any tips for mid tide fishing inshore?
I’d love to know if there are any particular things to look for as far as types of terrain which make up a good mid tide spot, or particular species which are easier to target during mid tide, or anything else which might help avoid getting skunked during a mid tide fishing trip.
I have started to figure out the low tide & high tide fishing & targeting different species & what to look for when searching for a new spot to fish. Working weekdays & often having commitments on the weekends, makes it difficult to be able to fish what I consider to be ideal tides…so I often find myself blindly trying to find the fish during mid tide with very little success
Not asking for your honey hole, but rather some tips so guide me in finding my own! Thanks y’all
When you fish low tides start making notes as to shell banks and sloughs that leave the flats. Keep a note book. Falling tide at half will have the fish leaving the flats and rising will have them hitting the flats to avoid flipper…keep moving to find the fish.
I am not a fan of watching other fishermen and their spots. Respect the guides…it is their living.
I have my scout days and I have my days that I concentrate on the spots that have worked in the past. Trolling motor helps but poling really works better if you are set up for it.
big dog
I like mid tide the best. In the fall, it seemed like fish would be waiting where ditches and creeks drain into the main river. Using artificial, I’d cast across and reel slow enough to maintain contact with the bottom a little.
The type of bank also makes a difference. Shells seem to produce more, but not always. Pay attention to changes along the bank that create current breaks. Google earth sometimes gives these areas away if you see swirls!
At least for me, it’s easier to find bait on mid tide.
Sometimes it would be as simple as changing if you’re fishing with the current or against it. I like to fish against it once I find the fish, but with it to find them and save trolling battery/hassle. I mainly targeted trout using this method, but found reds and flounder along the way. I tried cut bait this weekend with no luck, but I’m blaming that on the whitecaps. I’ve still gotta learn some summer patterns though.
Now, how about some high tide tips?
My personal best time is from 1/2 tru low and back to 1/2 , I like to follow the tide out of a creek and then back in, fishing the bends with trees and docks, when you don’t get a bite in 10 min. move to next spot
Thanks for the advice Wando, I’m fishing from a flats boat with a poling platform, I have a push pole, no trolling motor
quote:
Originally posted by Wando Grill
shell banks and sloughs that leave the flats.
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>I don’t think I understand this part, any extra info you could provide would be awesome.
quote:
Originally posted by Wando Grill
I am not a fan of watching other fishermen and their spots.
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>yep, that’s a dick move
DirtyOars, high tide is definitely tough, more places for the fish to hide. I am “starting to figure it out” by getting skunked only 9 out of 10 times lol
boatpoor, I agree. much easier to catch fish around low tide & definitely move when the fish ain’t there after 15 minutes
I’m all ears if anyone has advice
Sloughs are like little ditches, or small channels, created by water flow. Generally the mouths of creeks that lead on to a flat and out into the river will have these running across the flat and lead out to the deepr water of the main river. These are nothing more than roads the fish travel on and off of the flats and in and out of the creeks. Find these and fish them at the right times (incoming and outgoing) and you’ll find the fish.
Earn it everyday…
Man…it depends on where you are, and what you are after. I fish Winyah Bay and some of the Santee Bays. They have a lot of freshwater. The trout like the saltier water, the reds like the bait being sucked out of the creeks. At a mid tide, I try to find deeper water and Carolina rig, and freeline a mullet. God knows what you will hook into. There are sharks, or big reds in these deeper sections.Sometimes even a boncho flounder…Bait up appropriately. You also may want to consider jetties andn pylons for sheeps and black drum during this time. Hope this helps.
Man…it depends on where you are, and what you are after. I fish Winyah Bay and some of the Santee Bays. They have a lot of freshwater. The trout like the saltier water, the reds like the bait being sucked out of the creeks. At a mid tide, I try to find deeper water and Carolina rig, and freeline a mullet. God knows what you will hook into. There are sharks, or big reds in these deeper sections.Sometimes even a boncho flounder…Bait up appropriately. You also may want to consider jetties andn pylons for sheeps and black drum during this time. Hope this helps.
Thanks redstripe, i always seem to hook stingray trying to toss a mullet or a minnow on the bottom in unknown deep water. i am after anything that eats and/or fights good, but i don’t care for sharks or ray… ideally, redfish & flounder, trout are ok especially big ones. i have yet to ever catch a keeper flounder, although i have also never gone out strictly chasing flounder… i have no luck at mid tide except pure dumb luck, & I haven’t nailed down any repeatable patterns so it’s getting to the point that I’d rather not even bother with mid tide lol, but I know there’s guys out there probably loving mid tide, so i am hoping for some notebook info about good mid tide habitat & if anyone notices the rising versus the falling tide to be better, certain seasons or types of weather, cloudy, or not cloudy, humid, or not humid, raining, or gonna rain, or hasn’t rained in a week, or rained yesterday, etc… i just talked to a buddy & he told me i need to be up in a medium/small creek dragging a mud minnow on the bottom following the current out of the creek trolling or drifting & that he guarantees i’ll start hooking flounder & reds so that’s my next mid tide strategy to try.