Choosing The Right Fishing

Choosing the Right Fishing Method
We planned our trip the other day to coincide with the outgoing tide. In our area, the tides run high to low and back about every five and a half to six hours. So, a high tide at 9am means a low tide around 3pm. Of course wind direction can make a difference by pushing water with the tidal flow or holding water up against the tidal flow.
I have seen days wherea low tide scheduled to occur at say 2pm actually does not happen until an hour or more later because the wind is blowing the water out and won’t let it come back in. In any bay or estuary, winds can have an effect on the water that will push that water a foot or more deeper on the opposite end of the bay. Just blow across the top of a bowl of water with your mouth – you can literally blow thewater out the other side of the bowl. The same effect is at work when the wind blows. It pushes water.

So, here we are, looking to fish the last of the outgoing tide down to low tide and then the first of the incoming tide. Tides in our area average about four feet from high to low. On a full or new moon, it can be as much as six feet difference. Those two moon phases pull harder on the water andconsequently cause higher and lower tides. Today the moon is waxing in the first quarter – just an average tide day.

I anchored the boat to position it in a way that the water would be moving from left to right as I fished out the side of the boat. The boat swung around on the anchor and lined up with the tidal flow. I removed the rods and got everyone ready to fish – the question became – howdo we fish?

The Obvious Method May Not Be the Best
The obvious method, given how we are anchored is to fish out the back of the boat right along with the tide. And that may be the method we end up using – but it may not be the first choice.
* What’s Behind You?
It turns out that we anchored alongside a rock jetty. The area we wanted to fish is on the port side of the boat. The rocks dropdown into the water to a depth of about 30 feet, and the fish are moving in, around, and about all those rocks. Directly behind us is deeper water – 30 feet deep. At this point we do not want to fish behind us, because that’s not where the fish are!
* Watching the Rocks
The water was moving from the bow to the stern or the boat at around 4 knots – quite fast actually. If I were to try andbottom fish along the rocks from the side of the boat, I would have problems – hanging up on every rock. That’s because the current would sweep my bait, sinker and leader in and around all the rocks.
* How to Keep from Hanging Up

* The idea is to allow the bait to get down to the fish, but not down so far that it hangs on the rocks below.
* Remove the Weight. Remove the heavy sinkeror weight you use to fish on the bottom and replace it either with no weight or with a smaller weight.
* Go with a jig head that is light enough to flow with the current but heavy enough to get down toward the rocks.
* Stay in touch with your terminal tackle. What this means is – keep a tight line. You should be able to feel every little tick and bump and be able to know when yourbait or jig head has reached a rock.
* Lift! When you feel a tick on the line, lift your rod tip. If it’s a fish that has picked up the bait – and you should be able to tell this by the movement on your line as you lift – then set the hook!. If it’s not a fish, you will feel the bait or jig head drift with the current. If there is pressure and it’s not moving, you have hung on a rock. Gentlyshake the end of your rod and it should easily come free.
* Try not to set the hook on a rock!
Watch the Current
As the current slows at the end of a tide, you will need less weight on your line. It may be time to remove all the weight on your line and just go with a leader and hook. We call this freelining, and it works best with live bait. Freelining allows a live bait to swim freely...