When to fish ???

Hi Guys

As many of you will know this is my first season of sea fishing. I have been a freshwater/Salmon fly angler for many years and I know when the best time to fish is and there are definite conditions and times when it is best to fish. I have been told that with the sea it is 2 hrs either side of high tide - but how true is this ?

Is there any point in fishing outside of this 2hr window ? What if it is a deep water mark, and there is still plenty of depth at low tide ? Is it best to fish in windy weather ? Is it best in rainy weather ? Is it best in a high pressure or low pressure weather system? Is it best when the sun is out or in ? Is it best on a flat calm or a swell ? Is it better at dawn or dusk ? Spring/Summer/Autumn or Winter ???

Since the beginning of the year I have been sticking rigidly to this 2hr thing but know nothing about fishing and the effect of the differing weather conditions. I'd be really grateful for any advice on this !

Cheers

FB

a lot will depend on where your fishing. some places will fish better near low water, others will fish better near high water.
best thing to do is to stick to a few places and fish them at different stages of the tide and record catches in a notebook, youll soon learn when its best to fish a spot.

As often as poss. Better than sittin in the house thinkin abt it. No set rules in this game, different places fish better at dif tides and dif species show up at dif times in the tide. As Red says pick a few spots and take a few notes. Salmon are wee buns compared to this

I have been told that with the sea it is 2 hrs either side of high tide - but how true is this

It depends on the location. Last year when I first started bait fishing I used to think that too - but once I started to fish ebbing tides and over low tide my catches of bass drematically improved. I know of several beaches where bass are plentiful in the last 2 or 2.5 hours of the ebbing tide but are not so common in the couple of hours either side of high tide. I know a rock mark where they a present for a couple of hours about an hour after high tide and another small cove when they tend to appear about an hour after low tide. Bass appear for a short time just as the tide starts to push forward on another beach I have been fishing recently.

On some of these beaches dogfish are most common an hour or so either side of low tide.

Flat fish tend to be most common on a rising tide, although in estuaries you can get them on the way in with the rising tide and on the way back out on an ebbing tide.

Pollock on rock marks tend to come in with the rising tide, but are scarse once the tide starts to ebb. Although if it is very deep water then I guess the tide won't matter too much.

As Red mentioned fish various stages of the tide on a particular mark and you will find the most productive time.

Cheers guys, thanks.

Do you happen to know if we get Bass here in Donegal bay ?