Fishing during slack tide or weak tides

[cold beer]

What's y'alls advice on putting yourself in the best position during slack or weak tides? Do fish go deep? Do they tend to move to passes? I'm still kind of new to boat fishing. Where should I target them, reefs, drains,..? Thanks

[SCHU]

They don't move too far, IMHO. wait for the tide to change.

[Milkjug]

It's not so much the tide that the fish key on, its the currents that they are using to bring them food. Some places near the center of the bays (eg: Jamaica Beach) are equidistant to both passes, so they don't get the currents like you would see near SLP or say Sportsman's. The point I'm getting at is look for other currents. Wind-driven current is a good one to key in on as it is often windy here I look for water being pushed around points and through cuts and use those to your advantage. Another example would be a barge moving through the ICW and draining water from the marsh cuts as it passes, or the ferry docking at the landing during the flounder run.

[ubermensch1324]

It's not so much the tide that the fish key on, its the currents that they are using to bring them food. Some places near the center of the bays (eg: Jamaica Beach) are equidistant to both passes, so they don't get the currents like you would see near SLP or say Sportsman's. The point I'm getting at is look for other currents. Wind-driven current is a good one to key in on as it is often windy here I look for water being pushed around points and through cuts and use those to your advantage. Another example would be a barge moving through the ICW and draining water from the marsh cuts as it passes, or the ferry docking at the landing during the flounder run.

Really good post. Wanted to add something. I'd pretty much just tie on a soft plastic on the lightest jighead possible and fish the flats for redfish/flounder who will normally always eat if you hit them in the head with a jig. Trout can be hard to catch during periods of no water movement. When the tide starts to move again I'd resume during whatever you are doing.

Or you can just say the hell with it and keep your topwater tied on and just throw it over and over until something gets mad enough to eat it. I wouldn't say this is the best strategy but it's usually the one I take ha ha.

[lurefisher]

Good advice !

[Moe]

Keep throwing the top or go home!!! Ha!!

[dbarham]

Keep throwing the top or go home!!! Ha!!

Thats how I do it! ! Lol

[plugger]

Areas that narrow or pinch water flow increase it's flow rate ... Passes , mouths of back lakes and such as you mentioned . Water has to be moving or it's a waste of time . Artificial means of moving water was mentioned already , boat / tug traffic And wind .

[SUPER SPOOK]

all good advise.

[TroutSupport]

Areas that narrow or pinch water flow increase it's flow rate ... Passes , mouths of back lakes and such as you mentioned . Water has to be moving or it's a waste of time

Plugger has watched the TroutSupport.com Redfish DVD's and that's where that is from. Thats actually just the tip of the iceburg of what is in the Redfish Shallow Marsh and Grassflat DVD.

Here's a testimonial from the Redfish Series from another board
"I recently ordered the shallow redfish video. I don't want to sound arrogant, but I typically don't have trouble catching redfish, so I was a little hesitant to buy the DVD. Tobin makes it clear that if you don't learn anything new he will refund your money. I was up to the challenge. I have always paid attention to tides but I learned a lot more about specific fluctuations and currents...and more. Great job Tobin!! " - Deploy Outdoors aka SaltyWaders

[Cuda340]

....with the lack of tidal movement I've been hitting the grass when it is high (if ya want to call it that) and have been catching Reds and flatties right up against the grass. Key is to look for pods of bait or in most cases the small white shrimp jumping along the top of the water. Also look for mud boils along the shorelines. Have caught some nice reds that have been feeding on small eels and little crabs. Stay off the shoreline as you are heading in looking and you might get lucky as I have and see them standing on their heads waving some tail at ya!

[plugger]

Plugger has watched the TroutSupport.com Redfish DVD's and that's where that is from. Thats actually just the tip of the iceburg of what is in the Redfish Shallow Marsh and Grassflat DVD.

Here's a testimonial from the Redfish Series from another board
"I recently ordered the shallow redfish video. I don't want to sound arrogant, but I typically don't have trouble catching redfish, so I was a little hesitant to buy the DVD. Tobin makes it clear that if you don't learn anything new he will refund your money. I was up to the challenge. I have always paid attention to tides but I learned a lot more about specific fluctuations and currents...and more. Great job Tobin!! " - Deploy Outdoors aka SaltyWaders

Thats correct , the trout support video DVD 's are a solid instructional guide for catching trout and redfish . Highly recommended and worth the investment as it will pay for itself in results . I hope they will do a flounder DVD . I love flounder fishing too .