When preparing for your next fishing excursion, don’t forget to check the tides. Knowing the best tides to fish can help you strategize the day better and get you a catch rather than just a day out in the boat. Checking the tide can be as easy as looking at a mobile app or tide tables available online.
About the Tides
Gravitational forces of the moon and the sun drive the tides. In addition to tides, currents affect water movement. Currents can even be driven by tides. Understanding the effects of tides and currents is beneficial to increases the chances of a successful catch.
When the water rises and moves toward land, it is called flood tide. When the water drops and moves back, toward the sea, it is known as ebb tide. When there is no movement of the tide, this is “slack” tide.
Fishing Smarter with the Tides
Perhaps the most important thing to understand is that fish rarely swim against the current, as doing so would use up a lot of their energy. Instead, fish tend to swim with the water movement or stay in eddies or other points to avoid flow. Understanding this helps you learn when and where to fish for greater success inshore or offshore.
For example, shoreline grass during a high tide would be a good place for a sight-fisherman in shallow water to find reds. The backs and tails of the reds are easy to see as they follow shrimp into the grass. In low tide, sight-casters could catch fish by looking for areas that have trapped bait as game fish will be there looking for them.
Using the Water Flow
Knowing the best tides to fish results from research on tide conditions. In addition, look at wind conditions, which can also affect an angler’s experience. If the wind, for example, is stronger than the tide, it can prevent action. If you find a place where prey is going to escape water movement, you can have a heyday with a big catch.