Tides Determine Way of Life & Fishing
in Gulf Shores & Orange Beach
For visitors on Alabama's Beaches, the tides are a mysterious phenomenon that defies explanation. The folks who live and work on the Gulf Coast know tides determine the rhythm of life. That last statement is especially valid for those who fish in the area. The tide action has everything to do with that day's strategy to try to land a decent catch.
The Tide on Alabama's Beaches
The Tides & Life
The Tides & Life
For those who “ain't from around here,” tides are the oceans' reaction to the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun. The tides on Alabama's Beaches are mostly dominated by the moon's gravitational pull, which is sometimes light, sometimes heavy and sometimes almost non-existent when it is canceled out by the pull of the sun. The heavy tides, where the wave height reaches its peak, are called spring tides. When the sun cancels out the moon's pull, there is almost no tide movement, which is known as a neap tide.
How Tides Affect Fishing
How Tides Affect Fishing
At other times of the year, anglers have luck fishing the high tides and low tides. Neap tides are tough even for the most experienced anglers. During the heat of the summer, high tide rules, according to Capt. Jay Gunn.
“If there's no water movement (neap tide), the inshore fish do not feed,” Gunn said. “In late summer, around low tide, the fishing is just not productive. As summer gets hotter, just about all of the feeding activity is around high tide. The closer to high tide is when they are most active."
What To Catch During High Tide
What To Catch During High Tide
Gunn said if you're fishing in shallow water, the high tide brings a welcome influx of cooler water and allows the fish to make visits into the shallows to find shrimp, crabs, or small baitfish. What bites during the warmer months is what Gunn calls the mid-summer menagerie of speckled trout, white trout, redfish, and flounder. Any of those species can be caught around high tide.
“About three to four hours after the high tide is the most productive time for me,” he said. “The hotter it gets the less active they are in shallow water. There may be a short spurt early in the morning, and then it's over with unless it's a real cloudy day.” As far as fishing spots, Gunn is looking for ambush points where the fish will wait for the tide to move something past them.
Summer High Tides Times
Summer High Tides Times
The good news is that summertime tides are almost always daytime high tides. When it gets tough is when the high tide occurs at night. Gunn said to keep a tide chart handy and plan your summertime fishing trip accordingly.
“Don't sit around waiting for them to bite,” he said. “If they're not biting, keep on moving until you find them. You might as well get used to this pattern, because it's probably not going to change until we get a cool front in mid to late September.”
David Rainer
David Rainer has written about the great outdoors on the Alabama Gulf Coast for more than 20 years. For 14 of those years, he covered the many fishing opportunities on the Gulf Coast as outdoors editor at the Mobile Press-Register. He is past president of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association and currently serves on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's Outreach and Education Advisory Panel and the Alabama Gulf Coast Reef & Restoration Foundation board.
