Catching Fish On a Slack Tide.....

[Seafever]

Just curious......according to bro'science, when the tide is full slack the bait and predatory fish disperse and the fishing is worse than when there is an ebb or a flood because then the bait and predators will "tighten up" and be found more in certain places of refuge. It would seem to me that when the bait and predators "disperse' there would be more chance of coverage resulting in hookups. I almost never see "dispersed" schools of bait. They are always balled up for protection in numbers no matter what the tide is doing. How much 'dispersed' bait have you seen......and how is your catch rate on a full slack? talking salmon here not Halibut.

 

[scott craven]

Just my 2 bits, but I find Chinook bite best an hour either side of slack tide.
That being said, you have to be able to find the fish.
A lot has to do with where you are fishing .
Depending on the structure, certain areas will hold feed better on an ebb than a flood.
The reverse can also be true once again depending where you are.
Having a good overall idea of the places where bait accumulates as well as understanding
the currents is the key.

 

[Karma-Kazi]

Craven nailed it. I always look at the ocean like a river when there is a strong tide. Makes it easier to break down the stucture. Remember that different stuctures fish best on certain tides. So dont fish one place on a tide and give up on it make note and plan to try it on another tide.

-KK

 

[tubby]

As a 'general' rule this disperse concept is very applicable so long as the slack tide truly goes slack, as those noted before every location and every tide can be different. Here's a prime example of a spot I fished a number of years ago, on a good flood tide (+10ft differential) the tide pushes around this point for a good portion of its change, this point is relatively wide and has a relatively steep drop into deep water so it creates a good fishable area / section (wall) of ~100m. Fishing can be good on a good size flood but as soon as it goes slack, the fishing is not as good - why?
Bait was being pushed right along this steep edge (wall), thus concentrating both bait and salmon, when the tides goes slack, the bait 'schools' starts to disperse away from the steep edge and hence the salmon follow. What's the biggest give away this is happening? watch the tide and where people are catching the fish, the guys on the outside start catching more fish when before they weren't catching that many.

 

[Sharphooks]

I'm not sure who "bro'science" is but in my experience, high slack or low slack is absolutely not the time to slack. I target an hour before and an hour after either the high slack or the low slack--any minute that passes between that two hour period (including the full slack on either a high or a low tide ) is prime time television as far as I'm concerned.

Bait disperses on a slack? Based on what I have seen over the years on my sounder screens, bait clumps on a slack and when that happens salmon home in for the kill.

Of course structure is the twist in the sobriety---every point of land or drop-off will have its own unique characteristics during a tide change and that character is what influences how the water moves past it on different stages of a tide ---but once its truly slack? In my experience that's a ringing dinner bell ---easier to get your gear in the zone and keep it in the zone, easier to get your gear into hidey-holes along the structure you're fishing, easier to get up close and personal with rock faces and shelves.

 

[Seafever]

Aye.......well there are big tides and small tides. Some tides you get where there's basically not much of any kind of tide all day. Very minimal 'drops"etc. I have not noticed a reduction in catch on those kind of days/tides. I agree with you completely Sharphooks. I'm thinking the greater the tide/tiderun speed the more the salmon will want to find a place where they don't have to expend too much energy and can ambush bait without having to work too hard to do so. So that would be as close to the bottom as they can get (in shallower waters)...or....take cover behind the most appropriate structure where bait is also likely to be. I'm not sure where a "migratory" that is 10 miles out and in 1400ft of water takes cover.

 

[staying alive]

I asked a local guide in Nootka a couple of years ago his secret for catching fish and he said park your boat on top of them.
Hillbilly wisdom hard to argue with that

 

[Seafever]

Right....but you gotta find them first.

 

[Fish-Hunter]

Right....but you gotta find them first.

You need a set of these

Or one of these:

 

[Rum Buddies]

slack tide is the best time to fish, no debate about it. Life in the wild is all about ROI(return on investment), how much energy does an animal need to expend to catch prey versus how much eneregy they will gain from the prey. When the current is the slowest or an actual slack is when the animal can get the highest ROI.

Of course fish can and often do bite all day long, even while the current is ripping but if there's one constant you can count on when salmon fishing is generally fishing will be best 1 hour before slack to 1 hour after slack.

When the current is fast fish hunker down, when the current goes slack they are more apt to be actively chasing prey.

Never heard an argument against fishing slack tide?? I'd talk to your bros and tell em they're dead wrong.

 

[Seafever]

I just use "bro'science" to describe anything that is popularly bandied around but is not actually proven in fact. I read this particular story in an article at " Salmon University" by Dick Poole I think it was.

 

[jeffywestcoast]

slack tide may not offer the best bite ,but you definately cant go wrong with the Hour before n after as rule of thumb for the best bitetime..

 

[notmebud]

were did you find witching wands?

 

[Fish-Hunter]

were did you find witching wands?

Wikipedia
No I don't use them - LOL. But there are times that one would swear they are needed to find the fish.
------
On Topic - sorry for the sideline.

I can't say that I have caught more fish or less fish on a slack tide, it really comes down to being in the right place at the right time and offering the best presentation to induce a strike. Definitely knowing your location and the way the water flows in the area, also knowing what times of the year that fish hold in that location, really pay off.

As was mentioned above, keep a log book, put in some time in a variety of locations, observe and make records. When you go back over your records from past years, a pattern usually develops as to the best tides, moon patterns, weather, and time of the year, to fish a given location. And yes you will find certain locations that will produce consistently and generally less fussy to give up fish, these will be your "go to" spots for the action, and then usually move on to continue the exploration and gathering of data, by trying other new locations, or previous locations but at different tides or times of the year.

Also listen closely to the old timers that are willing to share details (some of them do), and try their shortcuts, lots of times they will pay off, or,,,, you will get to their spot and find twenty other boats there too, (because they have told everyone they meet about their hot-spot).

 

[fish stalker]

I seem to be having a brain fart on slack tide I thought I knew but havent thought about this for awhile.

I had always thought the best time for fishing was an hour before and after a tide change. So you look at a tide table or a graph and see the tide going out/in and peaking and coming in/out. Now I thought slack was at that turning point where the tide is changing from in to out..

When I look the the http://www.dairiki.org/tides/daily.php/disc graph it says slack at the midway point. I thought the flow would be going full tilt in or out at that point?

Then I read this that makes sense 'It’s easy to assume that because the tide goes in and out, slack water should coincide with the time when the tide is all the way in or all the way out, but that would be incorrect.
Think of the tide as a six-hour-long wave that is moving along the coast at an angle.
Because water shallows to the shore, and because of the intricate shape of the coast, the crest of this wave will not be straight.
The oceans are not infinite, and at some point this wave reaches the limit of its travel and goes back the other way, adding to the next wave in places, and cancelling it out in others.
Slack water at any one place comes when the movement of the cumulative tide waves is minimal at that specific location.'

So if those are both true. That means to fish a 'low slack' I would be fishing the midway point 'slack' after a low tide? And the high is the midway point slack after high?

I had some advice to fish a low slack somewhere just trying to figure out when that is. But now im thinking mabey he ment low tide change.

 

[adrianna3]

Low slack is when I've caught most of my springs. It's my favorite tide of all.

Dave

 

[fish stalker]

I am bumping this up again.

Ok changing my question. I would just like to know if LOW SLACK is the slack after low tide coming in or after a high tide going out?

Low slack tonight will be a few minutes before 8pm?

 

[scott craven]

LOW SLACK is the slack between ebb (low)to flood tide.
High slack is the slack between flood to ebb tide

also it appears tonight will be a high slack around 8:00pm

 

[Sharphooks]

How about LOW SLACK is the moment when the ebb tide has fully ebbed and all outward movement has ceased; HIGH SLACK is the moment when the high tide is at its peak high and all inward movement has ceased?

 

[Karma-Kazi]

How about LOW SLACK is the moment when the ebb tide has fully ebbed and all outward movement has ceased; HIGH SLACK is the moment when the high tide is at its peak high and all inward movement has ceased?

In Sooke and the South island somtimes it can seem as though the dirrection never changes. Places with large back eddies and such. You have to pay more attention to ground speed and RPM's dependent on dirrection you are traveling for the current time and place you are fishing.

Like said above though, Low slack at the lowest tide and High slack at the top of the tide.

-KK