CatchWindow fishing intelligence

Cape Disappointment, WA Daily Water Report — October 4, 2026

Cape Disappointment gets a qualified go today: strongest for diving, fishing and sailing, while small-craft plans deserve more caution than the moderate headline wind might suggest. The sea is not huge—waves run 0.9 to 1.2 m, with the day’s calmest period near 11 AM at 0.86 m—but a 0.64 m, short-period wind wave is enough to keep the surface from feeling polished. Add an ocean current near 0.33 m/s toward 243°, and boaters and paddlers should treat this as working water, not a casual float. The best all-around daylight window is late morning through early afternoon. The morning high tide reaches 1.80 m at 8:57 AM, the waves ease toward their minimum around 11 AM, and winds remain below the late-day push. Fishing’s 7.4/10 score is supported by the rising pressure and the 7:15–9:15 AM solunar major period; the evening major period, 7:15–9:15 PM, overlaps the 7:46 PM high tide but also comes with the day’s strongest gusts, up to 16.3 knots around 5 PM. That is a fair trade only for crews comfortable with a choppier finish. Diving leads the board at 7.7/10, aided by manageable wave heights and 15.3 C surface water, though the forecast atmospheric visibility is only 0.1 km in full cloud cover. That is a serious navigation and surface-awareness issue, not a statement about underwater visibility. Sailing rates 7.2/10, with enough NNW breeze to work with, but gust spread and the late-day chop argue for an earlier session. Boating is a middling 6.6 and kayaking 5.8: the latter especially should favor the lighter late-morning conditions and keep a conservative margin around current and short-period waves. Compared with the reconstructed recent scores, fishing improves from yesterday’s 6.5, while boating and sailing ease back from 7.5 and 8.1. Water is also warmer than the recent run and 1.8 C above average. Monday stays similarly manageable near 1.1–1.2 m, then seas build Wednesday and Thursday toward 1.8 m before a rougher 1.9–2.2 m outlook Saturday. Best bet: make late morning your water window—before the afternoon gusts turn a decent 0.86 m sea into a more argumentative one.