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Fishing at low tide?

Ladfromtad

Ladfromtad

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Morning folks

Hope you are all well.
So, the most eagerly anticipated fishing session in months (been moving house and had no time).
My plan was get up early with the youngster, car packed, sarnies/flasks already made and get to the east coast early, for what I thought was a 9:30am high tide.
However, (should have gone to Specsavers), that is actually low tide.
Had made plans for later on, so can't stay at the coast all day, meaning we won't be there for 3:30pm high tide.

What a short sighted Muppet!

Is it worth a trip when it's going to be low tide, or do we just postpone and go coarse fishing for the day?
 
Ladfromtad said:
Morning folks

Hope you are all well.
So, the most eagerly anticipated fishing session in months (been moving house and had no time).
My plan was get up early with the youngster, car packed, sarnies/flasks already made and get to the east coast early, for what I thought was a 9:30am high tide.
However, (should have gone to Specsavers), that is actually low tide.
Had made plans for later on, so can't stay at the coast all day, meaning we won't be there for 3:30pm high tide.

What a short sighted Muppet!

Is it worth a trip when it's going to be low tide, or do we just postpone and go coarse fishing for the day?
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Can be productive, depends on the venue.
 
Fish a lot of low tide venues up the channel and don’t give it a second thought. For me on Chesil I like the last of the ebb and start of the flood and not found my catch rates are effected. Only way is to give it a go always worth a go for future planning.
 
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One of the locations i fish, you will catch on low to just when the tide starts to turn for around an hour, high is a waste of time there.

I like fishing that time as most productive there.

But move a mile away at different location and completely different.
 
Arriving at low tie can give you a big advantage.
On the east coast, from Brid to Spurn the sea conds especially after a storm can change the beach overnight. Where the beach was steep it can now be flat or vice versa.
Low tide gives you the opportunity to check out gullies or gaps in sandbars that fish use to access the gullies as the tide comes in .
Fishing into those gullies can give you an advantage as that is where the food washes in and collects .
The fish know that.
A couple of months ago I was fishing and being a plonker was casting over the gulley to the back of a sandbar, an old chap 50 yards away was dropping his baits literally 40 yards or much less and consistently catching codlings and Whitings .I dropped short and straight away started to catch .
Another benefit is if you arrive just after a storm you may get lucky and find you have found a wash up .Happy days !

Dave
 
Just to say...particularly on the Bristol channel LW (note: no guarantees) can be so much better, because of the tidal range all fish retreat to the deeper channels that may be reachable over LW. Once the flood is under way same number of fish spread out over thousands of acres.

As has been mentioned you have to choose the correct venue (this doesn't apply to every BC mark), so LW reconnaissance is an absolute must in order to know the ground and your safe 'escape' route.

As an example I'll use Kingston Seymour/Black rock area . For those that know the area there is a deep channel that runs from Sand point, past middlehope, past the mod, across the front of Kingston Seymour , past Blackrock and in front of Wain's hill. On an 'average tide' LW all fish retreat with the water to the gulley so are concentrated. As the tide floods, the area covered is multiplied many, many times so logically average fish count per area is lower and lower.

NOW it is VERY important for me to say the mention of the channel in front of Kingston was purely as an example. Please don't attempt to fish the gulley unless you're with some one who knows. Stick to the easy areas eg knuckles, MIddlehope through to MOD. This also applies to most of the Bristol channel but also especially the the LW reef under the original Severn bridge. With the tide range we have it is so easy to get cut off....don't risk it !!

When I first started sea fishing I went to the reef under the first Severn bridge to see what it looked like, looked perfect deep drop off into turbulent water. I wasn't fishing just walking an taking photographs. Even with keeping my eyes open I had to wade back through knee deep + water as a gulley back filled, Same applies to Black rock and many other marks on the Bristol channel eg Hinkley

Just be very careful!!!

PS I'm happy to take this post down if people feel it might encourage some to take unnecessary risks....just let me know?
 
Si-fly said:
Most of my marks are under 20ft or more of water over high ...so easy to guess which I prefer 🤔
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Snap think I can count on three fingers marks I fish on the lower reaches over high water. I could try the low water marks over high but think it’s called boat fishing🤔
 
Live in hope said:
Last time I went snorkelling me mrs told me less breathing more diving 😅
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Ah, but doesn't that depend on what type of diving she was talking about. ;)

Ian.
 
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