Wave Conditions

[overthelimit]

I have fished Lake Erie my whole life, just started fishing Ontario last spring. I usually try to go when winds are very light or out of the South/Southwest because I only have a small 16 foot aluminum and like to play it safe.

With north winds from 10-15 with occasional higher gusts like this morning I'm thinking solid two footers. Is that about right? I can look at the wind and direction for Erie and take a pretty good guess for wave height depending on speed and direction but I know each lake is different and Im not sure about Ontario. Was supposed to take my brother up for the first time today but called it becuase of the North winds and they're calling for 1-3's.

[W.W.IV.]

If you have a long way to drive 10-15 is bad news, but a lot of the time the lake may be fishable with a 18-20ft.boat. In my 16fter. you will take a beating and get wet. I've found over the years you have to go and check the lake out to see what its really doing. Now that I said that you still don't know any more than you did. . Good luck and be safe.

[J.D.]

A good rule of thumb is 1ft. of wave for every 5 mph. of wind from the North or West... slightly higher if from the East or North East.

Example: from the NW @ 5 to 15 mph..... 1 to 3 foot waves.

[carpedium]

You can always check a webcam:

http://www.lakevision.com/index.html

[overthelimit]

Thanks for the info guys, the lakes are mysterious and can be tricky to figure out. We opted to stay home today and save the gas for next week. Hope we get some nice weather.

[Mortigan]

Good choice. My buddy tried out of I-Bay this morning in his 18ft Starcraft and the waves were too high.