught in rough water there and the SC17 handles a lot more than I like being in.  I don't even think of going out if any part of my boat isn't operating with 100% confidence.  One foggy trip and radar is suddenly affordable.

[ohmytodd]

Remember that everything you read before you launch is a prediction, which is subject to change, or to be wrong. Even if you're in the water and on your way, if things don't look right you can turn around. Your boat will handle more than you can.

There's a guy named Charles Loos, he goes by Tinman over on ifish. He's a Pacific City Doryman, an engineer and a hell of a smart guy. He runs a program called Ocean Coach (https://www.theoceancoach.com/) where he teaches courses on ocean conditions to make people better captains. He used to do in person classes, but now does them over Zoom. He posted this the other day, go watch it before he takes it down (he just put it up for a short time to promote his service):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K_vq-55oLQ


A quick little story - on Sunday I fished out of Garbaldi. We launched on the first part of an outgoing tide, pretty close to high slack. Bar was unrestricted, forecast was for 3-4 knot winds from the north, 3 foot swell at 12 seconds. With light winds predicted to shift out of the south later in the morning we decided to run south for an easy trip home. As we were crossing the bar, two other boats were coming in at 7am, which seemed strange. The bar crossing was rough, and not what we expected. It was so rough that had we been in my buddy's 21' weldcraft he would have bailed, but in the Arima it was slow, but okay. What's normally a ~20mph ride was around 7mph the whole 10 miles down to 3 arches in the fog. When we arrived it was a washing machine. Windy still said 3mph winds, but it was blowing more like 15+ with seas building to the point that we couldn't really even walk around the boat without holding on to something. We had 2 swells crash over the stern and I ran the bilge pump almost all morning with my cable boot slurping in gallons (even though it's taped off). It was as rough an ocean as I ever want to be in, even though predictions were for a gorgeous, calm day on the water. Things laid down a bit, then churned again, then laid down again for us to run back to port around noon with only 5 small rock bass to show for the effort. The ocean was not as advertised, or expected. I had every intention of calling Tunacious to get a report from Cannon Beach but there was no way we were making that run in those conditions, the only place we were going was back home.

Even when you pick your days, not everything goes as planned.

[E-TEC Pacer]

Find some tide and current tables. It's always handy to know when max flood and max ebb is too. Current and tide are different. Current is horizontal movement of water and tide is vertical movement.

[pickle_rick]

Thanks for the advice, all. Lots to learn. @ohmytodd: I attended one of Charles' shorter seminars recently; great info.

[Mooch]

Current is horizontal movement of water and tide is vertical movement.

Small boat, big boat, good weather or bad, DeepZoom.com is an indispensable bar crossing tool.  As mentioned, tide tables alone don't tell entire story.  Also good planning site for strong tidal areas like strait, sound and bay.  Good planning, good luck.

http://deepzoom.com/#about

[Dubvalley]

Thanks for the advice, all. Lots to learn. @ohmytodd: I attended one of Charles' shorter seminars recently; great info.

I also took one of Charles's short zoom seminars recently. He shared some helpful go/no go judgement info and some resources I hadn't seen before.

One tidal flow forecasting website that he shared that I thought was particularly helpful was: https://www.deepzoom.com/

[Dubvalley]

Current is horizontal movement of water and tide is vertical movement.

Small boat, big boat, good weather or bad, DeepZoom.com is an indispensable bar crossing tool.  As mentioned, tide tables alone don't tell entire story.  Also good planning site for strong tidal areas like strait, sound and bay.  Good planning, good luck.

http://deepzoom.com/#about

Beat me to it! 

[Mooch]

Current is horizontal movement of water and tide is vertical movement.

Small boat, big boat, good weather or bad, DeepZoom.com is an indispensable bar crossing tool.  As mentioned, tide tables alone don't tell entire story.  Also good planning site for strong tidal areas like strait, sound and bay.  Good planning, good luck.

http://deepzoom.com/#about

Beat me to it! 

Worth mentioning twice.   

Also, worth mentioning (which I don't think was covered), is buddy boating across the bar especially if you are the least bit unsure or uncomfortable.  Most guys are accommodating at the launch, but I'm not too proud to follow anyone; with or without their approval.  Safety in numbers and all that.  Tip: bigger charter boats run at a good pace and knock down wind chop too. 

[Wiley]

https://tides4fishing.com/us/california/alcatraz-island

I like tides 4 fishing. It's simple and easy. Just like me !