Fog Spoils the morning bite

So I'm sitting in my truck, boats all ready to splash and the fog is thick. I'm contemplating but my decision was easy when a bozo pulls right in front of me and blocks me in the parking lot. He and his two buddies proceed to ready their boat for the water, have coffee, hit the butt hut, etc.

No normally I'd have been mad as heck because at 5:00am there were about 200 open parking spaces and he could have had his choice. It was about 10 minutes into the antics when I realized that the fog was really getting bad and these guys were using my headlights to see.

I though about turning them off just to mess them up but then I noticed the fog again and the fact that they didn't have any navaids on the boat. I went back my boat and fired up my Lowrance and found that my GPS was dropping in and out. I fired up the VHF and put channel 3 WX on and there were warnings for the entire area until 10:00am. I was thinking, darn I wish I had radar and then I thought again. The guy in front of me will have no clue where he is on the water and neither will the majority of others. By the time the fog lifts the bite will be over and the weekend warriors will be arriving and the ramp antics will be in full swing.

I strapped the boat back down, put away my gear, poured a cup of coffee and when the bozo's blocking me finally moved I came home. Of course leaving the parking lot was not uneventful because the bozo's that were blocking me got a flat tire and parked to change it at the exit.

NGT, if you go up to Sonoma anytime soon, that hub cap that's laying by the stop sign leaving the parking lot and is flat as a pancake, well I tried to miss it... Really, I did try.. whoops...LOL

Re: Fog Spoils the morning bite

The fog didn't mess up the morning bite, you chickened out.

The low light bite can be killer.

I just idle out and keep a sharp eye on the sonar, or sometimes I won't even crank the big motor and just use the trolling motor to fish my self away from the launch... but I do know my lake well.

Is fishing in the fog any worse than driving on the road in it?

Re: Fog Spoils the morning bite

jigngrub said:

The fog didn't mess up the morning bite, you chickened out.

The low light bite can be killer.

I just idle out and keep a sharp eye on the sonar, or sometimes I won't even crank the big motor and just use the trolling motor to fish my self away from the launch... but I do know my lake well.

Is fishing in the fog any worse than driving on the road in it?

Click to expand...

LOL, it wasn't me I was afraid of. If it was a weekday I'd have been on it. This lake is a little odd, it was a bunch of deep narrow canyons when they flooded it and full of tall redwoods and pines. They didn't take those out so you have to stay pretty much centered up until you get to the holes (5 mi) and then you can tap dance with the trees if you want. When the fog settles in on this pond, it's right down tight on the water and you can't see more than a few feet past your bow. Nav lights do nothing to protect you and nobody pays any attention to loud hailers sending out fog signals.

As far as driving in it. I live in the San Fransisco area I drive in the fog a lot. Anybody that say's they like driving in it is lying.

Re: Fog Spoils the morning bite

Jlawsen,
I can see why you made that decision not to fish. Brings to mind an event that happened to my buddy and I a year ago. On Lake Eufaula (Alabama) one morning and saw the fog rolling in. Didn't think too much about it and launched with our lights on and GPS working. As we snaked out to the main channel, the fog bank rolled in and got so thick and black we couldn't see past the bow of his Ranger. With the GPS still working, we at least had our previous tracks to navigate with. But it was when we got to the main lake that we realized we might be in a tight spot. If we couldn't see, no one else could either, and here we were on the main lake! The pucker factor went up and we were just waiting to get hammered by one of those BIG boats that ply these waters. We would never see it until it was right on top of us. Though the fog finally lifted, those few hours in it was pretty hairy for us. We couldn't concentrate on fishing till it lifted. Needless to say, we won't do that again.

Re: Fog Spoils the morning bite

I'd say that was a good call. The amount of clueless people that go to this lake on the weekend is unbelievable and there's no need to take that risk. Would have liked to see the hubcap

Re: Fog Spoils the morning bite

bqtoot said:

Jlawsen,
I can see why you made that decision not to fish. Brings to mind an event that happened to my buddy and I a year ago. On Lake Eufaula (Alabama) one morning and saw the fog rolling in. Didn't think too much about it and launched with our lights on and GPS working. As we snaked out to the main channel, the fog bank rolled in and got so thick and black we couldn't see past the bow of his Ranger. With the GPS still working, we at least had our previous tracks to navigate with. But it was when we got to the main lake that we realized we might be in a tight spot. If we couldn't see, no one else could either, and here we were on the main lake! The pucker factor went up and we were just waiting to get hammered by one of those BIG boats that ply these waters. We would never see it until it was right on top of us. Though the fog finally lifted, those few hours in it was pretty hairy for us. We couldn't concentrate on fishing till it lifted. Needless to say, we won't do that again.

Click to expand...

Yep, it's a lot easier to understand when you've actually experienced it. I went out in the fog once intentionally thinking my Nav Aids and Loud Hailer Fog Horn would keep me safe. I'm not so sure they didn't but just like you, I was pretty puckered up for a couple of hours. The one that really scares you is when you get into ice fog. It happens in a just a matter of seconds and if you're already fishing with a bunch of other boats you suddenly have no clue where you or they are. You're best bet in those cases is to just shut it down, drop anchor and turn on the loud hailer signals.

If you don't have a loud hailer, sing your favorite song. 99 bottles of beer on the wall usually outlasts the fog.