Taft (Siltetz River) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a good, hard look at what Taft (Siltetz River) has got cooking for us over the next two and a bit weeks. I’ll be straight with you – this river mouth setup is a bit of a mixed bag, and we’ve got a big gap of flatness or poor conditions to sit through before any real payoff.

The first few days are a write-off for paddle surfing. A chunky, cross-shore 10 ft SSW swell with some heavy rain kicks things off Wednesday morning, and while the river mouth might handle the tide, that’s just too much grunt for the spot. It’s more of a spectacle than a surfing proposition. The combined wave energy is a hefty 1252 (moderate to strong), but the wind is messy with an 19 mph cross-shore. This pattern of oversized, cross-shore swell hangs around through Thursday and into Friday morning, with energy peaking at a massive 2064 on Thursday morning under an 8 ft WNW groundswell. That’s expert-only territory at best, and even then, the wind is cross-shore, making it lumpy.

You’ll want to wait for Friday afternoon, September 4th. That’s when things start to calm down. The swell drops to a manageable 4 ft from the WNW, but the real key is that glassy wind. The surface will be clean as a whistle, and the wave energy is a light 525 (weak). It’s not going to be pumping, but for a gentle session on a small, clean wave, this is your window. The water is running a bit colder than average for this time of year at 57°F.

Then we hit a dry spell. Saturday the 5th kicks in with a super-long period 16-second SW swell, but it’s tiny at 2 ft and cross-shore. Sunday is a bit of a tease with another glassy morning, but that 4 ft NW windswell is weak. From Monday the 7th right through to the morning of Saturday the 13th, the surf is mostly tiny, short-period junk or poor quality scraps. It’s a long gap of seven or eight days with nothing really worth paddling out for. The energy is low, the winds are messy cross-shore, and the swell sizes hover below 5 ft for the most part.

Now, here’s the standout. Circle Monday the 14th of September in your calendar. We get a glassy morning with a solid 7 ft groundswell from the NW, packing a period of 12 seconds. That’s a proper long-period swell that will wrap into the river mouth nicely. The combined energy is a strong 1383 (moderate to strong). The wind is calm – glassy – so it’ll be about as clean as the Siltetz gets. This is a setup for experienced surfers only, as that size can get a bit heavy on a river bar, but for the crew who know what they’re doing, it’s the best day on offer. It could get busy, as "sometimes" crowds are a thing here, but on a Monday morning with that forecast, you might get lucky.

Beyond that, the 15th and 16th look messy again with onshore winds and building or holding swell. The very end of the forecast window on the 16th afternoon sees an 8 ft NW swell hit with strong cross-shore winds, putting it back in the danger zone. The 17th is a drop-off into leftover, windy slop.

So, to boil it down: Friday arvo the 4th for a tiny, clean one for the beginners, and Monday the 14th for the big, clean, proper session for the experts. The rest? You’re waiting for better forecasts to move in.

Rusty.

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