The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 3 letter word TIDE RIP
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
T
I
D
E
R
I
P
More clues leading to the result TIDE RIP
- Rough ride through peak turbulence
- Fish’s journey across rough water
- Possibly die during journey in turbulent waters
- Movement of current part inspired, I think, on reflection
- Journey to catch fish in turbulent sea
- A place of current conflict
- A current disturbance
- Stumble over fish in rough water
- Edit badly grave letters in turbulent current
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "rough water" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case rough water = tide rip.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.