Ask any angler who has dabbled in both inshore saltwater fishing and freshwater fishing about the biggest difference in the two types of angling, and the answer is likely to be tides. Along with the numerous variables impoundment-bound fishermen must keep up with, inshore redfish anglers get the distinction of adding tidal influences to the mix.
It would be nice if tide charts came with a few fast rules about how tides affect fish, but like so many other variables in fishing, anglers are left to decipher these things on their own.
Tides themselves have no standards, so assigning one-size-fits-all rules to fishing tides is difficult. Some areas of the Gulf Coast only get a few inches of tidal change per day, while places on the East Coast get 5 to 6 feet. Then consider the intensity at which tides are always changing.
In order to make some sense out of the ebb and flow of the tide business, FLW Outdoors went to a few redfish pros to get their expert opinions on tides.
Ben Alderman of Pleasant Hill, S.C., is a pro on the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and a veteran guide along South Carolina’s coast. Greg and Bryan Watts, collectively known as the Watts Brothers, are Floridians who have won the points race on three major redfish tours by plucking reds from different tidal basins across the Gulf Coast.