Best part of tide for beach fishing

[Volitan]

Hi. I'm wanting to know what is the best part of the tide for beach fishing. I'm talking about typical Sydney area surf-affected beaches here. In my case it's Putty/Killcare, Maitland Bay, Avoca etc.

Also Pearl Beach which is a bit less surf -affected but closest to home.

i've done a search but results seem to be contradictory. I guess if the reason why is because every beach is different then what is the most consistently reliable time if you don't have any specialised local knowledge?

my vote is for the last couple of hours before full tide, which is based on very little experience, so I'd like to hear what others think.

cheers

arron

[sam bros]

I always try to fish a couple hours either side of the high tide, that is when i get the most consistent results

everyone will tell you something different

its best to give it a go and find what works for you 

[macca02]

Also a fan of around high tide, that's where I've had most success.

Just a heads up - Maitland bay (if you're talking about further around from putty beach) is a marine park/reserve, so fishing isn't allowed there.

[ARC H]

 the incoming tide

[Regan]

i like the high tide there are some gutters/holes that the low tide cant reach

[Brew]

I've always been a fan of high tide however this year has turned that on it's head. 

Some of the best sessions I've had and my brother has had (without me) have been at low tide. 

We have done quite a few sessions at Avoca and I think what has happened is the lake was opened some time before Easter flushing the mullet out and then those mullet had nowhere to go but the gutters at low tide. 

It seemed the flathead were super aggressive in those gutters even my kids scored good sized flathead at Easter casting just a few metres.

These days I just get out there whenever I can as you never know. 

Good luck. 

Brew

[Regan]

yeah ok

[rickmarlin62]

some beaches fish better on a high or rising but others don't have obvious gutters or formations until the tide drops to reveal banks.gutters.runout channels...I suggest sitting up high from the beach you want to fish and look for features that are obvious..i have caught great whiting in a foot of water in the middle of the day then backed up an got a jew just on dark in a full gutter that the whiting were in...do your homework and results will follow...rick

[Howdoweplaythis]

It is generally recommended that high tide is best, particularly around this season. On the low tide you see little kids standing comfortably in gutters. Imagine a 30kg jewfish trying to swim around in that. During the high tide these gutters become much deeper. Smaller fish such as whiting, bream, flathead etc can be caught during the lower parts of the tide (but the general consensus is that high is still better) as they can swim in the shallower waters, but these are classically a 'summer' fish but can still be caught in smaller numbers during winter.