[grattenbury]

Are you restricted to tides low tide or high tide or are you likely to catch anything from a beach at any time? Work restricts me and I would like to go when I can but the tides never seem right for me. I dont want to be on a beach with no hope of catching anything
Thanks for all your replies Gill

 

[weepete]

I'm afraid threres no single answer to that mate. Different marks fish better at different states of the tide and in different conditions. That's why local knowledge is so important and valuable to us anglers.

Sometimes it will depend on which species you are after as well, rays and conger for example are generally fished for at night. Some fish in some areas will move in with the tide when it's flooding and then move out on the ebb, some places fish better after a storm and with a decent surf, others fish better when it's calm and so on.

Generally, if I was going to a new mark and had no knowledge of how it fished I'd try to fish 3up 3down, that's 3 hours of the flooding tide till high water then 3 hours of the ebb. Then next time you fish choose a different state of the tide and build up knowledge that way, by trial and error untill you find what's best

 

[fishyrob]

With such varied terrain in cornwall, you are bound to have good low water and good high water marks around you, and good early flood/late flood/early ebb/late ebb bits as well. Getting out there and fishing them constantly taking note of the better catches is one way of doing it, but a possibly quicker way is befriend the local tackle shop and see if he can get you pointed in the right direction. I usually find a healthy purchase helps loosen tongues.....

 

[Phil Arnott]

Are you restricted to tides low tide or high tide or are you likely to catch anything from a beach at any time? Work restricts me and I would like to go when I can but the tides never seem right for me. I dont want to be on a beach with no hope of catching anything
Thanks for all your replies Gill

You mention just beaches. You have good rock, estuary, creek, and pier fishing in Cornwall. The beaches in Cornwall are probably the least productive marks in terms of numbers of fish caught.

 

[hitandhope]

It varies with the species too....for example cod and whiting come and go with the tide to conserve energy, but other fish may be there all the time - like wrasse off the rocks or on sandy beaches you can catch flatties anytime.

It can be a pain, especially now the nights are drawing in, but generally the best chance is on the incoming tide.

 

[baitdigger]

I have found that this year the season for us was very late and fish seem to appear on the marks at times that wouldn't match patterns from recent years.
The best thing you can do imho is fish as often as you want to and build up your own records of marks, weather patterns, tide states/moon phases and catch records and not worry about the 'right time' if you are enjoying what you are doing.