fishing an outgoing tide

[Jeff Tranguch]

Hi all,

I've often heard that it's always best to fish the Potomac and it's tidal waters during an outgoing tide. Does anyone know the reasoning behind this concept? Are there certain times during an outgoing tide that are better to fish than others? (E.g., fishing as soon as the tide starts going out vs. Fishing just before it starts to come back in.)

Many thanks.

Jeff

[Yambag Nelson]

I don't think that is really true.  I think it matters more where are you fishing.  Gravelly Point for example, seems to be favored on an outgoing tide.  I always seem to do better at fletchers on an incoming tide.  In general, fishing dead low or dead high is never the best, and that goes for pretty much everywhere there are tides.  Maybe there are exceptions...

[Mike Bailey]

An incoming tide near the Potomac River fall line allows the food chain to filter in and become a captive audience for predators who might hold in waiting, to feed, as the tide flows out. 

I prefer a moving tide.  More so the outgoing.

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[TurbineBlade]

I fish every spare minute I have -- regardless of tide cycle.  I've caught fish at virtually every stage and honestly don't correlate my catch rate too much with the tide.  It probably depends pretty heavily on where you tend to fish as it definitely seems to matter more some places than others.  Sometimes I think it's more random luck than anything.  

Gene

On Thursday, June 19, 2014 5:21:35 PM UTC-4, Mike wrote:

An incoming tide near the Potomac River fall line allows the food chain to filter in and become a captive audience for predators who might hold in waiting, to feed, as the tide flows out. 

I prefer a moving tide.  More so the outgoing.

On Thu, Jun 19, 2014 at 5:00 PM, Yambag Nelson <northstreet...@gmail.com> wrote:

I don't think that is really true.  I think it matters more where are you fishing.  Gravelly Point for example, seems to be favored on an outgoing tide.  I always seem to do better at fletchers on an incoming tide.  In general, fishing dead low or dead high is never the best, and that goes for pretty much everywhere there are tides.  Maybe there are exceptions...

 

On Thursday, June 19, 2014 2:26:19 PM UTC-4, Jeff Tranguch wrote:

Hi all,

I've often heard that it's always best to fish the Potomac and it's tidal waters during an outgoing tide. Does anyone know the reasoning behind this concept? Are there certain times during an outgoing tide that are better to fish than others? (E.g., fishing as soon as the tide starts going out vs. Fishing just before it starts to come back in.)

Many thanks.

Jeff

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[Jeffrey Silvan]

I'm the same as Gene. I fish whenever I can regardless of the tide. For saltwater, I find it does make a difference depending on the species.

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[tom]

Incoming or outgoing doesn't matter as much as where you are fishing relative to the waterflow.  As a general matter, fish hold in the dead zones near flowing water where they can feed on stuff being brought to them by the moving water.  

Many structural features can cause such a dead zone.  It can exist because of a change in depth that creates a pocket of slower moving water relative to the flowing water or it can exist via some other form of structure.  For example, think of a point with water flowing around it.  The down-flow side of the point will be calm and fish will hold there and dart into the tide to feed.  When the tide turns the flow turns and fish will move to the opposite side, again where they can hold in the calmer water and feed.  

I use the term waterflow because you see the same phenomenon in all moving water, not just water moving due to tidal changes in the Potomac.  For example, the downriver side of a rock in a trout stream will show calmer water relative to the streamflow where fish will hold, again picking off food brought to them via the current.  You see the same thing on beaches where there is a outgoing riptide or a some other feature on the floor of the ocean that causes pockets (and you can see them by reading the waves, but that's the subject of another post).  This is just nature at work trying to maximize caloric intake relative to caloric output. 

On Thursday, June 19, 2014 2:26:19 PM UTC-4, Jeff Tranguch wrote:

[TurbineBlade]

Thanks tom -- I submit this artist's rendering to add to your last point:

[Mike Bailey]

Tom makes a good point regarding flow.  Having fished the Potomac below the fall line a few times I believe your best bites are consistently on the back side of a high tide.  Also referred to as a moving tide. Alex and I found a few largemouth this morning near Bush Cove in the middle of the outgoing on green tubeworms.  The river remains high and murky in color.

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