Bodega Bay Yak Salmon Fishing out of the Westside campground area?

I look for wind under 10k at 6am and a swell of 6 or less. A mixed swell with short periods is a bummer too.

I like to use this site when I'm close to making a decision:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/firewx/fwpfm/fwpfm.php?wfo=mtr



This is what it says for Bodega Bay for the next three days:
I've made the wind and swells for today at 6am glow in red.

Forecast prepared by WFO MTR
37.984N 122.925W 0FT
0300 PM PDT Wed Jul 11 2012

DATE                 WED 07/11/12            THU 07/12/12            FRI 07/13/12
UTC 3HRLY         10 13 16 19 22 01 04 07 10 13 16 19 22 01 04 07 10 13 16 19 22 01
PDT 3HRLY         03 06 09 12 15 18 21 00 03 06 09 12 15 18 21 00 03 06 09 12 15 18

WIND DIR          NW NW NW  W  W NW NW NW  W NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW  W  W NW
WIND SPD           8  6  5  5  8 12  9  6  4  4  7 10 13 11  9  9 10 10 10 12 12 14
WIND GUST         10  7  6  6 10 15 11  7  5  6  9 12 16 14 11 11 12 13 13 15 15 17
CLOUDS            BK SC SC BK BK FW FW OV OV BK BK BK BK BK BK BK BK BK BK BK BK BK
CLOUDS(%)         80 57 57 70 70 21 21 92 92 80 80 66 66 65 65 80 80 80 80 71 71 72
POP 12HR              0           0           0           0           0           0
QPF               0.00     0.00     0.00     0.00     0.00     0.00

SIG WAVE HGT       5     5     5     5     5     5     5     5     5     5     5
WINDWV HGT         1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1
SWELL HGT          4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4  4
SWELL DIR          W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W  W
SWELL PD           8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8  8 -- -- --
SWELL2 HGT         2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2
SWELL2 DIR         S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S
SWELL2 PD         13 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 -- -- --

Cool.I think I'm getting the hang of it. Under 10k is good and under 6 ft with long periods in between is good Oh yea and early mornings are better because that is when its likely to be calmer and it gets rougher closer to the afternoon

Learn to paddle a kayak safely first before attempting to kayak fish. And learn how to self rescue. Watching it on YouTube is not enough. Actually get on the water and make sure you can do it consistently. There are too many stories of noobies getting in trouble because they could not self rescue, and had to depend on other kayakers, power boaters, or coast guard to bail them out.

There are areas that are more dangerous than others. The mouth of Tomalas Bay can be a very, very dangerous place if there is a swell running. Bodega Bay isn't as bad but wind can be a problem there. If you haven't spent a lot of time in the ocean as a kayaker or surfer than I would not go out there without a radio and a buddy and only go on a very calm day. You must have a self rescue to be in the ocean in my opinion. Practice in a lake then practice in the ocean with a buddy. It's not as easy to rescue yourself when you are out of gas, in heavy chop drifting rapidly to waves breaking over rocks.

There are areas that are more dangerous than others. The mouth of Tomalas Bay can be a very, very dangerous place if there is a swell running. Bodega Bay isn't as bad but wind can be a problem there. If you haven't spent a lot of time in the ocean as a kayaker or surfer than I would not go out there without a radio and a buddy and only go on a very calm day. You must have a self rescue to be in the ocean in my opinion. Practice in a lake then practice in the ocean with a buddy. It's not as easy to rescue yourself when you are out of gas, in heavy chop drifting rapidly to waves breaking over rocks.

This is gold advice right here. The amount of boats, and weather conditions that can change, and do quite frequently, can make Bodega Head not the best place for kayak fishing. Im with Nudling here also. Head to Monterey. First for and intro to ocean kayaking then fishing.

Ocean salmon is one of the last species that a yaker is able to land and it's usually because they can be quite a distance offshore or in a pretty dangerous area. If you monitor the bite closely enough, you'll be able to target them in places like SC or Monterey and the red hot bite is just outside of the harbor.  Let them come to you and be ready to file your PTO. 

Bodega is one of those places where I would hesitate to launch and would only do so I know it's going to be a sure-catch type of day. It's nice to have boats around in the event of an emergency but trolling boats are a danger in fog. They're trying to dodge crab pots, locate bait and watch their rods all at the same time. The last time I was there in a boat, the skies were clear in the morning and a thick fog rolled in at 11?!

If you've spent any time in the area on the water...you already know the answer. for some it's a GO day...for many, go north and catch Ling.