|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fishing Tips
Fishing TipsUnderstanding TidesAll migratory fish use tides to transport themselves from one place to another Timothy Kusherets
The shoreline of the Eastern Pacific Ocean along the west
coast of North America; figuring out what tides to fish isn’t too difficult.
Timing tides to the best times to fish is “not” specific times
of typical workday schedules. Sometimes the best tides to fish are in the
wee hours of the morning, other times the best tides are during the heart
of the day, still others are perfect for fishing in the dead of night from
nine o’clock at night to three o’clock in the morning. Tides are the result of influences from the moon and the sun that cause gravitational movement of the earth's seas and oceans to undulate in a fashion which divide them into three forms of tide: they are the Ebb (low tide); Flood (high tide); and Slack (dead calm). Ordinarily the ebb tide occurs two times within a twenty-four hour period. The ebb is water that recedes backward exposing the shoreline for a period of about six and a half hours. It is the opposite of the flood tide. The flood tide diminishes shoreline beaches by slowly advancing forward from the sea, bay, or ocean. The flood ordinarily occurs twice within a twenty-four hour period. The time period between the ebb and the flood is called the slack tide. The slack tide is that portion of the tide where there is a lull in water current activity. It is the prelude of a changing tide, this can happen four times a day or two times per outgoing and incoming tides. In an estuary the slack tide plays a key role of when the bite will be off or on. Fish by nature are lazy. They have two functions that they focus on until it is time to spawn, that is, to propagate and to eat in an efficient manner that expends as little energy as possible. As a consequence of their behavior, fish would rather go with the flow of the current rather than fighting it directly. As fish migrate they are going with the current and not against it; it is the most effective way for them to travel without having a deleterious effect on their ability to swim and to look for food. All migratory fish use tides to transport themselves from one place to another. During the slack tide there is no current to inhibit the movements of fish. Fish are free to move about alone or in groups. The smaller the fish is, the more they will stay in groups of schools; however, that changes with the size of the fish and ultimately makes catching game fish a guess. The freedom to move about disperses the schooling salmon and makes catching them a guessing game as to where they will be for the duration of slack tide. If you suddenly stop hooking into fish you can be sure of three things: the tide has gone slack; the fish have moved on; or there is pressure from man, seal, or weather. When the tide completes its transition from slack to either the incoming or outgoing tide, and you're sure fish are still in the area, it might be worth your time to wait for current to pick back up. Under most circumstances, slack tides lasts for half an hour.
© Timothy Kusherets 2004/10 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SSDF Secrets | X-Files | TFS vs. SSDF | Privacy/Site Stats Poaching Hotlines | Commercial Netting Rules | Tribal Fishing Rules Site Awards
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
