My father is known to say that it is bad luck to get married on an incoming tide. Of course he really means it is bad luck for him because he will be attending a wedding instead of fishing. My dad also thinks that weddings should be held on a weeknight, but that is a whole different story.
Inshore fishermen have always paid close attention to the tide to plan fishing trips. I once took a friend trout fishing in one of my favorite areas. It is a very distinct point made up of oyster shells. We arrived and anchored on the down current side of the point, where the current wrapped back around the backside of the point, and began catching fish. There was another boat on the other side of the point and with each fish we caught the angler strained a little harder to see what we were fishing with. As the tide began to slow so did the fish. I pulled anchor and moved out away from the bank. The gentleman fishing on the other side quickly pulled anchor and slid into our previous spot. I moved into the spot he just vacated and when the tide began to flow out we began catching fish as the other gentleman sat idly and watched. My friend was amazed and was ready to proclaim me to be some sort of fishing psychic, until I explained very simply how the point was shaped and how the fish moved to a better spot to ambush their next meal (just as we did) when the tide changed.
Tides have a tremendous impact on where and when we fish. The ebb and flow of tide is influenced primarily by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon on the waters of the earth. Tides flow stronger during the periods around the full and new moon phases and are generally weaker during the half moon phase. The tide in the Charleston area is also greatly affected by the direction of the wind. The folks that live along the water and downtown can tell you that a strong northeast wind causes high tides to be much higher than normal, often causing flooding. Barometric pressure can also have an effect on the tides. The heavier air of a high-pressure sys