Advice on tides?

cooter · Post by **cooter** » January 21st, 2003, 5:54 pm

I've been fishing in this area for a number of years now but have never owned my own boat or been too serious about it. I have now married into a nice flats boat and am looking forward to using it often this spring. Can anyone give me some advice on fishing the tides around the St. Marks area? Best to fish incoming, outgoing, etc.? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

dstockwell · Post by **dstockwell** » January 21st, 2003, 6:18 pm

I am no expert by any means. But I have found in and out good, just as long as the water is moving. And alot of time the bigger the movement between low and high the better. When its slack, pretty much no bite. You have to watch for negative tides when you launch, because there may not be much water to launch

Post by **Tom Keels** » January 21st, 2003, 6:35 pm

Anytime the water is moving is good. It does depend on the species you are targeting also. For redfish I like a high falling tide. For trout, I like a rising.

As always, the best time to go is when you can, but if you want to maximize your chances, look for the most water movement in the least amount of time. These generally occur around a full or new moon.

As a example a good tide to fish would be a -.1 low at 5:00 am with a + 4.2 high at 11:30 am. This means that 4.1 feet of water move within 6 hours time. These are referred to as "fast tides". Conversely, a "slow tide" would have 2 feet of water movement in 8 to 10 hours, Which is common on quarter moon tides.

Hope this helps.

Post by **Sir reel** » January 22nd, 2003, 11:45 am

Well you guys finally got me to register and open my mouth

I've been following your various discussions over the past several weeks and have really enjoyed and appreciated the information you exchange.

My question:... with respect to tides and moving water.. at what point do you consider a "negative" tide to be? On the tide charts is it anytime you have a (-) numeric? If so, at what value would you consider it to be a difficult launching situation? I know it would probably depend on where you were launching but lets say, St. Marks, Econfina, Aucilla as example. Remember, I new to this so be gentle.. Thanks.

Post by **Tom Keels** » January 22nd, 2003, 11:57 am

You are correct. Any time you see (-), that means the tide is negative. The deeper ramps at St. Marks such as the fort aren't really effected until you get a negative tide and a North wind. Econfina and Aucilla can be damn near impossible for all except the smallest of boats. The Lighthouse is OK in summer, but winter negatives can drain the canal. We get negatives as low as -1.2, but generally they are around -.4 or so. I don't worry about it unless I have a specific place I want to fish, and water depth determines whether I can get to it or not.