The Venice Shoal.
Late December Low Latitude Low Pressure
Tuesday NOON Updated Surfed some chest high plus fun waves this am in SRQ county, windy and choppy but fun. Did not get a chance to get any pics. There is plenty of surf out there but it is choppy. Hoping for glassy 1-2ft leftovers tomorrow down south.
The Compound
Today’s hi res model for tomorrow am looks a little better. Will it be clean and solid? Search at your own risk.
Monday 12/23 in St Pete. Photos: M-Dub.
We got the wind break… Fun sand bar in St Pete right now. About 40 guys spread out between Chateau and the bottom section of Middle Jetty. Seemed like leftovers from Sunday and not fresh groundswell but it may have been a bit of both. Everyone was stoked to have fun clean surf and it was good to see old friends, stoked and psyched for tomorrow if it pans out…
Late December Low Latitude Low Pressure: Sunday: Best south swell spots will be knee high building to chest high by late Sunday. Jetty spots will be key. Monday looks maybe VAS with the strong low close by and 20-30knt WNW winds all day Monday, building head high choppy waves on Monday. A chance a few south facers could clean up a little very late on Monday. Tuesday looks like the clean-up. Seas show up 4-6ft at 8 maybe 9 seconds NW and winds 15-20 from the NNE. No hype with a clam digger low tide but if you had a spot that worked with no water it could be fun.
Hey guys, it’s the end of 2019 and we go full-on into 2020 with a great run of surf for wave stoked surfers in WFL. If your using this site to score fun waves and you feel like chipping in for 2020 a donation button is below. I have to upgrade my equipment (pc, camera, etc) so any help is greatly appreciated and will help with future forecasts and content! Thanks so much for being generous and giving.
Thanks for your generosity!
Props to anyone who got barreled here yesterday. Thanks to Joey at venicejetty.com for the shot…
WFL Surf Trip
After Party at Seagrape Wine SRQ.
Scoring the Gulf 12/18/19- photos- M-Dub.
Gulf coast grinder.
Coming left, ouch my stiff neck! Thanks to Eric Stephens for the rad shots! Eric took a break from getting barreled to snag some pics after his 5hr marathon session.
Thanks to Chris for loaning me his full-suit and sick Peli epoxy SB, the board worked perfect, thanks man! Photo by Eric Stephens.
Need an attorney that understands you? Check in with Scott.
who do you want to win Pipe? Kelly Kelly!
Top three hopefuls: Kelly, John John, or Jordy…
Is John John competing again after his injury? Honestly, I stopped following the WSL after he pulled out but I’m stoked to watch some pipe anytime. It would be cool to see the GOAT from FL pull it off. He’s such an inspiration Go Kelly!
It’s a Florida forum can’t root for anyone else at this time. Go Kelly!
But I agree WSL is fun when watching Kelly or John Florence. Can’t wait to see Jack Robinson full time on the CT next year.
That was an amazing ride Kelly got! JJ looks like he didn’t miss a beat as well! Wouldn’t it be crazy if they ran finals day this am? Regardless, I will be watching the pipeline cam on my lunch break today ?
chest high sets in st Pete beach right now
South of Venice was fun all late afternoon as well, waist to chest. Hoping tomorrow morning is a log dream.
Found some fun ones Saturday in Reddington in the afternoon at a not so secret spot that was deserted. Nothing epic but super fun for the Gulf. Was in the water almost 4 hours and it seemed to get better the whole time I was out.
I surfed early yesterday morning up in N. Pine County. I thought it was going to be better in the a.m. not the p.m. Me and a few others found a bit of a novelty wave surfing right next to the jetty. All waves, even the rights, would break with the rocks parallel to the wave. Lefts were sketchy as the rocks came at you real fast and then you were left with the current pulling you towards them. Fun waves, but it seems I should have saved my energy for the afternoon/evening. Oh well, at least the rest of the gulf got the goods.
Couldn’t believe how good it got yesterday. Stomach high tubes and consistent conditions
Stoked on the forecast for tomorrow. Looks like I’ll get a chance after work and if the winds cooperate, should be a fun eve. My go to sandbar performs well with a N wind and hard angle swell. The weekend low looks interesting on the models. Micah, you’re the man with the forecasts and calling out swells ahead of time to give us a chance to arrange some water time! Hope you heal up quickly and enjoy time with the family!
MW back in old stomping grounds! Sounds like a SK kind of day. No other real Pinellas options are there…maybe Upham? Eve incoming tide, maybe a chilly late day surf? Egmont currently 6.8’@7s@300 winds N at 20+kts. What say MW?
Sunset was magical this morning. Some how it was clean and barreling below sea level! That wind was light on the beach. Checled a couple spots at dawn and ended up surfing there for 3 hours!!!
Scored in SRQ after work. Not epic, but fun waist+ solid nugs from 3pm-sunset. Did I see Micah in the lineup this afternoon snagging some rights? You were shredding our lil waves on you SB ?
South Sarasota got really fun late afternoon to sunset. Waist high plus breaking shallow and fast.
cool to see how stoked everyone was to surf. waves were fun!
Got shacked a couple times and slammed once at the dredge sandbar yesterday before others caught on. Fun stuff…
Back to that World Title Race!!!!!
If Kelly wins Medina wins world title just from Semis????
After Medina’s drop in interference with Ibelli as strategy….. Holy crap I don’t like people dropping in on one another whether it’s free surf or comp.
But Kellys Quarter Final against Freestone was killer in the last 5 minutes.
I’m rooting for Italo at this point.
so sick!! Go JJF! Go Kelly!
By WSL rules Italo should be the champion now. Medina did not have priority to block in his heat violating WSL rule 171.11 Serious Unsportsmanlike Interference.
If the Discipline Director and Head of Tours and Competition determine
that an interference during an Event was intentional, unsportsmanlike
and of a serious nature, notwithstanding any penalty available under
Article 188 (which may include suspension from Events or an entire
Tour), a Surfer will lose the benefit of counting their best Event result
when calculating their Ranking on the relevant Tour (e.g. if this Article is
violated at a QS Event, their QS Ranking will be effected).
Notwithstanding any resulting discipline being imposed by the Discipline
Director, the heat in question can be re-surfed if determined by the Head
Judge that the result was affected by the Surfer’s conduct referred to
within this Article.
Sick of WSL corruption!
Congrats to Italo! People’s champ!
Glad to see Italo win. Congrats!
Now the WSL should drop Medina’s ranking to 5th place on the leader board, but I doubt they will follow through with their own rules and regulations…
Yeah that drop in was garbage in my opinion. I like competitiveness but that was straight disrespectful. Gab is very talented but I think he should answer for that move. Regardless, congrats Italo! That man has passion and skills to fire me up! That wave where he blew out the barrel and launches a full rotation had me screaming at my tv lol ?
are you guys talking about v Caio Ibelli? that was so weak… free Intf call to win the heat… so Glad Italo is champ! Gaby is a chump
Yeah talking about Caio and Gab. The way I see it, it was a competitive move for competitive surfing with a title on the line. We have all watched rules of priority play out when Kelly dropped in on Parkos barrel and then again Gab drop in on Kelly’s barrel years ago. I don’t like it but it’s a game they play. The thing that really gets me is it came across as a big middle finger to Caio after the Portugal exchange. Interview with Caio said he paddled back out and said to Gab what was that and Gab said I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
Seems like a rule WSL may want to revisit.
Congratulations Italo! What a great finals day to watch unfold. Can’t wait to surf Sunday-Tuesday, see you out there.
The huge difference in those situations is that the surfer had priority at the time to block. Gab didn’t have priority this time, which in turn violated rule 171.11 which states:
Serious Unsportsmanlike Interference.
If the Discipline Director and Head of Tours and Competition determine
that an interference during an Event was intentional, unsportsmanlike
and of a serious nature, notwithstanding any penalty available under
Article 188 (which may include suspension from Events or an entire
Tour), a Surfer will lose the benefit of counting their best Event result
when calculating their Ranking on the relevant Tour (e.g. if this Article is
violated at a QS Event, their QS Ranking will be effected).
Notwithstanding any resulting discipline being imposed by the Discipline
Director, the heat in question can be re-surfed if determined by the Head
Judge that the result was affected by the Surfer’s conduct referred to
within this Article.
medina sucks—poop stance mafia. yea he can do airs, who can’t these days.
Popped out to Sunset this evening and it was sort of fun when the occasional waist high set would roll through. There is definitely groundswell in the water. I am glad I went out tonight as I have to work tomorrow and by the time I get off the forecast is showing total VAS conditions. I hope y’all find some chunk nuggets to surf tomorrow.
Thanks for the report Russ… have you guys seen the buoys? Solid swell will move in tomorrow thumpy chunk. it was blowing a gale pointed at WFL all day up by LA- hope it’s not too VAS and Tuesday the wind lays down or tomorrow am
I know if I didn’t have to be at work this morning I would be out at the beach. Swell is clocking around more and more from the west now and getting bigger. Winds aren’t bad at my house in Pinellas Park right now. It could be really fun this morning if the winds don’t crank-up too soon. Dawn Patrollers stand a good chance of scoring.
Waist high, clean, closeouts in srq at 9am
Scored this morning in Srq with a small group of people. Solid chest high sets every 5 minutes or so with some 75 yard plus rides thrown in the mix. Best morning I’ve had in a long while and that wind was dead till 9:30 almost 10.
Anyone catch that beach on Anna Maria that picks up South swell real good?
I missed the morning window with the favorable wind so I decided to hit VSJ for a lunchtime session and found a few fun rides on my floaty fish. It was choppy but chest+ peaky nugs were rolling through. Hoping tomorrow will be more fruitful for me as I’ll have less family obligations. Still trying to work out how to score Christmas morning, we shall see. Maybe I can wake the grom up at 3am for presents, pancakes and some LB sliders.
I have to work tomorrow but I know almost nobody is going to come in and we are all leaving by 1. So I might just dawn patrol the Zoo and come in late. ????
good idea Russ 003 is 12ft at 10 seconds!!!!
Chest high seems to be getting better 10am… Still windy and choppy
Surfed south of Bradenton but north of Venice. I posted a pic to Instagram that made it look like it (might) be good. It wasn’t – at all. Waist to chest, but peaking up randomly all over the place. Hard to get a wave. Managed a few in a couple of drifts. No bueno though.
I paddled out at The Zoo at first light. The swell seemed to be mixed up and was a little weird first thing. It got it together, at least for a little while, before I had to leave and go to work. I caught some fun rides in the 2nd half of my 2-hour session. It got peaky and a few of them lined up nicely.
Mele Kalikimaka