Fishing the tides: from shore and from a boat

Why the tide changes the fishing

The tide doesn’t just raise and lower the water. It sets it in motion. Every time the sea rises or falls, water floods in and drains out of beaches, marshes, bays and harbors, and that current carries shrimp, crabs, worms and baitfish with it.

Predators know it. Redfish, striped bass, snook, flounder and speckled trout key in on the moments when food is moving and comes to them. That’s why, in most places, moving water fishes better than still water.

The pause around high or low tide, when the water stops rising or falling, is called slack tide. The current stops completely only briefly, from seconds to several minutes according to NOAA, but the stretch when it runs gently lasts longer. The bite can pick up just before or just after it, when the current starts running again. During slack itself, a lot of anglers use the time to re-rig or move.

There’s no rule that works everywhere. What does hold true is that every spot has its own best stage of the tide, and the people who fish one place often end up knowing it by heart. A tide table is how you find that window and repeat it.

Fishing from shore on the incoming tide

As the water rises, it covers ground that was dry: sand flats, oyster bars, rocks and grass. There’s food up there that fish haven’t been able to reach for hours, so they follow the water in.

• On the beach, many surf anglers prefer the last hours of the incoming tide and the first of the outgoing. A popular rule of thumb is to fish from two hours before to two hours after high tide. On the Outer Banks or any beach with sandbars, look for the troughs and cuts that fill first.
• In the marsh, the incoming tide is when redfish push onto the flats. In the spartina marshes of South Carolina, the state’s Department of Natural Resources notes, the high marsh floods only on the twice-monthly spring tides and in storms, and where flooded marsh holds lots of fiddler crabs, redfish move up onto it to feed. Some anglers sight cast to these “tailing” redfish, whose tails stick out of the water as they root for crabs.
• Around rocks and jetties, sheepshead, tautog and black drum often work the structure as the water climbs over barnacles and mussels.

At high tide, keep an eye on the waves. Rocks that were well above the water at low tide are now in range of the swell, and one bigger set can catch you off guard. Never turn your back on the ocean.

Fishing from shore on the outgoing tide

When the tide falls, water drains out of creeks, marshes, harbors and tide pools, and takes the bait with it. Fish set up at the places where that water funnels through:

• creek mouths and marsh drains;
• inlets and the channels that empty a bay;
• points and jetty tips where the current speeds up;
• the deeper troughs along a beach.

In Florida, the outgoing tide is a classic time to fish bridges and passes, where the current sweeps baitfish and shrimp past waiting predators. In the Northeast, many striped bass anglers work the inlets and jetties on the ebb, casting up-current and letting the lure swing through the rip.

The falling tide has a practical bonus too: at low tide you can see the bottom. It’s the best time to walk your beach or marsh and note where the channels, holes and oyster bars are, because those will be the spots to fish when the water comes back.

Fishing from a boat: drifting, anchoring and current

From a boat, the tide shapes your whole approach:

• Drifting. The tidal current moves the boat and your rig over the bottom. With light current, the drift is slow and easy to control. With strong current, your sinker can’t hold bottom or races over the structure too fast.
• Anchoring. The usual move is to anchor up-current of the reef, wreck or ledge and let the current carry your bait back to it. When the tide turns, the current reverses, and you may need to re-anchor.
• Trolling and casting. Work the points, channel edges and drop-offs where the current speeds up, because that’s where baitfish gather.

Spring tides, around the new and full moon, bring stronger currents. They often turn fish on at points and inlets, but they make deep bottom fishing harder because the boat drifts faster. Neap tides, around the quarter moons, bring gentler currents that are easier to fish on the bottom. Our guide to spring and neap tides explains the cycle.

One safety warning: when the wind blows against the tidal current, the waves stand up short and steep. It happens most at inlets and river bars. An inlet that was calm on the way out can turn dangerous when the tide changes. There’s more on this in the guide to tidal currents.

Tide, light and solunar: when they line up

The tide is one piece of the puzzle. The best days are often the ones where several things come together:

• Light. Dawn and dusk are prime feeding times for many inshore predators. If a tide change falls in that window, even better.
• Solunar periods. According to solunar theory, the moon passing overhead and underfoot marks the most active periods. The evidence is thin, but plenty of anglers use it as one more clue.
• Weather. A falling barometer ahead of a front often gets fish feeding, according to many anglers, while a hard blow can shut everything down.

Example: planning a morning trip

Say you’re fishing a marsh creek near Charleston on an early fall morning, and the tide chart shows:

Event	Time	Height
Low tide	7:10 a.m.	0.2 ft
Sunrise	7:25 a.m.	—
High tide	1:25 p.m.	6.1 ft

It’s a few days after the full moon, so the range is big and the current will run hard.

Here’s one way to plan the morning:

1. 7:00–8:00 a.m. You arrive at low tide in the first light. The creek is drained, so note where the oyster bars and deeper holes are. Around low tide, redfish are often concentrated in the shallows along the creeks.
2. 8:00–10:30 a.m. The first hours of the incoming tide, now in good light. Work the creek mouths and the edges of the bars as the water starts to push in.
3. 10:30 a.m.–noon. Mid-tide: the water is rising fastest. Fish the points and the places where the current bends around structure.
4. Noon–2:30 p.m. The last of the incoming tide and slack at high water. If the water floods the grass, look for tailing fish on the flats.

During neap tides, the same plan would still work, but with less current and less difference between one hour and the next.

The short version

• Look for moving water, and keep notes on which stage of the tide produces at each spot.
• The incoming tide brings fish to the shallows; the outgoing tide stacks them in channels and creek mouths.
• From a boat, the tide sets your drift and your anchoring, and wind against tide can make an inlet dangerous.
• Check the table for your exact spot, not the nearest big harbor: inside a sound or tidal river, the tide can run an hour or more behind.
• Know your state’s license rules, size limits and bag limits before you go.

If the numbers on a tide chart still feel confusing, start with how to read a tide chart.