Reading the tide before you launch

The tide chart tells you more about the next four hours of fishing than the weather app does. On the Gulf Coast it is the difference between a slow morning and the two hours you end up telling people about, and it costs nothing to check the night before.

Most anglers check the forecast and skip the tide chart. On the Gulf that is backwards. Wind gets the attention because you can feel it in the parking lot, but moving water is what decides whether fish eat.

Start with the swing, not the height

The number people quote is the high or low mark. The number that matters is the difference between them, and how fast that change happens. A small swing over six hours moves very little water. A big swing over four moves a lot, and that push is what pulls bait out of the grass.

• Look at the range between high and low, not just the peak.
• Note the hours either side of the change, which is usually the window.
• Cross-check the wind direction, since a hard onshore wind can hold water in.

A worked example

Say low is at 6:12am and high at 11:48am, with a two foot swing. The middle of that push, roughly 8am to 10am, is when the most water is moving.

If you only get three hours on the water, spend them on moving water rather than on the spot you like best.

What this means for what you wear

Early tide windows mean launching in the dark and fishing straight through the harshest part of the morning. That is a long stretch of exposure, which is the case for a hooded shirt rather than reapplying sunscreen with wet hands.

A quick checklist

1. Check the swing the night before.
2. Pick the two hours either side of the fastest change.
3. Dress for the whole window, not the temperature at launch.
4. Keep gloves in reach before your hands are wet.