Fish psycology and tide dynamic

[PurpleBrain]

Hi all,

I have been fishing since I was a kid, but always in the same small pond. I have been fishing around Sydney lately, mostly in bay areas north west of spit bridge, and bays running inland from palm beach.

One thing I have not figured out is when is the best time to fish and why... is it when high tide is getting in? is it at the peak when water is still? running out? or is it in low tides?

Does it matter when the high tide is (day/night), and is there a fixed window when fish like to eat regardless of the tide (like we do regardless of the weather). Any explanation is well appreciated. Will help me manage my time better and come back home with something to cook....

[DerekD]

The old time and tides question. One of my friends likes pissing me off by telling me when the high or low tide is thus ensuring we get more fish. Not that simple.

The reason I think about the tides is it often affects where I fish. For example I like to use soft plastics to fish some of the bays on the north shore. There is generally a lot of structure and weed along the shoreline in these areas so I figure there will be fish close to shore. To get to these spots involves walking on oyster covered rocks alongside the shore and I can only do this at low tide.

I also like to chase pelagic fish (tailor, salmon, kingfish, bonito) and more often than not they are cruising around looking for baitfish. Generally not too affected by what is happening with the tides.

A couple of examples where tides should be taken into account:

• If you are fishing near mangroves or a flat bay. At high tide the predatory fish can get in amongst the mangroves or flats. As the tide is dropping food is washed out of the mangroves or off the flats so they are likely waiting along the edges.
• In a channel. Fish want to get as much food for as little as wasted energy as possible. If there is a strong flowing current then they have to work harder against it. A fish like a jewfish might be waiting in line with the pylons as the eddys caused by the pylons will make it easier to hold position. A trout does something similar in the stream by waiting in the eddys and darting in to the main flow to get food as it is washed past.
• An underwater ridge which forces baitfish to congregate at certain times of the tide.

Start to think how and why a tide will affect the area you are fishing. Fish are usually an opportunistic feeder and will take food when they can and not just because it is a certain time or tide.

[Guest no one]

So many variables... Tide times, heights, swell, moon phase, sun strength, cloud cover, what lipstick your wife is wearing, what you had for dinner 3 nights ago, when the last time your favourite song was played in the radio...

But in seriousness I prefer low light 2 hours until high tide until one hour after on a 1.2-1.5 swell. To me that's perfect because it's comfortable to fish and they seem to bite.

I'm sure there is a "perfect time" when all those variables come together... Although I still wouldn't catch anything! [emoji3][emoji3]

[galini09]

There is no exact Science to this. As you said fish eat like we do regardless of anything. In keeping with the theme though, it all depends on what you're fishing for and what style of fishing you're doing. You need to adjust your fishing to the conditions as like most of us you probably cant pick out all the perfect days ina month and go fish them.

I do find it ideal to be fishing low light conditions especially in shallow as thats when the preadtory fish seem to be more active. However, in midle of the day then the tide changes in deeper water would tend to turn the fish on.

[andysinmexico]

Agree with the general theme of whats been said.

Generally i do a lot of land/wharf based fishing generally at night, for this i prefer the last 2-3 hours of the rising through to the run out tide as i fish unweighted baits around structure and the run of the tide holds my baits nicely where the fish accumulate and take up the slack line sufficiently for me to detect takes and be ready for the strike.

The wind is more of a critical factor factor when shore fishing unweighted baits as if you have an onshore wind you firstly cant cast where/as far as you would like, the wind shifts your bait in if it is hard enough and it makes an obscene belly in your line limiting you ability to detect takes by fish.

If i am offshore fishing at anchor i dont particularly care if the tide is rising or going out so long as there is sufficient movement in the water to make the fish "bunch up" at the leading edge of the structure hence the old term "no run no fun".

Cheers

Andy