Reading the weather before you go: wind, waves and pressure
Many anglers check the forecast and only look at "is it sunny or not," which is a mistake. Just 4 numbers actually decide whether today is a good fishing day: wind speed, wind direction, wave height, and pressure movement.
Wind speed and direction
Offshore wind (blowing from land to sea) flattens the surface and makes shore fishing easier, since it pushes the choppy surface water away from you. Onshore wind does the opposite — it piles waves onto you and stirs up the water in front of you. Generally, above 26–28 km/h shore fishing gets hard, and above 33 km/h a small boat isn't safe.
Wave height
Under 0.6m is ideal for a small boat. Above 1.2m is a real danger for a small boat even if today's wind itself isn't that strong — because waves build up from distant sources, not just today's local wind.
Pressure movement — the signal most people skip
- Steady for 2–3 days: the best case; fish are in a stable, normal activity pattern.
- Falling slowly: usually good, sometimes triggers a feeding push ahead of a change.
- Rising: fish tend to settle down and feed less for a while.
- A sudden jump: a sign of an incoming storm or weather front — fish sense it before it arrives, and often go quiet entirely until things stabilize again.
A quick decision rule
If the wind is offshore and under 26 km/h, waves are under 0.6m, and pressure is steady or falling slowly — that's a great day for both boat and shore. If any one number crosses the line, consider switching to shore instead of boat, or postponing entirely if everything looks bad.
This is exactly why the tool gives separate "shore" and "boat" scores for every day — a day can be excellent for shore and poor for boat at the very same time.