North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Anyone out there been caught out on the water in the build up storms and got a good story? Seems unable to avoid for big trips coming into this time of year, trying to gauge how bad it can get out there

Mate if you havent been caught out yet they can vary a bit from a 15 min soaking to a full blown mini cyclone I've been caught in a few over the years it's not that big a deal usually ....unless you are offshore in which case you need your surfing skills up to spec .

It's simply a matter of prepping the correct gear to wait them out sure you can tough it out and fish though it. ... the fish are wet already so they dont seem to care and can actually be turned on into a frenzy due to the fluctuations in the barometric pressure both just before, during and after the storm. Make sure you carry a bailer or working bilge pump/s as it can p!ss down some days. Quite often you can out manoeuvre them but sooner or later you will get a good lesson by mother nature.

Some items that make it a bit more comfortable include :

Good sheltered safe spot to anchor up.
Dry bag or good storage for spare clothes, towel, and electronic devices.
Raincoat .
Jacket
Tarp for imrovised canopy wall
Handline to continue fishing if lightning nearby .


Good luck staying dry.

Gday Goldfish, That looks like the rocks I came across last weekend in Middle Arm. I can see that rock in the back ground. I went out trying to find that rock u mark for me the other day. Looks good out that way, plenty of rock to flick at at the lower part of the tides.

Cheers for the tips Goldfish, Will see how we go this friday heading out to long lost down to sail city in the moprning. Hopefully we dont get caught!!

Cheers for the tips Goldfish, Will see how we go this friday heading out to long lost down to sail city in the moprning. Hopefully we dont get caught!!

Agree with Goldfish. Pack a few boxes of those huge clip lock bags for phones, cameras and smokes & lighter if your that way inclined. they're also good for the fillets and help pack under the ice without soaking them in the smelly ice water.
In deep water I prefer to pull anchor and just steer into it on low or just fast enough idle.
You will get wet (and cold) anyway.

Me and some mates got caught out about a year ago in a huge storm in the middle of the night. It only lasted about 30 minutes but it felt like hours.
We were fishing around Emery Point in a 6m half cab. Rain was so think that we could no longer see the city lights, huge winds and swells. At first the thought we would just stay put as we were anchored but the swells were so big it felt like the boat would tip so we pulled anchor and drove straight at the waves - not sure if this was the right thing to do or not....
I didn't jump in another boat for about 6 months

I would add to what Goldfish said in being prepared. Before you go running around make sure your esky is tied down, your tackle boxes bags closed up and stored. Rods in holders or away in lockers. And get rid of anything laying around on the floor. When it stands up the last thing you want to worry about is where your gear is. And when you pitch up on a big wave you don't want the esky coming at you.

Pretty nasty getting caught out in them. Make your call on what to do early and make option A to seek shelter. To me it is a simple matter of applying good seamanship.

Gotta love Emery Point. Should have been named Entry Point as its the narrowest and roughest part of the harbour at any time with a good wind. Big tide movement plus a good storm = 3 metre waves from there across to the other side of the channel.

Worst I got caught in was well downstream of the Arnhem Hwy on the Adelaide River. Big storm formed overhead and lightning followed us all the way back to the ramp as it got dark. The lightning was that bad we waited under the bridge a while to retrieve the boat but it didn't let up, so we eventually went into the ramp. The carpark was flooded with about six inches of water and lightning was coming down all around. Even the drive home was scary, lightning landed near the car and driving rain made it hard to see.

Got a similar one when fishing in Middle Arm. Only luck saves you, skill doesn't mean much with lightning.

Big storms on Bare Sand Island can be interesting ...

Not wrong Matt. I've been caught down there. Was freakish how badly the waves stood up also (about 30km down from bridge). Also sh..ty because that path the river takes means you can't out run the storm.

Fished Garden point a few years back, and anchored for the night..... We got belted by 'Hector' all night.......scary, but atleast we had reception to watch the radar!

Camped on a beach one night off Domett, the water was a mill pond when we went to sleep. Low tide was at 12.15am and the boat was anchored so the incoming would have the boat in a metre of water come dawn. Got up at 2.00am to check that was what was going to happen as it should have as at that point the boat would just lifting off the sand and exposed to any swell. Meanwhile out to sea a storm had started that had pushed up some waves that had just started to dump water into the back corner of the boat, I was 15 minutes too late. Too late to stop it I pulled out the battery, fuel containers, floor and floated it up with the tide bailing a bit as required. The plan was to refloat it on the high, reload it and go. All went to plan but the storm moved towards us and the swell got bigger. So keeping the boat into the waves on the high tide whilst we bailed and scooped out the sand meant I had to swim out through the break with the anchor, set it and go back to sorting the boat. As the tide dropped I had to swim out again and reset the anchor a bit further out. We got away eventually with about an hour delay but not much sleep that night.

Yep, they do come up quick. A mate lost his not anchoring out far enough with the same episode and 100mm of rain at the same time about 4 in the morning. The crew nearly got squashed when the 7m boat turned upside down full of rain in the breakers. They spent 3 days on the beach due to Sat phone, GPS and the rest all gone. Sorry bunch of mates they were but now appreciate auto on the bilge pump and realise ya just gotta swim in and out a bit further sometimes