Moving Is Grooving, Great Grouper Getaway TV, Bait In The Bank

As the earth, the moon and the sun do their daily dance, the tides rise and fall. And if you take the time to really study the tide tables, you'll notice there are times of greater water movement and times of lesser water movement...represented by the height of the tide.

Ask any Old Salt and they will have varying opinions on whether to fish an incoming or an outgoing tide, but the common denominator here is the fact the water is moving. You'll seldom hear anyone say "I always get my best fish during slack tide."

Moving water does several things to ring the dinner bell. Most obviously, it stirs things up --- from tiny crustaceans to schools of bait fish. Flowing water at creek mouths or 'pinch-points' like inlets and bridge abutments, are ideal ambush points for gamefish to stage and pick off easy meals as they come floating by. Water flowing over bars and across or through channels does the same job. Offshore, currents play a similar role. When the current is ripping along the bottom, grouper, snapper, and big flounder get hungry. And the action continues all the way up the water column. Look for amberjacks to get frisky as well as tuna, sharks and billfish. And this doesn't apply to just saltwater species. Stripers and trout, even bass love water movement to put the feed bag on.

Knowing where to look for the predator fish while the water is running is a key to success. Fish have to eat to survive...duh. But consider this...most gamefish are opportunity feeders. And when the magic time comes, they will feed voraciously. A yellowfin tuna (which never stops swimming) must eat nearly its entire body weight in food every day. So being in the right spot at the right time is a critical factor for success.

Predator fish will typically let Mother Nature bring the food to them, although ocean-roaming pelagics will often travel with the bait. The ambushers like seatrout, flounder, grouper, freshwater trout and so on will do their best to exert the least amount of effort and stay just on the edge of the strongest current and dart out to grab a meal, then back to the relative peace of the outer edges. This could be a rock, a stump, man-made structure, even grass. Casting your baits up current and letting them drift with the rest of the natural baits is an effective way to entice a strike. Ask just about any trout angler and they will say the same thing.

I'm not completely convinced that it really matters whether the tide is coming or going, as long as the water is moving. Reservior fishermen know the fishing perks up when the hydroelectric dam is generating power. Lake and pond anglers will look for creek exits or natural springs...again places where there's at least 'some' water moving.

Many power companies publish their generating schedules so you can time your fishing trips. As for the salt, that's pretty easy. Tide table charts will show times for high and low tide in a particular area, as well as the total tidal height. Many electronic chart plotters have this information built-in to them. Navionics charts, for instance, show tide stations and anticipated current speed and direction. By the way, that's good information for recreational boaters too. The Navionics iPhone app - which recently won an ICAST Innovation Award - shows tide stations and currents PLUS you can view the tides for days or months in the future. A great tool for planning your fishing or boating trip.

Yes, there will be times where the difference between high tide and low tide is mere inches. That might be a day to stay home and watch Nuts & Bolts on TV or the web or go catfishing.

Take the time to do a little timely tidal research. Add this to your fishing arsenal and you'll be well on the way to catching more fish.