Beach Fishing, High And Low Tides

[SiNH]

I am about to try beach fishing very soon, never been beach fishing before so I have no idea what to do or expect. Ill just wing it I suppose.

This forum has been wonderful to provide me with starter points.

I wanted to ask fellow raiders if it matters wether high tide or low tide makes a difference in catching something or just wasting my time?

I know best time to fish in any body of water is during the high tide and low tide runs but sometimes this isnt possible for one reason or another.

If my plans pans out I shall be beach fishing in a couple of days, however it will be around 2pm on the low tide.

Would I be wasting my time or as long as I can cast into the gutters I have every chance to pull something in?

I know in estuaries and lakes you would barely be able to get nibbles on the low tides, but I was hoping fishing on the beaches would not be the same circumstances?

[Mondo Rock]

I used to think that high tide was the only time it was worth fishing the beaches but recent experience has taught me otherwise.

SiNH - as long as you can find a good gutter with green water in it (i.e. where the waves aren't breaking in it all the time and/or the gutter is deep enough that you can see there is clean water underneath the whitewash) you're in with a good chance. I caught three whiting on Sunday arvo off Maroubra at dead low tide.

The only thing I would note about low tide beach fishing is that you're unlikely to catch pelagics like salmon and tailor. They seem to need some depth to the water before they'll come within casting distance of the beach - so they're a bit of a high-tide prospect. This means you should target your low-tide fishing at whiting, bream and flathead - so bait should be beachworms, prawns or pippis. I wouldn't bother with pilchards or squid unless the tide was a bit higher.

What beach are you going to?

[SiNH]

Heading to Windang beach soon.

Do you still need to use a massive surf rod then if you are targetting these bread and butter fishes? I guess you would need it for distance casting factor?

I was hoping to catch tailors and salmons actually. Hmmms just unfortunately my weekend plans doesnt coincides with this weekend's high tide periods

[Mondo Rock]

I always use a big rod off the beach - the bigger the better. You can get away with little flick sticks but you lose casting distance, the line sits in the wash and moves around more, and you effectively need to stand in the water to fish.

If you want to chase salmon or tailor off the beach then a big rod is a must. In fact you won't find many experienced beach fishermen using small rods for any of their fishing - even when chasing whiting.

If you want to chase Tailor and Salmon off the beach during the middle of the day at low tide then you need to prepare yourself for disappointment now. Firstly you won't get em off the beach at low tide unless you can find a very deep hole or gutter that is open to the ocean, and even if you do find such a hole they're a much better prospect at dawn or dusk. I'm not saying you definitely won't catch them because you might (salmon have an odd habit of turning up where you least expect them), but in my opinion you'll be fishing at the wrong time of day and at the wrong tide.

If you want to fish off the beach at low tide in the middle of the day then the only option that puts you in with a good chance of a reasonable bag of fish is whiting. Live beach worms from Fishfinder Bait & Tackle or live pippis collected at the beach (it'll be low tide so why not!) for bait and you should catch a few good table fish. You'll also be in with a good chance at bream & flatties if they're around.

Edited November 1, 2006 by Mondo

[Guest IFishSick.]

What I used to do with the old man was we would get to the beach early every Sunday around 7:00am and depending on the tide, we would either fish or worm.

High Tide found us gathering pippis to catch flatties and whiting.

Low Tide we would have a crack at the worms then look for a large rip or a nice deep gutter.

Low Tide has always proved less effective, but you can catch fish every hour of the day. For around 15mins to the top of High Tide and 15mins from the top is always the time we got the good fish.