[andy cottam]

I would be interested to hear if anyone has got any views about the merits or not of fishing a falling tide for bass. Appreciate that it may depend on the venue, but has anyone got any experience of doing well with the tide going out?

 

[Tim Griffin]

Do it - fish the drop. Conventional (bait fishing?) wisdom seems to be that fish push in with the rising tide which is logical. However, I catch as many or more bass on a falling tide or over low water. Every mark is different, but invest some time at each mark across different tides and conditions and you will see what is best. I reckon I need a good half dozen trips at a new mark to get a good feel for what works best.

 

[andy cottam]

Thanks -i'll give it a go and let you know how things work out.
Cheers
Andy

 

[Ian Morris]

Tim is spot on there Andy. If you are lucky enough to get full days out, then you can do this or even cover a lot of ground and hit everywhere again on your way back at a different state of the tide. Plugging the rocky shore at dusk especially is also a lot safer on the ebb, especially on unfamiliar ground.
Cheers,
Ian

 

[Mark Sleep]

I like fishing the ebb. I like the peace of mind I get knowing I can wade a mile or more without worrying about getting cut off by our turbo tides. Its true some places fish better on the flood, but equally there are places that feed well on the ebb.

I found one such place the other night, I waded out as far as I could on the ebb, down a sequence of gullies, and found a large almost lagoon thing that a few different gutters drained into - and there were fish everywhere, obviously waiting for any food coming down from the gutters. Its local conditions and environment that'll dictate whether its an ebb or flood mark, there's no set rule. It may even be both, fish holding in one spot on the flood, then shifting for the ebb.

That probably doesn't help you at all, so sorry about that!

 

[Keith White]

Ebbing tides can be much better at pinpointing Bass on a regular basis.

When we did the 19 Bass in 2 hours (in total darkness) with Henry the tide was falling.

Fish will often 'set up' like river fish on falling tides IF you find lateral current which I believe is key anyway.

 

[Ben Field]

A falling tide seems to be best on a lot of marks around here. I think that as it rises, fish are more widespread as they search around (unless condensed by an obvious shoal of baitfish) and explore flooding ground. on the ebb they retreat a little and congregate more in the natural 'ambush points' as the water brings food out to them - so they're easier to target with a bit of watercraft.