[BoatGuy]

OK Crazy Al. I'm going to ask what may seem to an experienced fisherman, a really basic, stupid question. But here goes:

I am not sure I understand tide charts. So for example I wanted to fish in "my" area and find it on the tides section to the Noreast.com. Great. Now for the day I plan to fish it says:

April 12, 2003

12:41 AM High 8.1
7:06 AM Low -1.4
1:14 PM High 7.3
7:19 PM Low -0.6

My questions:
When would the Out-going tide start? How long does it last? When would it end?

When would slack tide start? How long does it last? When would it end?

When would the In-coming tide start? How long does it last? When would it end?

If I wanted to fish the OUT-GOING tide, when would I start and when would it end?

Am I correct in assuming the tide would be at its highest at 12:41 am and the 8.1 is feet?

Dead low would be 7:19 PM Low -0.6?

(This post edited by BoatGuy on 04/12/2003)

 

[624844]

tides

Hey boatguy: I'll try to explain it as plainly as possible. Here goes: Tides run in approx. 6 hour cycles meaning that you'll see a low tide at a certain part of the day followed by a high tide a little more than 6 hours later. And this cycle operates continuously day after day, week after week, month after month (our wives know a lot about cycles, heh heh) forever and ever. Using your tide table, the A.M. out going tide would begin at 12:41 It will be dropping until it reaches its low point at 7:06A.M.(about 6 hours). There will be a 30-45minute slack period before 7:06 (the water doesn't just instantaneouly change direction, it takes a little time, this is slack time). The next incoming tide will begin at 7:06A.M., rise for about 6 hours, and be high again at 1:14P.M. There will again be another 30-45minute slack time before 1:14P.M. Simple right? Now the numbers (8.1 -1.4 7.3 -0.6) do represent feet but they DO NOT represent the depth of the water. The numbers represent the height of water above or below the depth shown on a chart. To determine the depth of water, the height given is added to the depth shown on a chart- or subtracted when a minus (-) sign appears.Boaters use these numbers in conjunction with nautical charts to determine whether or not they'll be able to navigate a particular area at low tide without running aground. If you're a shoreline angler you won't need to be too concerned with those numbers. CAPICE

 

[625238]

I had the same questions. thanks for the reply. good fishin

 

[617110]

Actually,

The water movement is still incoming after the high tide. The tide refers to the vertical rise and fall of the water. The current is the movement of the water incoming vs. outgoing.

The high tide time is just that...the time when the vertical rise of the water is at its maximum for that particualr tide. The current will still be moving in for as long as 3 hours in certain areas like FI Inlet for example. Maybe more in others. Perhaps less in others. For instance, according to the tide tables in Newsday today Jones Inlet experiences incoming water movement for 2 hours after the high tide.

The best way to figure out the water movement is by looking at sources that print the Slack Water After High Tide. As this give you the best idea about when the movement will begin to change.

This is conversely true for low water as well. It also continues to move out after it has reached its maximum low.

Hope this helped.

Brian

 

[Hunt n' Fish]

Tides Discssion 1

Tide Discussion 2

Tide Discussion 3

Tide Discussion 4

 

[613098]

Boat Guy,
Don't take this as some sort of criticism. The best way to fill in the blanks of this sort is to take one or more of the Power Squadron courses. I've been running my own boats for over 45 years, but when I took those courses ( up to Advanced Piloting) I was amazed at how much I learned. Also, all the folks I met, both teachers and students were great people. Give it a try.
Denmark

 

[624340]

One of the best explanations, or perhaps I should say illustration of tide and current I've read was the hourglass explanation. I'd say maaybe it's an over simplification but it does illustrate the point.

You tip an hourglass on it's side. One side represents the ocean, a massive body of water. The other side the bay. The neck the inlet. As the water or sand rises on the right (ocean) side it starts flowing through the neck or the inlet. It reaches it's highest point on the right but water or sand is still flowing, unable to pass quickly enough through the narrow neck. As the level in the right side starts to fall the water or sand is stil passing through the neck until it reaches a point of equilization. It reverses direction and the process is repeated. Hence the lag.

Steve

 

[bobbo]

ebb tide

are ebb and slack tide the same?

 

[617110]

bobbo

Ebb or an ebbing tide means the water is on the way to low. In other words, the tide is dropping and the water is outgoing.

Slack is when there is little or no movement in current direction. Slack tide occurs before water is about to flood...incoming and before it is about to ebb...outgoing.

(This post edited by somoan on 04/13/2003)

 

[bobbo]

somoan

thanks

 

[MakoMike]

Guys,
If you really want to know not only the tides but the currents, get a copy of Eldridge's tide and pilot book. It will let you figure out not only the time of the tides but the time of slack and the currents for any place on the east coast.

 

[chumface]

Good Questions

Boat Guy,

Those are some really good quesions you asked but one of the key factors is the location your fishing. As Somoan pointed out, there's a difference between the high tide and the flood tide. For the SOUTH shore, they may list the high tide at 12:15 but in reality, that water keeps rushing in for ~2 hrs., then add on your slack tide. This confused me very much on my first solo trip to Cupsogue, where I was expecting my bucktail to be swept one way, but it was going the other. Coming from the North shore, I didn't understand this. On the North shore, it's pretty standard, just go by the 6 hr. rule and figure ~45-1hr. of slack. Going by 6hrs. and adding ~2 of flood, then ~1 for slack, keeps it rather accurate on the south shore. In certain back creeks on the N. shore, however, there is just about no slack, and an almost immediate swing to to the tide...go figure. Again, I'm no expert on this, but this estimation, always gets me very close to the tide. Good luck.