[Ray.S]

Hi Guys

I was wondering..... I don't normally go and fish when the HT is less than about 3.5. This is not for any good reason other than it seems like there's not much water there ?

I have written off fishing next week because the HT's are only around 3.0. and less.

Am I missing out on fishing ? Are the fish there regardless of the height of the HT ?

I'd be really interested to hear what the craick is on that.

Cheers

 

[Tim Griffin]

Ray, I can't talk about ireland but we do seem to catch as much on the smaller tides as on the bigger tides. We don't take much notice of the size of tides to be fair. We just get out and fish and so long as we are in the right place and water clarity is good then we do fine. Whether I should pay more attention or not is a moot point - all it does for me is determine where we fish and for how long. This may be simplistic but we just get out and fish whenever we can regardless of tide size...

 

[Ray.S]

Ray, I can't talk about ireland but we do seem to catch as much on the smaller tides as on the bigger tides. We don't take much notice of the size of tides to be fair. We just get out and fish and so long as we are in the right place and water clarity is good then we do fine. Whether I should pay more attention or not is a moot point - all it does for me is determine where we fish and for how long. This may be simplistic but we just get out and fish whenever we can regardless of tide size...

Hmmm. I would love to think I have it wrong here because I hate to think I'm missing out on fishing. I guess I am going on my longer years experience as a Salmon angler on rivers which is to say that if the water is low forget it.

Looking forward to more responses.

 

[Mick Ward]

Bob and me find the smaller tides can actually be better than the bigger ones, you just have to find the fish, but once you have found them they dont seem to go far. On the bigger tides, especially the big big ones, the fish seem crazy for anything for half hour but will move so much to find the strongest run in the area and you can just have good fishing for brief periods. Get out there Ray I think you'll be surprised.

 

[Ray.S]

Bob and me find the smaller tides can actually be better than the bigger ones, you just have to find the fish, but once you have found them they dont seem to go far. On the bigger tides, especially the big big ones, the fish seem crazy for anything for half hour but will move so much to find the strongest run in the area and you can just have good fishing for brief periods. Get out there Ray I think you'll be surprised.

Hmmm, this is getting interesting.... it seems I might be depriving myself of fishing - God forbid !

 

[alan mce]

hi ray for bass i never fish anything under 3.4 but for sea trout i have had more fish on small tides around 3.0 to 3.4
give it a go

 

[Ray.S]

hi ray for bass i never fish anything under 3.4 but for sea trout i have had more fish on small tides around 3.0 to 3.4
give it a go

I guess then I should say that where I fish here in Donegal Bay it is almost exclusively Pollack...... any difference ?

 

[jamo]

Always fish the low tide Ray, they can often come up trumps when most would be packing up and going. good luck mate.

 

[Mike Kennard]

The size of the tide never stops me fishing. It may change where I go or how I fish but never stop me completely. Bigger tides can create problems where there are strong currents, if so, fish them on a smaller tide. Sometimes you need more depth, or you may need to get further out, then fish a bigger tide. No reason to stop, find ways of using it to your advantage.

 

[Ray.S]

Well that's all very encouraging guys. I'll start to fish the lower high tides also and see what happens. Cheers

 

[Sam Roche]

Hi Ray, Fish have to feed regardless of the size of the tide, on the lower tids try working slug go's over the weed beds the pollock wont say no, . Also there has to be some monster wrasse up in Donegal give that a go best of luck.

 

[Ray.S]

Hi Ray, Fish have to feed regardless of the size of the tide, on the lower tids try working slug go's over the weed beds the pollock wont say no, . Also there has to be some monster wrasse up in Donegal give that a go best of luck.

Thanks Sam. This is all very encouraging. I had all but given up fishing the lower HT's, must have missed some fish ! Yeah I've had a couple of nice Wrasse here.

 

[Keith White]

Just go with the flow.

****:

Is it because on neaps, you drift slower ?

 

[Sam Roche]

Ray have you been fishing for wrasse with sp's ?

 

[Ray.S]

Ray have you been fishing for wrasse with sp's ?

Yep. Got them on flutter worms.

 

[Sam Roche]

Have you any picture's ?

 

[Mick Ward]

Just go with the flow.

****:

Is it because on neaps, you drift slower ?

Yes indeed Keith, it can be a pain if you have wind against tide on a small tide as you ca end up not drifting anywhere. The thing with the way Bob and me fish is we rely on the drift being right. Sometimes the wind or tide can make you miss a mark, or worse, end up right on top of it, its all down to a quick calculation in your head with the wind, tide and features all telling you where to put the boat and cut the engine. Get it right and you can be drifting over perfect ground for like 20 minutes, get it wrong and you are fart arsing about spooking all the fish.

My favourite size tides are anywhere from 28ft to 32ft, any smaller tha that and it is hard no matter what, any bigger is ok but the fishing seems fast and furious for brief periods. Its a huge head scratcher but every trip on the boat although looking the same from some one watching us, in in fact very different and tactics of lures and reasons for doing what we do seem to come to mind as the situation occurs. Certain mark, certain time, certain conditions all start to form a (vague) picture after a while......we still blank sometimes though, its fishing.

 

[Keith White]

Nice one. Always wondered just how much it affects you.

 

[Ray.S]

Have you any picture's ?

Sorry, no. Don't always carry a camera

 

[Dave Watson]

At times I prefer the smaller tides as its less ground to cover and some spots I like to fish hold water for longer and some marks are only ok to fish on small tides - been doing ok on this run of small tides we having just now.

But then its nice to have the mid to large tides for a bit more water and run etc

Mix it up and get out there and see what happens