by Pete Heley, June 06, 2011

As someone who works in a tackleshop in a very popular area (Winchester Bay, Oregon), I am, at times, simply amazed at how many people do not apply a logical approach to using tide tables. Most people simply want to know when high and low tide is, but don’t think things through any farther than that.

One needs to be absolutely aware that the times listed for high tides indicate the point where the incoming tide has stopped immediately prior to beginning to ebb. The time listed for low tide is the time when the tide has stopped ebbing immediately prior to beginning to come back in...

If an outdoor recreationist would list the tides in chronological sequence, they could then easily compare the height difference of adjacent tides. This difference indicates how much water movement there actually is. If this difference is eight or more feet, the tidal currents will be strong and while some fish, especially sturgeon, may bite better, crab activity will be more closely centered around the actual high or low tides - which are slack tides. Conversely, a small differenctial, and it could less than two feet, means very little water movement and fish are often less active than during more normal tides - but fishing conditions are usually more pleasant. As for crabs, they may be able to move around freely the entire tide, but feed with less enthusiasm than they would during a more normal differential when they have less time to freely move about.

When the lower portion of a river is muddy, fishing near high tide will usually mean that the water will be more clear than it would be close to low tide, since the ocean is usually less muddy than a river. Also, adult crabs and many ocean fish will be more active during the higher salinity associated with a high tide than they would be during a low tide.

There are numerous situations that are affected by tidal status, but to properly address each situation, one needs to thoroughly understand those tide tables.

Pete Healy, June 4, 2011
Pete Healy Books
P.O. Box 264
Reedsport, OR 97467