Late year tides

[ccm]

Hi guys,
I am new to the forum and have really enjoyed reading how the good fishermen catch fish. Hopefully I will learn something.

Need some help with tides. I have been saltwater fishing for only about five years. Mostly in the Venice and Cocodrie area. Looking to do more fishing in Big Lake. $3.75 gas really hurts since I have to drive from north LA to get to the salt.

I have printed out the Big Lake tide tables for Sept thru November and what I see is a pattern of high tides that are usually at times that are not fishable. ie very early AM. Do you guys still catch fish even though there are no decent high tide times? In the areas we have been fishing it is really hard to catch much unless you have tidal movement.

Unlike most people who fish Big Lake we have no interest in the trout. We only fish for Reds.

Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Big Kahunaz]

those tide predictions charts are worthless.....noaa.com has live tides...do a search on this site and you should be able to find the link....good luck

[ckinchen]

Originally Posted by ccm

Hi guys,
I am new to the forum and have really enjoyed reading how the good fishermen catch fish. Hopefully I will learn something.

Need some help with tides. I have been saltwater fishing for only about five years. Mostly in the Venice and Cocodrie area. Looking to do more fishing in Big Lake. $3.75 gas really hurts since I have to drive from north LA to get to the salt.

I have printed out the Big Lake tide tables for Sept thru November and what I see is a pattern of high tides that are usually at times that are not fishable. ie very early AM. Do you guys still catch fish even though there are no decent high tide times? In the areas we have been fishing it is really hard to catch much unless you have tidal movement.

Unlike most people who fish Big Lake we have no interest in the trout. We only fish for Reds.

Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Welcome to the site, glad to see your first post. Typically Big Lake will have a falling tide in the afternoon during the summer months. If you were trout fishing, the south end of the lake up to the middle of the lake will usually have bird action in the afternoon. When it gets really hot outside we would get up and be on the water well before the sun comes up and be back off the water early so we could make an afternoon trip.

If you are into night fishing several camps in Prein lake will leave their dock light on so that may be an option for you. If the camp owners are there fishing I would stay away.

Generally speaking May and June are great months for numbers, July and August can be ok but allot of people have to switch to live bait during the dog days of summer.

Around October through January Big Lake is on fire and is as good of a fishery as any place I have fished.

For redfish there are several "secret spots" but you can always fight the crowds at the weirs if you just want to catch fish. Going behind the weirs at Grand can be a really good option. If you have the ability to fish during the week you just might have the place to yourself.

Regarding flounder, the founder run around November last year was nothing short of spectacular. Most of that fishing takes place in the ship channel.

Several folks on here know far more about the lake than me but hopefully this will point you in the right direction. Best of luck to you.

[mcjaredsandwich]

Well if you are just looking for limits of redfish, the weirs provide excellent oppurtunities. But as ckinchen said, you are going to fight the crowds. Sometimes in the fall the hunters tend to hunt instead of fish which opens up the lake a little bit. The 1st and 3rd weirs are the most popular. Just toss a pearl gulp shrimp on a 1/4oz jig head and hold on. When I have fished there, seemed an outgoing tide was best as the reds just stack there waiting for bait. They hold flounder too. Best of luck and welcome to the SC.

[SaltyShaw]

Welcome to SC man, here is the live tide site Donnie mentioned
http://www.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov...type=Composite
Good Luck!!

[jchief]

Welcome to the site.

about the tides, you won't catch them at home. 99% of the time, as long as the tide moves, it is better than no tide

[boatdriver]

I wouldn't even bother with those charts. Go fish and check the water movement. It'll help you learn better.

[trophytroutman]

Welcome.Im a believer in as long as you got water movement whether incoming or outgoing tide.

[ccm]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I understand about having some water movement. My concern is that if you have a high tide at 1 AM and a low tide at 12 PM does that mean you will have enough water moving between day light and noon to get the red's into a feeding mood? During the summer months I try to concentrate my efforts between a couple of hours before and after the high tides. The difference is that in the summer most of your high tides are in the daytime.

Since I live in northwest LA I am not able to fish the coast as much as I would like. Only get to come down 3 or 4 times a year. So this means I need to have the odds as much as possible in my favor.

I appreciate your continued comments.

[SGib]

The thread "Since everyone hates reds" has some good info on reds from lots of guys. Welcome to the site.