My brother asked me to fish with him after work one evening last week. He recently moved and we were fishing some waters that we were not familiar with near his house. The tide was a 6’+ tide and we left the dock right at high tide. We looked for some areas that looked fishy, but had no luck and even fished some docks and other areas that we felt would hold some fish to no avail. During our time on the water it became very clear to us that we were fishing blind and more than once the words, “we need to come back and scout this area at low tide” were spoken by both of us.
We knew we were fishing blind, but really thought we could use enough of our knowledge of other high tide areas to catch a few fish. What became quite obvious was that other than a few dock poles and some points that looked like they probably had some shells and other structure, we really had no idea where to look for the fish. Using a grub with a lead head I could feel out the bottom and tell if there were shells or sand, but finding drops and small ledges where inshore fish like to ambush their prey was next to impossible.
Any successful inshore guide will tell you they spend most of their off-time (days they do not have paying clients) scouting areas and making notes of areas they feel will hold fish for future trips. Going out at times of low tide is the best way to learn about an area you plan to fish. Making a chart or marking areas on your GPS will reap great rewards when you begin to fish and will help you understand why the fish move to different locations at different tides. Many years ago I had an old stand by spot for trout. The fish would gather near a point at high tide and feed on beautiful rip that formed as the tide moved out. As the tide got lower the fish would move down the bank to some other shell banks that bordered deeper water. More than once I had people anchor down the bank from me near high tide. They would see me catching fish and when the fished moved I would crank up. Thinking I was leaving they would pull a