Best time to fish ?

Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:24 am

Hi Guys

I posted this question in the shore forum but it has occurred to me that it might differ for different methods of fishing? Is there a best time for 'lure' fishing ?

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

Re: Best time to fish ?

Sat Sep 19, 2009 8:40 pm

flynnboy wrote: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
FB


the two hour window is the optimum time to fish, particularly a beach,but you will get fish at other times too,deep pier or rock marks are not really tide dependant,but will not normally fish during slack water,the hour between high tide and the ebb,or low water and the rise.
Windy weather tends to mean surf!and surf stirs up the bottom exposing all the little creatures that the fish like to eat,so yes its a good time to be out fishing.rain does not matter in my opinion,on a shallow mark then the sun can make the fish shy and cautious and difficult to catch but on a deep water mark would not make a differance.dusk or dawn conciding with a high tide is an excellent time to fish,particulary for preditors,pollock, bass,coalies.etc spring/summer/autumn/winter all have there own species that will be caught during these times,pollock will move out during the winter,but coalies,cod and whiting will come in during winter,every season has its fish.
hope this helps
Noel

Re: Best time to fish ?

Sun Sep 20, 2009 11:08 am

Hi Noel,

That's brilliant, thanks. Especially useful to know about the slack. I'm going to start keeping a diary and hopefully in a while that will give me a better understanding of the score. I'll have to go out and give it a hurl at different states of the tide and see what happens.

Do the Pollack disappear in winter or just become more scarce ?

Cheers

FB