Has anyone read this article in the Caller about rogue waves in CC Bay? It's pretty interesting. I fish out at Shamrock sometimes, and I have seen abnormally high waves on occasion.

Rogue waves in CC Bay

Yes, they happen - if you fish that area - you have to keep an eye out.

I've had to start my boat, haul in the anchor and get out of harms way more than once in that area. It can mess up the fish bite as well.

Another good reason to fish the back bays.

Not only less boat traffic - but less Tanker traffic !!!

I agree with the idea the waves may have been caused by ships. My grandfather either put the boat in protected area or had everyone looking for ships. If we saw one coming, we'd pick up and move somewhere else.

While the article was talking about the big waves, one other thing to be concerned with is a passing ship can suck all the water out from under neath you and then send it back all at once.

Good post, especially for those who didn't know or think about the effect a passing ship could have on your area you're fishing.

I've seen many a wrecked boat and wreck wade fisherman along the ship channel after a tanker passes by.

Those crew boats can throw a mean wake too.

I was cruising up the channel from Ingleside to Aransas Pass one morning. I was about a mile behind a crew boat also headed north. I came to narrow area with a concrete bulkhead on the mainland side. There was a steep bank on the backside of Dagger Island. The crew boat's wake was bouncing back and forth between the bulkhead and the steep bank. I wasn't expecting it. The wake was every bit of 4 ft. and steep. The only that kept me in the boat was the fact that I had a death grip on the steering wheel.

Fishermen are like cats; born with 9 lives and working on the last one.

I don't understand why the Pilots drive so fast in the Port Aransas/ Cporus area if they know there is such a problem. I fished the galveston bays area for years and never had a problem with large waves. Yes its a lot deeper bay and I guess that does factor a bit but even running up next to the ships in the ship channel they wouldn't be throwing the wakes like they do down there. I think those ship and boat captains need to be held a little more acountable for the wake they are throwing. I mean if I was to drive my boat up next to a pier or something causing my wake to damage it or possibly kill someone that was swimming or wading up next to the shore would I be the one at fault?

wow all the way over at shamrock? I kinda figured a boat would be safe there! We've done well at some places off the ship channel and its always a sick feeling leaving biting fish to run from a large ship because we knew that a wave was coming. That far from the shipping channel surprises me

Yes, you are responsible for your wake.

[Wow] conditions or something must have been just right or something to create a wave coming from the Corpus channel to lift the boat uplike he said because there are 2or 3 barrier islands with cuts in them that should have broke the wave action up before getting to shamrock cove, don`t think I ever remember hearing anything like that reaching shamrock area. I`ve been on the channel side anchored on edge of the channel and had ships come by ,you could feel and see the water from the shoreline being sucked out, boat would move around too but nothing to scary....Bill

Fishing the shallow banks along the ICW in the Surfside area can set ya on the bottom when the barges come through. I just set it out and wait for the water to come back. I do remember a few years back one barge pulling more water than normal and pulling my anchor loose.

So what's the best course of action if you see one headed your way? Especially if it's breaking??

If ur in a boat point at the wave........

and grab ahold of something and yell yeehaw! lol its going to get rough

First you have to understand the topography of the ship channel in Port Aransas. It's not that the ships are going too fast, It's more of an issue of their displacement.

The CC Ship Channel is like a bathtub. Fill it to the rim and the get in and the water spills over the edges.

The channel is fairly narrow and only 58' deep in most places. Outside the channel is shallow. Only a few feet in places. Run a big ol' tanker through the tub and it will displace a lot of water, thereby creating a wake. It displaces the water out of the "tub" and onto the surrounding shallow flats.

If that big tanker is running against the tide it can be even worse. Then the those giant propellers are moving a lot of water too.

Move to deeper water and farther away from the channel.