Tides

I know people have their predictions on what tides are best to produce fish. So Im curious what people think incoming outgoing slack what do you prefer.

well, james, I have heard a lot that says slack is no good, but at least for surf perch, high tide before and after,
slack included is usually good, but it depends on the beach, I guess some are better at low tide.

I completely ignore tides for ocean fishing, except for ingress and egress. I have heard scwafish lament certain
tides, but I think your question is too general and thus not eliciting the replies you were hoping for.'

sounds like you learned a lot about tides for bay fishing, I guess there it is everything for sturgeon.

best,
J

For some reason, and I'm not sure why (maybe a holdover from surf fishing) but I always like to fish on an incoming tide. I don't think the tides have as much of an impact when fishing away from the shore, although halibut seem to get hungry on a rising tide. If the water movement (rising or falling) stirs up food that fish want then either one works for me!

Tides make a huge difference in the bay, but I haven't found any particular pattern with regards to tides and fishing in the ocean except that it's marginally easier to get abalone on a low tide.  I guess poke poling would work better at low tide too..   But salmon seem to like the early morning and rockfish will bite as long as the seas aren't too big.

In my limited experience tides don't play a big role unless they are really moving then at least the rockfish seem to hole a bit more or maybe I just drift to fast...

i always have been told that tides are helpful when incoming as fish can move in closer to shore to feed on crabs and junk on the bottom. i think this formula is good for halibut.

when i go diving and there is not a big tide swing then i know for sure there will be fish hanging off kelp and suspended off the bottom and schooling. something about big tide swings like a 0.5 ft low and a 5.5 ft high on a day that really messes everything up and makes the fish hole up.

when there is a lot of surge i think and lots of water movement fishing gets harder.

however, i notice that fish that usually are suspended like blue rockfish and kelp rockfish tend to be out and about even on surgy days. others stay close to the bottom and hole up.

i think it all depends also on when the last storm was. before the ocean gets rough some fish tend to eat and then they hibernate and wait things out. then at the end the come out ready to snack and will bite at a lot of stuff.

however, if fish have had calm conditions for a while and have been eating regularly then they are less likely to bite randomly.

i think best fishing is a real calm day right before a storm or after a high surge or stormy day. heck, any calm day around a stormy day or day with lots of water movement. after not eating fish get hungry and are ready to eat. before a storm when they area loading up to wait it out also. but when you get in deep waters i think all these theories go down the drain. those fish just eat anytime they can get food. i thin where there is less light penetration there is less food to choose from so they tend to bite more often. they cant pick and choose as much.

I personally like a little bit of movement in the water.  Too much and you can't fish it effectively anyway.  Too little and you don't cover enough water.  I've experienced noticeable slowdowns at the slack.  Why?  I'm not sure.

On the other hand, when fishing offshore for tuna, I've found the bite is better at the tide change.  Go figure!

So ... how about moon phases?  Anyone have a pattern on those?

-Allen

I may be mistaken but isnt the moon what controls the tide?

The moon does, but it's not the phase. it's fact it revolves around the earth about every 25 hours. It pulls a bulge of water
toward it. the water bulges on the other side of the earth to compensate and is lowered everywhere else.

2 highs and 2 lows a day (almost, remember the 25 hour thing).

The fact it takes 25 hours to go around is why the tides shift about an hour each day.

The sun has a secondary effect on the tides. not nearly as strong as the moon.

If sun and moon work together the tide is extra high or extra low.  If their effects cancel, you get those less extreme tides.

as for moon phases, well when the moon is full or new, you get the more extreme tides (I think). when the moon is partial,
you get the less extreme tides:

http://www.astro.umd.edu/education/astro/moon/phases.html

I understand that if the moon is full and the sky is clear, then the fish can feed at night and they don't bother to fish during the
day.

I've caught salmon all through the different tides. People claim they catch more salmon in the morning but I think it's more of a self imposed deal, because salmon go deeper in direct sun, so you need to put more line out.

I think wind is a bigger factor. When it blows the fishing is not as good.

Tide may be important for Halibut because you do better fishing the surf line so that definitely is going to be a big deal.

When I was out at a very low (outgoing) tide in HMB on 7/2 the fishing was horrible!