advice on all this tide stuff/i thought a spring was a mnth?

Thu Sep 30, 2004 4:24 pm

Help reading loads and lost at the moment. When to fish and on what tide what is a spring and a neep also what are they on about when they say fished the ebb??/

Come on help me out plan talk only no tec as iam confused before i started fishing lol.
Laugh out loud ex fly man needs help.

Tides

Thu Sep 30, 2004 5:04 pm

Not all tides during a month are the same. They change in height and power tide per tide. The spring is when the moon is at its closest and has most influence. Spring tides usually last over a three day period and are the highest and most powerful of the month. Neaps are the oppisite. They are the lowest high tides of the month. It is also worth noteing that a low tide during a spring will go out further than normal while neaps will show the least difference between high and low water. Take a look at some tide tables and you will see what i mean.

The Ebb is when the tide is on its way out. The flood is when it is on its way in...

Hope this explains it to you.

tides

Thu Sep 30, 2004 5:14 pm

That was fast and good thank you so much, it seems easy now and i feel a fool lol.

Is one better to fish than the other is it better on the flood or the ebb. On a spring or a neep.

Also in fly fishing if the wind is in the east the fish feed leased and if from the west fish best. Is this the same at sea.

And before or after a storm does it matter when in that.

Sorry i know iam a pain but thank you

Thu Sep 30, 2004 8:20 pm

For tides/times/hieghts info this site is quite good http://easytide.ukho.gov.uk/EasyTide/Ea ... tPort.aspx

Sean,

Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:46 am

Hi pookie
If you call into the Belfast harbour office they might have some tide tables left for this year ,they give a small booklet away free of charge explains tides etc. and gives you an estimate of the tidal difference for most of the ports around ireland .
Failing this call at the lagan weir we have some of our own so will be able to spare one .

Sat Oct 02, 2004 8:59 pm

pookie,
fishing in general is usually better during the spring tides.My advice would be talk to other anglers and your local bait shop to find which areas fish better over low or high tide.The most essential piece of kit you can buy is a local tides tables usually to be got from your tackle shop.

when to fish

Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:22 am

during a storm can be good but its a lot of hasel and you well have litle or no bite detection just after is as good without the hasel the reson this is becase it desturbs worm and shell bed witch in turn brings in more fish on the feed i genraly find windy cloudy days better than calm bright days except for ray

Mon Oct 04, 2004 2:16 pm

East wind thing seems to be true for sea fishing as well.

Regarding the tides, think about it like this, moving water disturbes potential food buried in the sand, fish start to feed when the food appears.

Most sandy marks fish better on the flood (incoming tide) rather than the ebb. You might wonder why the ebb doesn't tend to be as good as it will disturb the sand/food as well, reason is (My reckoning anyway) that as the tide goes out worms and razorfish etc bury themselves in the sand until the tide comes back in i.e. as the tide goes out the food hides. As the tide comes in the worms and the razorfish reappear and a feeding frenzy starts.
A spring tide will cover a larger area of sand and more food appears, I suppose the fish instinctly know this and are more inclined to come in to feed when there is going to be more food available.

I suppose the same can be said for rock marks, the rising water makes shellfish accessable and crabs which were hiding during low water come out when the water rises.

But remember there are exceptions to every rule, not every mark fishes better during the flood.

Tides

Mon Oct 04, 2004 3:21 pm

Interesting points there! I would tend to agree with you on the food thing. Also it should be noted that during spring tides the currents are stronger as the moon has more pull on the water. The sea as a whole at this time has current super highways that waft up plankton to the surface layers that are less accessable during the rest of the month. This in turn attracts invertibrates and thus these attract fish. The water height also makes areas accesable to fish that normally don't forage in shallow areas. For example, all fish are constantly aware of water pressure. They are surrounded by it at al times and thus grade where they are and where to be feeding by it. It is like their depth sensor... Fish are not entirely stupid but lets admit it, they are pretty thick! They will not normally hang around certain depths due to birds and big fish can see them. Shallow water means high light levels which spells certain danger for any fish. This is the biggest fundamental reason the fishing from the shore at night is always better. When the water is deeper (spring tides) fish are more likely to approach closer to shore and thus easier to catch.

As Adrian said, not all spots will fish as well during springs. Certain spots such as Kilmichael point or Hook head in Wexford or Monkstown in Cork have very strong currents at the best of times. Trying to hold a lead on the bottom can prove impossible during a spring. The fish are probably there... you just cant bloody fish it! For this reason neaps are a better bet. :wink:

When drift fishing over rough marks or wrecks in a boat, springs will often leave you with little time actually over the feature and thus very little time to actually catch fish. I can think of one particular wreck where you will catch hardly anything at all unless you are fishing around a neap...

Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:33 pm

on other thing, saying you are from the east coast..........

wind in the east, fish bite the least.

apart for that, nothing else 2 add.

dave

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