The Low Tide

[Oceandonkey]

Is it worth fishing coming up to the low tide and on it in the bay?

I got told fishing around the low tide is like pot luck and harder than on the high tide not from a very reliable source so i thought i better check.

for eg this saturday when ill be going out

High 5:05am

Low 11:54am

High 5:58pm

Low 11:55pm

on that basis if im going out at about 9am im not getting much 'quality' fishing time..... is this guy full of bs???

[blue_mako]

It all depends on where you're fishing really. Fish react differently at different times, tides, weather and locations depending on species. Personally I think it's a bit of a myth, if you just know where to look you can still find hungry fish at low tide.

Out on the bay it isn't too bad. Though some days it will have an effect. Though sometimes the high tide can have a negative effect also. It can also be a confidence thing but you never really know until you try. But yes, good fish in good numbers can still be caught at low tide.

Troy

[ellicat]

Here's a bit of a theory for you -

If you're fishing a drop off the predator fish will collect their prey when the prey retreats from the shallowing water in the outgoing tide over the edge of the drop off. Try fishing there on a runout tide. Similar thinking applies in reverse on an incoming tide.

And another theory - The deeper the water the less effect the tide plays.

[Cliffy]

Oceandonkey wrote:

Is it worth fishing coming up to the low tide and on it in the bay?

I got told fishing around the low tide is like pot luck and harder than on the high tide not from a very reliable source so i thought i better check.

for eg this saturday when ill be going out

High 5:05am

Low 11:54am

High 5:58pm

Low 11:55pm

on that basis if im going out at about 9am im not getting much 'quality' fishing time..... is this guy full of bs???

Which of the above tides were you thinking of fishing? For my money, there's really only two that have any merit - either fish the runout on the dawn change of light first thing in the morning, or fish up to and over the high on the dusk change of light. This time of year, the water's probably cold enough for a good feed of tailor on either of these;)

[Oceandonkey]

ok cool, ill prob start at 7am and just fish until 4 like last weekend and take an extended lunch right on 12

[Angus]

I always use the \"you cant catch a fish unless your line is in the water approach\".

I figure a lot of fish species whether they be predators or not happily scavenge when they can and thus a dead bait will be taken regardless of the tide.

This also applies with live baits as i find it hard to beleive that a predators would swim past a helpless prey fish and think to itself \"gee if only it were high\".

Obviously the tide can dictate whether there are fish in certain locations, but if the fish are there, they can be caught.

Angus

[polyphonic]

I was always told the best fishing was the last hour of the run in tide. This Seems to be the case for all the surf fishing I have done. As for the bay and rivers my pb flathead, bream and shark have all come from the run out tide. I think the main thing to look at is dusk and dawn.

[jeff f]

try 2 hours either side of the change preferably dawn or dusk. this saturday i'd be hitting the water at 3 and fishing till at least 7 but probably 9 at dawn or dusk