tide vs time
 

okay, so here is my question. I've only been fishing down here since last fall, and still have never quite figured out this tide thing. I have always believed that right at daylight was the "magic hour" of fishing, and in freshwater it has always paid off. down here, it seems that it's whenever the tide is moving. My question is, if the large tide movement is from noon till 5, does that still make it the best time? I have never had good luck during the day, and only fair in the afternoons. also, all the tide charts I look at show (at least to me) that most days there is a small tide flow, and a larger one on the same day. is one better than the other? might be second nature to most of you, but if anyone can give me a little info and help out my game, I'd appreciate it!

In salt water, just fish when the water is moving. If its moving at2pm then that's when you wanna be there. Nice not have to getup early every time you go fishing.

If there is a large tidal movement fish near the ends of the tides if there is a smaller tide fish the middle of it... wind can also affect tides

and when there is none,stay home

:amen::amen:

Time dont matter in saltwater fishing....
Yes at daylight you can always catch some fish ... but you can always catch fish on tide movement...

When Im at my camp I dont get out and fish until the tide is moving and if I know the fish are biting better on a certin tide I will wait..

Like last week...the fishing was slow until the tide was falling, you could fish for 8 hours and catch 5 trout..then the tide would fall and you could catch 100 trout in one hour

Look at todays tide.....It is almost flat...So I would not even think about fishing until 6 more hours

That's some good info. "W". Usually, I just go when I can and wait for the best tide movement of the day. It's an interesting point that you will actually wait to go out, when the tide is right for the best bite. Basically, stack the odds in your favor.

I can't always play the tide either but last week I was at camp all week and I would watch for falling tide and drop boat..caught limits from 2 man to 3 man limts with in hours each time....

Good info.

C2 on what dub said.....

I relate tide as a dinnerbell, when your stomach growls we grub, natures way of telling fish yo grub....lol:)

I go fishing in the am because that's what I am used too, but I always try to be in the best spot of the day during the tide movement, not matter if its a large or small movement.

Tide movement is the best. I have seen it go from every cast to not a nibble within seconds when the tide quits. Only problem is none of them tide charts ever seem to hold true for me. So I just go and wait for the tide to move.

Fish are opportunistic... tide = less they have to work for food. Bait is pushed to them and acts like a funnel. Why chase bait when you can have it come to you...

exactly!

NOAA has a real time tide movement. check it out before you go and you can see what its doing in relation to the predicted tide.

May be a silly question but I struggle with this. How do you know when the tide us moving or not? Especially on windy days?

This is the one I use and it's usually complete opposite. Lol

Look for signs of movement on objects in the water like a post, crab buoy, or a dock on the lake. You can see the water making a swirl around them. If your boat is on anchor you can tell by looking at the back of the boat and see it swirling around. But a really light tide is sometimes hard to spot.

It's harder to tell on windy days but simple on calm days. I just watch my bait if the water is pulling it one way or the other. Also If I'm drifting and the wind is blowing one way and my boat is moving in a differen direction. It's really easy to tell if you are in the channel. Look around buoys to see water movement and look for stuff floating on the water see if water is moving it. But usually the EASIEST way to tell if the tide is moving is if the fish are biting or not lol

I am going to real time ports and clicking on the tab for lake charles then subselecting an area... then water levels. If i wanted to know lake charles tide for right now i would get this then make an observation while out there based on the tide prediction. Doesnt mean its always correct... in that case i use experience and look for movement.

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/por...7816_wl_24.png