tides and feeding patterns

[hart2002]

hi all,

started fishing basicly 9 years ago and pretty much worked out on my own that when the tides at its highest the feeding stops and when its the lowest it also stops would like for other ppls thoughts on this

most likely is common paratice to know this but im curious

[prof tench]

Hi Hart,

This topic is worthy of a book in its' own right. I generally agree with what you say, although the reasons why the bites dry up as tide slackens aren't clear cut. Some believe that it is harder for fish to follow-up a scent trail to your bait, others that fish come up off the bottom when the tide run eases.

Some venues, however, fish best at either low or high water. This may be for reasons that include access to deep water, or too powerful currents during the main run. The obvious example of a low water mark up here is Spurn Point, on the Bristol Channel, Sand Point and Hinckley, Black Rock etc... are all low water reef marks. In contrast the wall behind the Fort at Fort Victoria on the Isle of Wight tends to fish over high water. At a lot of these marks the main tide run is just too powerful for standard beach gear and even if you could fish enough lead to cope with the current there is often lots of floating weed to add to the problem.

Most venues have a hot couple of hours that produce the most fish through a full tide, but this period can actually change from venue to venue and from species to species at the same venue from year to year.

Generally, I find the first and last two hours of the flood a productive time at most of the venues I fish. The first hour of the ebb can also be a hot time, but often tends to bring a lot of weed with it especially in estuaries.

Hope this is of interest?

Nutty P.T.

[hart2002]

thanks tench u seem to know what your talking about ....alot of helpful info there to ponder over saying that theres been the odd time that the fishings never stopped at my fav venue didnt matter which state of the tide it was and pretty much didnt change for afew days

thanks again

hart

[Guern211]

As a nipper my fishing days always seemed to become wrassing sessions when the fishing was slow. There was one spot that you only had to flick you rod out to and your bait would instantly be nibbled away at in seconds and you always kept the bait in the exactly the same place. This worked fantastically at keeping the boredom of an otherwise fishless day away but it was interesting to note that for a half hour period starting about 5mins before high or low water the bites would stop... not even a nibble and then it all burst back into life.

[big guy]

it all depends on the venue and species your targetting.

alot of fish don't feed over the slack water, i would say that the main exceptions to this would be dogs and rays. it's all down to water craft, local knowledge and experience TBH.

[Nick Snow]

It has become obvious that fishing in the upper Bristol Channel, each mark has an optimum fishing period, ie. two hours before high, 1 hour before high, 1/2 hour before top, and generally follows the same time down. etc. etc.

The fish move from a low water area to a high water area (at the top of the tide) then move back again. The area hit depends on the food source available at that particular time.

So depending on where you fish depends on the time you will hit the fish.

Regarding stale mate at high water, I would hazard a guess that fish sense the lack of tidal flow, and realise they have to turn around before getting stranded.

This all makes sense in my locality, but probably doesn't figure in yours!

Best regards, Nick.

[prof tench]

"Regarding stale mate at high water, I would hazard a guess that fish sense the lack of tidal flow, and realise they have to turn around before getting stranded."

You sure about this one Nick m8?

The 'Nutty Professor'

[Nick Snow]

Showed my ignorance, didnt I !!!

"Regarding stale mate at high water, I would hazard a guess that fish sense the lack of tidal flow, and realise they have to turn around before getting stranded."

Post should have read.....


As the tide where I fish in the Bristol Channel is so strong, the fish move with it in search of their food. The high water period in the upper channel lasts for only a brief spell (a few minutes or so) after which the fish turn around and head back towards there low water holding ground (well they wouldn’t waste energy swimming against that strength of tide)
The fishing does kind of switch off for a short while, which fits in nicely with Prof T’s theory of the lack of scent trail with no water movement (in the muddy waters here scent trail is vitally important)


And the period of inactivity at high I’m sure has nothing to do with ‘stranded fish’, where that came from I have no idea!


But here is my excuse, and i'm sticking to it...........!

It didn't help that the whole while I was trying to reply to the post, the missus was banging on about the finer details of a holiday she'd booked for us, which i'd heard before and was ever so bored of. Trouble was she was asking questions 'what do you think?' etc. which required answers, and all the while i'm trying to gather my thoughts for the post. Needless to say the post suffered, and so did the relationship with the wife. Talking to her often makes me fell like a fish out of water (stranded fish perhaps?)


I AM NOT MULTI TASKING, I AM A BLOKE!


Mickey Mouse + Bristol channel – Goofy x tide strength / cod = argument + confused post

Best regards all, Nick (i think)

[hart2002]

Showed my ignorance, didnt I !!!




Post should have read.....


As the tide where I fish in the Bristol Channel is so strong, the fish move with it in search of their food. The high water period in the upper channel lasts for only a brief spell (a few minutes or so) after which the fish turn around and head back towards there low water holding ground (well they wouldn’t waste energy swimming against that strength of tide)
The fishing does kind of switch off for a short while, which fits in nicely with Prof T’s theory of the lack of scent trail with no water movement (in the muddy waters here scent trail is vitally important)


And the period of inactivity at high I’m sure has nothing to do with ‘stranded fish’, where that came from I have no idea!


But here is my excuse, and i'm sticking to it...........!

It didn't help that the whole while I was trying to reply to the post, the missus was banging on about the finer details of a holiday she'd booked for us, which i'd heard before and was ever so bored of. Trouble was she was asking questions 'what do you think?' etc. which required answers, and all the while i'm trying to gather my thoughts for the post. Needless to say the post suffered, and so did the relationship with the wife. Talking to her often makes me fell like a fish out of water (stranded fish perhaps?)


I AM NOT MULTI TASKING, I AM A BLOKE!


Mickey Mouse + Bristol channel – Goofy x tide strength / cod = argument + confused post

Best regards all, Nick (i think)

haha good post m8 wouldnt know about the wife thing as im not married but had enuff lasses messing with my head to know what your going on about ;p alot of nice info there about tides and biting habits cheers nick

[prof tench]

Hi Nick,

Loving it m8, and a very eloquent rebuttal I thought, women just don't understand when it comes to fishing do they? Bless 'em!

The 'slack water' phenomena is not a hard and fast rule either. When there is a good sea on up here, you will still catch cod when there is no tide run. When bassing at close range the very top of tide is often a hot period. I'm speaking here of ranges of 5-30 yards where the tide run is often negligible anyway. I think there has been some strong evidence for the 'come off the sea bed' theory, although I can't talk from real experience. I believe it was Dave Dowcra (see Thread if you don't know of him) who recounted details of catching Dabs off the bottom at high water from East Anglian beaches, but I could well be wrong (again?) on this?

Cheers, T