Weather conditions

What do you guys consider to be too much in terms of wind and swell? I have been doing this for around 3-4 years now. And can only think of one time were we got caught 2-3miles offshore and conditions became borderline dangerous. I think when we checked it had turned to 20mph wind with 6-9ft swells. I remember paddling for 2 hours straight just to do what normally would be a 40min paddle. I am young and in great shape. But I want to know from more experienced guys what you consider not even going for it. I am starting to push the envelope further and progress my kayak fishing to another level. Right now I am looking at 2-3ft swells with 10mph wind with gusts up to 13mph from 6am-9am then from there it jumps to 13-15mph gusts up to 20mph from 9am-11am. Then the afternoons up to 20mph+. My plan is to get on at dark, fish 2-3hours and get off. Off the water by 11am at the latest. Staying within 2 miles of the launch. I don't see any issue dealing with swell, it will just be the wind. From past experience, when it is windy like this I will be constantly working the entire time. Non-stop moving to get and stay on fish. (don't care or want to hear about your shelter in place opinions, the virus is not stopping me from fishing). Anyways, would really like to hear from those with a lot of experience on the topic of wind/waves and deciding when and when not to go. I currently use 5-6 different weather/swell/wind/buoy report websites to help me get the best forecast for a trip. However as we all know, the weather forecast is never 100% correct.

If you haven’t watched the video in the following post you should give it a look:

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=91658.0

To quote Fishunter:

"WTTM~~  i start with:
Swell size. = 6ft and under is prime. anything over that gets dicey.

Wind swell will make it bumpy = anything below 4ft is doable. If the wind swell is four feet, that usually means it's windy and not good for Yakfishing, but a 2-4ft wind swell is workable.

When you see pics of the ocean and it looks like a lake.The WX is usually something like: 3-4ft swell + 1-2ft windswell. When the wind swell is even or close to the swell size, it usually is crappy.Unless it is under 4 ft.

When the WX says the wind will drop below 5kts overnight, the swell is under 6ft and the windswell is below 3 and dropping, you should be dropping everything important, because it is time to fish the ocean.

another factor up your ways is a: Long Period South Swell. These usually happen in summer&fall. The long period means the swell is thicker, it says this: 4ft swell@16seconds= meaning it takes 16 seconds for the bouy to move up&down within that 4ft of swell, which translates into a THICK &HEAVY WAVE. When the radio calls for this type of swell, it usually comes in sets. Once those major lines of sets pass, it will be a while before another builds up.

There are many other factors, but this is how I plan my attack. Tides will be the next thing to plan for.
 Hope it helped and remember BUDDY UP and
BE SAFE.  "

Roughly:

If swell in feet <= .5(period in seconds)

and

Swell  in feet + wind in kts <= 15

then

Fish

else

Drink beer

Since it is hard to tell how fast the wind is blowing, I bought a small, cheap anemometer (link below) to learn what my tolerance is for wind. It works great and now I know that, for me, I start to notice the wind at about 5mph, at 7mph the water starts to get some chop, at 10 I start to think maybe its time to head in if it gets worse. When it is a sustained wind above 10, I'm usually heading in. Of course, everyone will have different comfort levels and it depends on a lot of other factors about the body of water, your kayak, how far out you are, etc., but by doing this a few times you can have a better feeling for the day you will have based on the forecast.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PXJWC7X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1