Northwest Fishing Reports

I have fished Westport numerous times, but always in another's boat. I am interested in the opinions of experienced Westport fishermen on crossing the bar in a 16 foot Alumaweld Talon. The boat is equipped with a 70 hp main motor and 8 hp kicker (both well-maintained and reliable), GPS, etc. The boat is well-equiped, well-maintained, and reliable. The question is really the length of the boat. Crossing the bar would be during a low tide swing, and predicted small seas and good weather. I am interested in your thoughts. I fish CQ in this boat regularly and it works well. I am not willing to die for a fish. However, life is not worth living without a "reasonable"amount of adventure. That is part of why we fish, right? Anyway, your thoughts are welcome.

A really good person to chat with is Mark (Markfromseas). He makes that trek in his smallish 18 foot boat and has some great stories. I am sure he would be very knowledgeable on this subject. Personally, I would say no. But that is just me. I have seen 16 foot boats out on the jetty fishing, but not crossing the bar. I would say 18 would be the minimum unless you are 100% on what you are doing. Heading out one time on a charter, as we were crossing the bar, I did see a 16 foot arima hauling out and catching so much air off the waves that you could see the prop in the troughs. It was crazy!

The one and only time we crossed the bar was in an old 23 ft cuddy inboard we had. It was a great rough water boat.

We checked the bar report and on the way out it was smooth as silk.

On the way back it was still pretty nice with long smooth rollers and we were all thinking this was a piece of cake. When we got maybe a 1/4 mile inside the jetty the waves were pretty tall but still smooth. Then all of a sudden we heard a god awful noise behind us. We looked back to see a breaking wave that looked like it was about 50' tall coming right behind us! Im sure it was only 6'-8' but it sure looked bigger from the wrong perspective.

I goosed the throttle and we stayed ahead of it and no other breakers came close.

When we finally got back to the dock and changed our underwear, we decided we didnt need THAT much adventure and maybe that wasnt the most desirable place to fish after all!

Havent been back

On the other hand lots of guys cross the bar and very few of them actually get killed, so YMMV ;)

I'm taking my 19' Trophy down there over the long weekend (unless somebody buys it ;) and have been doing a lot of research on the bar. What I've been told is avoid max ebb and follow the general guidance such as this: http://www.leeroysramblings.com/Weather ... l_boat.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There's cautions around the sunken jetty as well. I think it reasonable to exercise a certain amount of caution, but to not let it intimidate you or psych you out. Also, if it's dangerous, the Coasties will have it closed.

General rule is the less water there is on the bar the greater the danger. Don't try it at all on a minus tide series. Generally it is safer to cross on an incoming tide cause the bar is filling with water. Don't forget you have to come back too. If you leave on a high tide when the bar is full of water and come back at low tide when there is a lot less water on the bar it can get very nautical.

I've only crossed Westport on a charter. But I have crossed the Tillamook bar with my boat a lot... going back to the 70's and they sink boats there too. I used to own property there. Remember, its the ocean... it can do anything it wants to anytime it wants to. A 16 footer is very small.