Does anyone lookup Tides for fishing website to see fishing activity?

[monster bite]

Hi, I am based in Sydney and new to fishing. I can only go after work, on public holidays or during weekends so weekdays are basically off limits to me. 

My collegue told me to google a website called "tidesforfishing" that shows Sydney's weather, tides, major and minor bite times. 

May I ask if anyone look up on that website before going to fish and if information on major and minor fishing bite times accurate? The fishing activity displayed on some days that I am able to go fishing is very low or bad. Do I still go when fishing activity is low? 

 

Do you guys mind sharing your experience? 

Thank you

[Burger]

Firstly is your colleague a fisherperson?

For mine, I go fishing when the tides, wind, weather and swell (if rockfishing) allow... the actual catching is a bonus.

[DerekD]

Hi @monster bite

Personally I look up tides and winds to see where I can and can't fish. If it is a north easterly and top of high tide I go to A, B or C. If it is a southerly and a low tide then I go and fish at X, Y and Z.

I think people have been caught up in the fallacy of tides. You watch a fishing program and the host says "No run, no fun" or " fish one hour either side of top or bottom of tide" it sounds like great knowledge but it is probably bad advice. This is not to say the tides and wind don't have an effect but you have to look at a specific area to see and learn what that impact actually is. I like to fish topwater and if I go to the areas I like to fish, on a super low tide, I am casting out on to a sand or mud flat. Can't work out why but I never catch anything then (being silly here to drive home a point).

People are also putting people rules on a fish. Do you really think there is a fish in Sydney harbour looking at its watch and saying "fish, we are almost one hour off high tide so lets start feeding for the next two hours and then stop till we are one hour off low tide". If that was the case then it would be extremely easy to pick my fishing windows.

Look at the data if you want but treat it academically and just go and fish anyway. While my line is in the water I have a chance of catching something. If I bring my fishing knowledge into play about what is likely to work, what the fish are likely eating my chances of catching something go up dramatically.

Regards,

Derek

Edited April 26 by DerekD

[sashkello]

Yeah nah, solunar activity is kinda like astrology. Well, maybe not astrology, there might be some scientifically-justified pattern, but it's way lower than other influences. 1. Dusk / dawn. 2. Tide. 3. Everything else. Plus of course things like surf and wind which fish might not care about too much but which are important for you as a fisherman... 

[Aussie_fisher]

Personally for me what I've observed is alot of places really fire up at dawn or dusk, some on tidal movement despite time and a few on the top/bottom of the tide. I think what I've observed is there isn't necessarily a universal time period where they all just stop its that different spots fire up at different times/conditions like @DerekD said. You have to fish a spot a few times to figure that out, and choose a spot based on conditions. I try to fish at dawn/dusk if I can as it has the most success for me in general but I'm still also really new to fishing and learning .  just go out and throw a line whenever you can you definitely wont catch anything by not going. Don't even bother looking at the solunar charts even if theres an influence its much lower than the others

[monster bite]

Thanks everyone or your valuable input! I should definately go out and fish and learn along the way. 

[noelm]

You kind of answered your question yourself, you say you can only go after work, so…….regardless of what some chart says, then after work is your best time.

[R E G I C Y C L E]

My advice is fish whenever you have the opportunity. You will form your own opinions on how the tide effects the results.

I always check tide charts when fishing the salt, but more to determine the location I'll be fishing, rather than whether I fish or not.

[XD351]

If I told you that if you carry a couple of green marbles in your left trouser pocket you will become a great fisher person because those marbles will offset the the imbalance in your soul created by the offset of the North Pole would you believe me ? 
I wouldn’t either ! 
Ok some thoughts:

If your book or app says not to fish this time or that day and you listen to it you are not going to catch anything because you didn’t go fishing - was the book or app right? You will never know ! 
With the exception or family , work , health or extreme weather events etc - never let anyone or anything tell you when you should or shouldn’t fish ! 
Start a fishing diary or even better diaries ( smaller one for each location) this way you can keep track of days where you caught fish and those where you didn’t and the little details that are so important to unlocking the success you seek - time of day, weather conditions, tide, moon phase ( also rise and set time for this ), water temp , recent weather events like floods or heavy rain , big swells if you are rock , beach or ocean fishing and the basic things like bait and rig used . 
Finally either try fishing a location for a period and work out what species live there and with the assistance of your location diary that you have been vigilant in keeping up to date ,work out the best time , tide , bait and technique works to catch the fish that live there or pick a species and work out where they are most like to be caught and on what bait , lure or rig .

I get a laugh sometimes when I ask people I see fishing “ what are you going for or trying to catch ?” Usual reply is whatever comes along ! It’s a bit like waiting for a train at a disused train station - you can hope all you want but it ain’t ever coming ! 

So to summarise:

Target a location and learn the species or Target a species and learn the location

(you need to do some basic  research on the  species you want to catch with either of these options)

Fish as often as your life allows and keep a diary or diaries.

Never let the days where you don’t catch anything get you down or cause you to stop believing in yourself- these days ( donut days ) happen to everyone and are more often than not the ones that teach you the most - learn from them , never regret or fear them ! 
And finally - ask questions , lots of questions- there are no stupid questions but it is nice when those questions follow a common theme like  for example trying to catch a bream on a lure , so rather than asking that today and asking about catching kingfish the next day and trying to catch trout the next day  after that - stick with one thing until you achieve your goal . 

[mrsswordfisherman]

A few members use fishraider as their electronic diary as well as a paper one!

They place a report each time they go out fishing and they can then look back on the details  
Here is a good post with what to add into the fishing report 

 

 

[Steve0]

A diary is a great tool. You may not ever read what you wrote but, the writing focuses your thoughts, helping you analyse how well your plan went on the day.