How much wind is safe?

[Kent]

Forecast of 15 mph wind on Utah Lake tomorrow. My question is how much wind does it take to make whitecaps?
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[PREDATOR]

You know, I have found that its all relative to the lake.

Willard is extremely effected by wind where hyrum seems to be safe to boat in much higher winds.

I would imagine utah lake is not wind friendly, but I would hope someone with a lot of expirience would give you some advice there.

More than that, I use wind a a guage to effective fishing.
I dont care if its trolling, or casting, or what, a 15-20 mph wind is a pain to fish in.

Safe or not, its just not the most effective thing I have expirienced.

But I will tell you this, I left the boat in the parking lot today, and fished the wind blown shoreline. Had me a killer day.
Throwing directly into the wind and letting the current work my lure for me. The active and agressive fish were all stacked up right in front of the waves, and the fishing was hot.
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[Fishcrazy]

Kent-15 mph is nothing,I always stay off if it get above 50mph[]Be safe Kent,have to look at the water,a few waves are not to bad,but anything above 1-2 feet is not to my likeing[]
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[hlfmoon]

I was on jordanell today. I have a little wind gage. The wind was averaging about 12 mph. There were white caps and some waves at about 3 feet. Was with my daughter and grandson. We did get 8 in 5 hours. The best was a brown that I think went about 3 1/2 lbs. He was hooked through both jaws so we did not get any measurments. We did get a picture but with a regular camera. It is still swiming.
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[wiperhunter2]

"The active and aggressive fish were all stacked up right in front of the waves, and the fishing was hot."
OK Mike, now you got me wondering, what lake were you fishing that you didn't need your boat and the fishing was so hot from shore?
Kent, at Bear lake, I'm a concerned when the wind gets up to 12 or 13 MPH but I've been out on Willard in 20mph winds. The boat control is the big issue if you are going into the wind but its not too bad if you are going with the wind. The problem of course is sooner or later you have to turn around and go back into the wind.
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[Fishhound]

Kent,

Here are some sailing "rules of thumb" - these have been accepted in the international sailing world for a few centuries(since about 1800 - Developed by Admiral Beaufort of the Royal British navy).

The wave action and wind pressure has been described with a progressive scale using the term "Force". Typically these are used on the open ocean - for inland purposes it is generally advised to add or increase the Force factor by 1 or 2 levels. In other words a force 4 on the ocean is a 5 or 6 inland.

Force 1-2 - "Light Breeze" (wind speed < 8 mph) = ripples.
Force 3-4 - "Moderate Breeze" (wind speed 8-18 mph) = 1' to 3' waves.
Force 5-6 - "Fresh or Strong Breeze" (wind speed 19-31 mph) = 3' to 11' swells, waves and whitecaps(big water inland).
Force 7 and above "Gale and small craft warning" (wind speed 32+ mph) = 12' + waves and brown foam.

Basically, on UL and Willard or any other body of water large enough to develope the wind pressures over the distance and area of the water surface, I use these rules before even getting to the water - If I'm already there, I look at the wave patterns that exist on the water.

wind below 10 mph is OK(as long as the gusts are expected to only be 150% of that or less-i.e gusts less than 15 mph) - only scattered white caps. Wind above 10 mph will have white caps and swells and if the wind is steady from a single direction for an extended period of time, it will have wave patterns with standing(haystack) or rogue waves potentially 50 % larger than the majority of waves.

Inland, if there are winds, stay on the windward side of the body of water and in the lee of the land mass for the safest boating.(unfortunately, the best fishing is on the
side with the most wind and wave action).

Here is the caveat. On UL and Willard, the depth of the water is such that the wind pressures can build waves that are almost equal and sometimes higher(that's when the waves turn into breakers) than the depth of the water. This is a dangerous situation because of the amount of water a boat draws - the craft can bottom out. When that happens, the craft has floundered and is SUNK. BE CAREFULL ! PLEASE !
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[Theekillerbee]

I think safe is a relative term. My boss grew up around the Great Lakes and laughs at me when I tell him the 5 footers at Willard scare me. He says he'd take a 14' aluminum through 10-12 foot waves. Crazy if you ask me...but hey, he's Canadian. Good luck and have fun.
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[Fishhound]

Yes, Safe is a very relative term. And, I don't know how you feel about your boss, but, it sounds like more bravado than anything else on his part. Historically, there is no shortage of sailors that have been lost at sea for having that same level of overconfidence or ignorance. Your boss is obviously not familiar with the shallow waters in Utah Lake and Willard or the effects that the wind and weather have on those environments. One can not really compare Willard or Utah Lake with bodies of water like the Great Lakes - due to the size and depth of water differential. That would be like comparing Utah Lake with a puddle in your driveway.

Or, maybe he is the best sailor the world has ever known - if that is the case, let me know the next time he goes out on one of those bodies of water when the winds are 30 + mph with gusts to 45 mph, so I can watch him do his "stuff" (hopefully he will be alone when he does it) while he is laughing at you - I'll observe and LAUGH from the shore after calling search and rescue - Thank you.
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[Paddler]

I love fishing in the wind. Generally, I bottom bounce when the wind is higher than ~15mph. It seems to turn on the walleye. I had a 25 fish day at Yuba on one of those 20-25mph days, and my partner caught another 10. We'd drift with the wind, then motor back into it with the boat trimmed way up to keep the spray out, and make another pass. If you tried fishing into wind, the 3 foot chop, because the period was so short, would come over the bow.

I like to troll in calm conditions, as it's easier to use the planer boards.
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[CROSSINEYES]

AT UT LAKE 15 IS ABOUT IT. WHEN IT HITS TWENTY O BOY.
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[Kent]

Thanks to everyone for the great information.

[size 1]"Kent-15 mph is nothing,I always stay off if it get above 50mph[/size][]" Hey Fishcrazy remember I am one of the good guys I ALWAYS let you outfish me, so perhaps you may want to keep me around for awhile.
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[Libertized]

I have found that it really depends on what body of water you are on, and what type of wind it is. For example, I have been on Pineview in very heavy winds (30+) and not been afraid. However, I have been on Willard Bay in similar winds and feared for my life! When a strong wind kicks up all of a sudden on Willard, the waves not only grow in height, but they also increase in frequency. In other words, they get closer together. My scariest day ever on the water was on a nice early summer day at Willard. Skies were sunny, but I could see a small thunderstorm passing several miles to the north. There was no danger of it hitting us, so we continued to fish. But then we were suddenly hit by microburst winds out of the northwest. We were on the southeastern shoreline, and the waves almost instantly grew to 4 or 5 feet. But the problem was they were so close together! The bow of my 16' deep-v would ride up one wave, and then on the way down it would plow right into the face of the next one. They were breaking over the bow and we were taking on a lot of water fast. The only thing we could do was work the throttle so as to force the bow up at just the right moment on every wave, and we slowly worked our way back to the south marina. Any engine problems whatsoever and we would have been dashed on the rocks instantly. I swore never again to be caught in that situation. Rolling 12' swells on the great lakes might be intimidating, but you can ride them, and they aren't as life threatening as those 5' hull choppers on Willard!