Tides and Spearfishing

[Mr. X]

Hmm..

See this might be a lot of the problem, when I talked about coming in from the rain....

Yes, I suspect there has been a fair amount of misunderstanding in our communications.

...I dont know it all by any means but what I do know and share is from hard won experence and from friends personal experiences.

Fair comment. I am working on the personal experience - that'll take time of course. Living away from the sea, my spearo friends tend to be on the forum.

...I thinks we are just very different in our out looks and methods. Practical v academic perhaps?

Probably true. I am quite interested in how they do things in different places. Being away from the sea you tend to get less time in the water & consequently more opportunity to mull things over (but I'd be the first to admit that the latter is no substitute for the former).

...I would use the Ignore member bit but you have a habit of answering your own posts so all I end up with is an off topic comment every two or three paragraphs and it just makes it un readable ( for me ) and that ruins a nice little thread.?

As you have pointed this out, I will make an effort to reduce multiple sequential posts (can't guarantee it will never happen though). Never really sure how best to handle the case when several people respond with different information (several small responses/one longer response referencing the others/no response,...). I wonder too if folk sometimes get slighted when you pursue one response but not another, even though both may be equally valid/interesting/useful.

...Apart from that i will say and post as i like to be honest, we have free speech in this country and we are both exercising it. I am nobody who are you?.

Fair enough. I am also, happy to be, nobody.

...Now enough of this I am off out to catch a Lobster for dinner.

Sounds good.

 

[Soul Deep]

Yawn... :yack

Xcrete Xces Xasperate Xecrable Xhale :mute

Going for a fish around the Island this weekend, anybody who knows me is welcome. I dont give a stuff about the tides with regards to fish and the catching of fish cos I've caught on all. I think this point is much over rated by many.

Just fish.. its much better for the soul.

Phew... glad everyone has sorted out there differences! Oh and Almostafish... This coming weekend? A few of us will be gracing the Dorset waters if you fancy a hook up...

BTW... just to keep this post on topic, I have found that tides haven’t affected the fish's movements in and out of an area so much as the position within the water in an area. Rising tides appear to bring the bass out mid water and where there is one feeding you usually find more whereas the falling tides send the bass down to the nooks and crannies in the rocks for a rest, and they seem to use this time as "space" from the others Disclaimer: This was just my personal experience and in no way presumes or proclaims actual fish behaviour... I leave that to the scientists :t

 

[flyflicker]

The tides are all wrong here this weekend, I suggest Devon or Cornwall

 

[Soul Deep]

The tides are all wrong here this weekend, I suggest Devon or Cornwall

rofl Yeah all the fish will have followed the tide west I guess... Its a long swim for em twice a day though!

 

[Almostafish]

As Soul deep has rightly said the fish just do different things depending on the tide so they are always around but instead of being in open water they are a little deeper in holes and under rocks. Note in point yesterday I went in to set my pot on LW and seeing as I was in the water I went for a scout.. One large rock with big ( 6-10lb ) mullet under it all just milling around was found and one large mullet came home for dinner. It put up a good struggle too! I BBQ'd it with fresh fennel from the garden garlic and olive oil.. MMM

 

[old dave]

I am planning to start a log, something Ian Rodger strongly recommends in his Freediving book. I am thinking of using a spreadsheet rather than paper though - so I can add additional columns (you always think of new things to track later) tweak it and also analyse it. (Anybody doing this already? Any suggestions of what to track & how to store it? I am thinking people who wear a dive computer might be doing this already.).

Pav, you mention having success at different tide states in different locations. Any correlation in the type of location (e.g. high tides in bay vs. low tides at headland)?

Who is Ian Rodger

 

[foxfish]

Ian Rodger wrote Dive Free, a interesting little book with a emphasis on spear fishing. He is DB member Blenny & was selling his book to other members for a fiver!

 

[violaspearo]

If you are planning on spearing while travelling, you really need to research local conditions. Especially tides - there may be fish, but you don't want to get into the water if you don't have a good plan for getting out!

 

[violaspearo]

If you are planning on spearing while travelling, you really need to research local conditions. Especially tides - there may be fish, but you don't want to get into the water if you don't have a good plan for getting out!

 

[Griff]

intersting thread, well most of it.

something thats quite funny that sort of falls in with this topic is the story about "best fishing days". the local angling mag publishes them. some solar lunar cycle. i think the article in the mag said something like "we dont know why it works, but it just works". try googling it to get more info.

tides? not sure of the effect on fish. i'm more interested in being there at dawn or dusk. otherwise there are some spots that you can only hunt at high tide cause the waves would smash you up at low tide. it would be a pity if low tide was the best, wouldnt it.

also with water temp, thats species specific. if its cold we dont even bother for couta (spanish or king mackeral), but if its warm and the current is ripping we know we're in bussiness. current is probably mainly for gamefish, no current, no fish. i seldom target reefies and so when i do bang one its kinda random so i couldnt really say much about favorable conditions, except maybe viz where dirtier is better cause you get closer.

also i think that a log is a great idea. kicking myself for not having one already.
cheers
mark

 

[freediver7]

. Overall, I feel that nothing substitutes for experience and knowledge of what works best in your particular area. Different species may feed differently, and a higher quantity of a particular species will be seen at different times. Hope this helps!

get in the water and watch the fish, they know whats goin on. After a while you will recognise fish from prior dives, follow them around and they will make you a better diver.

 

[paddythefrog]

different tides are better for different things. I use spring tides to cover more ground while drifting with the water flow. I use a high tide going out to get to a favourite spot at one location but if I dive low tide coming in then finding the same spot can be much less practical. There are a few basic rules with regards the tides and flow of the water but there are so many variables that I think it can confuse people very easily (myself included).

For example, if you're after bass and it's a nice clear sky with no cloud in sight, the bass will be more comfortable very early in the morning and very late in the evening when the rays of the sun enter the water at an oblique angle. Reason being, bass have excellent sight and when the sunlight enters the water this way, it reduces a bass's field of vision and it feels safer than it would when the sun is overhead piercing the water and allowing it to see a lot further than at said times. It feels shielded because it can only see so far. Early morning and late evening see the bass in an almost euphoric state due to the light whereas mid-day will have them in a very nervous and unapprochable state where they are more aware of what is going on and their sense of alert is heightened due to their field of vision.