Low Tide Spots (Surf)????????

[luds]

Do you find low tide spots to more difficult to find? I do!


Just curious how many low tide spots you have that you feel hold good fish on a relatively consistent basis.

[ProfessorM]

I always like low tide situations as it tends to constrict the fish to a more confined area and gets them to move along little highways so they don't find themselves high and dry. I say this for the area I fish and from a boat. On the open beach and from shore it may be a different situation.

[emgred]

I've got three or four that are not too bad. I would show you on a map but then I would have to kill you. (That is if someone didn't kill me first!!)

[baldwin]

In some spots, low tide may provide the only access to drop-offs that are otherwise unreachable. Submerged points and sand bars also can provide additional access. Many flats are also better on a low incoming tide.

[Canalman]

For me, it's the type of spots more than anything else. Low tide can force fish into certain areas... little alleyways etc and fishing down to low in (almost) any inlet is a no-brainer. And then there's the canal.

-Dave

[Joe]

Low tide spots rock...
Inlets, reefs, open beach wading, the ends of sandbars....

[animal]

Joe said it,Sandbars.

[DZ]

Luds,
Depends on where I fish. Often times I like the lower stages because it puts my offering in the zone of the bass. Many times the bass are grubbing and they will not come off the bottom - during high water they have an extra 4-10 feet of water over them(depending on where you're fishing). You can cast your plugs during high water and they will pay no attention. As the tide drops and the cobble starts to show your offering will be closer to the strike zone of these grubbing bass. Now this is only one scenario. If the bass are actively feeding throughout the water column then any tide may produce strikes.

The outer cape is another extreme example - huge difference between high and low. Low water allows me get on the finger bars to reach the outside drops - high water I'm casting onto the bar where I was standing during low water.

In the rocks I'll fish anywhere that will float a fish. Bass like the shallow stuff - lots of food - as long as they have a way in and out. Lots of guys today fish too deep - they wade or swim right through the bass.

Very good question. One that can have multiple answers. Just another part of the striper puzzle - I just love solving it.

DZ

[Karl F]

DZ... VERY Well Said

[gone fishin]

Low tide --- rivers emptying backwaters, ditch etc. High tide the beachfront ! Simple rule, but there is no hard and fast rule.

[EarnedStripes44]

Originally Posted by gone fishin

Low tide --- rivers emptying backwaters, ditch etc. High tide the beachfront ! Simple rule, but there is no hard and fast rule.

I concur, right at the mouth of harbor entrance or even better if it drains a salt marsh. Baits is swept out like a flushing toilet

[RIJIMMY]

85% of my surf spots are low tide spots. Outflows, sand bars, rock bars. Usually the farther I can get out, the better the fishing is. Also, in white water conditions, more white water is sually generated as structure is exposed to waves.

[Tagger]

Fishing low tide is looking for large ... don't expect great numbers ... 1 good one might be it .. Have had some very memorable low tide fish fest .. rare though ..

[luds]

Originally Posted by Tagger

Fishing low tide is looking for large ... don't expect great numbers ... 1 good one might be it .. Have had some very memorable low tide fish fest .. rare though ..

Funny, that's been my experience with a few exceptions. I have taken or lost a number of good fish at low tide when it was the only hit I had. I have thought at times as DZ said that the fish were grubbing in shallow water.

I can only think of a few low tide spots that provide high quantity.

[Canalman]

Originally Posted by DZ

Lots of guys today fish too deep - they wade or swim right through the bass.

DZ

Amen to that! I'm still waiting for the day I see a guy that swam out onto a rock and hang a good fish 30 feet behind him ... That's all I think about when I hear these guys talking about swimming... it's one thing to get to an edge or past some tough rubble... but watch the good boat guys... they cast in not out...

[luds]

Originally Posted by Canalman

Amen to that! I'm still waiting for the day I see a guy that swam out onto a rock and hang a good fish 30 feet behind him ... That's all I think about when I hear these guys talking about swimming... it's one thing to get to an edge or past some tough rubble... but watch the good boat guys... they cast in not out...

I agree with you for the most part but you can't ignore the fact that someone doing that is giving themselves access to more water. They can work towards shore, away from it, or parrallel to it which for me not that I "swim" out to rocks is often the most productive. Often being able to keep your eel or plug in the strike zone longer by working parallel to shore is a big bonus. It's kind of like fishing the tip of a jetty.

The big mistake that I think is the most common is swimming or wading to the rock before making any casts in front of it or around it. I'm sure you can disturb the fish by doing this but just as importantly you are putting in alot of unecessary effort if there were fish to be had by just casting from shore.

[Saltheart]

At the canal , low tides spots are nice cause you can often stand in mud or dirt instead of on the rocks. We know many low tide spots there just for that reason. Also , sometimes you just are going fishing at 7 on friday night. Whatever the tide is that particular friday night , you better know where to go to fish it. We also learn many spots so we can just go somewhere else if there are too many people around. That has becaome a big problem in recent years so the more spots you know , the better.

[DZ]

Originally Posted by luds48

The big mistake that I think is the most common is swimming or wading to the rock before making any casts in front of it or around it. I'm sure you can disturb the fish by doing this but just as importantly you are putting in alot of unecessary effort if there were fish to be had by just casting from shore.

Luds,
You hit the nail on the head.

DZ

[Terence]

Great thread

[PaulS]

I had a great low tide spot that was very productive from 1 hour after dead low to about 2.5 after. Then you had to hightail it back towards shore as you were about 3/4 out on an exposed reef. A storm last summer knocked the reef down about a foot which means the incoming comes in a lot faster thus ruining my great low tide spot. It was funny walking out past people coming in who would be telling me to not bother cause it sucked while I knew they all left too early.

[luds]

Bump. Any more low tide wisdom?

[cheferson]

try fishing spots that are " only good " at high tide , at low tide , you might be surprised.

[ThrowingTimber]

reefs and what chef said.

[bart]

Originally Posted by cheferson

try fishing spots that are " only good " at high tide , at low tide , you might be surprised.

i only fished spots when they were supposed to be better under certain conditions but after fishing with chef i think a whole lot differently....

[2boxers]

I need a low tide spot BAD, every wensday nights are the only night I am able to get out (we have a new baby at home) so I try and fish every wend no matter what the tide is because its the only night I can get out

[GonnaCatchABig1]

i fish almost exclusively low tide now. i've got about 6 spots. but only use one. just because it's easy and there are so many fish i don't need to move.