Tides and Conservation

[Flats Rascal]

Two final tips promote tides and conservation

Community outdoors column by Rick Farren
DEMOCRAT CORRESPONDENT



. In this, my last outdoor story for the Tallahassee Democrat, I'd like to pass on two bits of advice - fish the tides and conservation counts.

Tides first. After taking hundreds of fishing trips as the basis for writing more than a thousand fishing stories for this newspaper and a number of other publications, one theme arose over and over. The fishing trips that were so successful that they spawned dozens of stories always seemed to have a tidal component. Whether it was shallow-water grouper, redfish in the creeks, trout on the flats or sheepshead under the bridges, the best fishing always took place when the water was moving, and moving fast.


That doesn't mean that fish don't feed when the tide is slack at either the high or low end. For example, most flats fishermen would agree that the fishing is usually far better when the tide is rising or at its peak. And a falling tide at the mouth of a creek consistently attracts gamefish looking for an easy meal to wash their way.

But if you can find a place where the tidal current picks up speed because the flow is being squeezed between structures, there's a good chance gamefish have found the same spot. For example, when the water rises or falls in the East River, there's a spot near Pelican Point where the current has to increase because the river narrows. In the mouth of the St. Marks River, there are spots where the water picks up speed as it's pushed between oyster bars.

This phenomenon of the current increasing because the water is forced through a narrower opening is called the “venture effectâ€