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Fishing Report for the Florida Panhandle
Capt. Alex Crawford
October 4, 2002
Carrabelle - Saltwater Fishing Report
When Mother Nature gives you only lemons, you make your very best lemonade. Weather, weather and more weather!!! We just thought we had escaped the storm season, until Isidore and then, right on her heels, Lili. Except for 15 to 20 knot East/Southeast winds and 4 to 6 foot offshore seas, Lili was a non-event on the Florida coast this week.
So, what does one do when there is only lemonade to be made? This angler has used this opportunity to do several productive items on the to-do list. The fluorocarbon leader boxes are once again full. All of the hooks are hand-sharpened to a razor edge. All reels are clean, lubed and loaded with new Ande line. The bait pen at the dock is overflowing with grouper-size pinfish. A prepared opportunist must be prepared or all is not right in the world. Guess it is the type A personality or more probably, the retentive and obsessive compulsive nature.
Since the fishing opportunities have been impossible this week and weather has been on the front page, let’s take a few minutes to discuss some great weather websites. The basic game plan here is to do one’s due diligence to gather the best weather information available, in order to make informed decisions. The prudent mariner relies upon many sources of info when navigating on the big treacherous pond.
There are dozens of weather websites on the internet. Following are a few that I use. Each offers a unique look at Mother Nature. First, weather.com is a comprehensive site with a variety of excellent tools. This is the online version of the TV weather channel. This is good stuff for land lubbers to do travel planning on business or weekend planning for play.
Two outstanding sites I use almost everyday are www.eangler.com and www.cyberangler.com Check it out, they are great!
Another must have resource is the NOAA weather report that is broadcast 24/7 on your Very High Frequency marine radio. I use my hand held VHF radio to back up what I learn from other online sources.
A really informative site is www.fl.rodngun.com It contains a number of great National Weather Service Products like Navy Wave Forecasts, National Data Buoy Center weather stations, Wind predictions, Radar images, surface water temperature models, webcams for many Florida coastal cities and several hundred tide prediction stations from Jacksonville to Pensacola.
One of the best sites for Tropical weather information is weather underground.com. Everything you need to track storms is only a click away.
A very sophisticated site used by aviators is www.rap.ucar.edu Some of you may recall back in 1975 when an Eastern 727 went down at JFK killing 113 of 124 aboard. The crash was blamed on a little known weather phenomenon called windshear or microburst. That catastrophic event was the beginning of terminal Doppler Radar at most U.S. hub airports. A joint effort was formed by the FAA, the National Center for Atmospheric Research(CAR) and the Research Applications Program(RAP). Today, these programs are standard training models for airline pilots. This site offers numerical models up to 10 day plots. Meteorologists use RAPUCAR as a forecasting tool.
So, bookmark these sites in your computer. Like me, you will be able to forecast the weather just like the pros with 100% accuracy. You will never be wrong. You will patent this remarkable skill and grow wealthy. Or, if you don’t like the weather report, just wait 30 minutes and it will change.
Until next tide, tight lines and solid hookups,
Captain Alex Crawford
Proud Member Florida Outdoor Writers Association
Proud Member Florida Guides Association
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