I think that depends a lot on the time of year and water temps (along with current/wind/tides etc). I fish mostly during the warmer months and generally target redfish very shallow early in the morning. There is no doubt in my mind that they typically move to deeper water as the sun rises higher and the water temps increase in the shallow water. They can tolerate warmer water but they will follow the food source. The food source is vulnerable in shallow water in full daylight, so they too escape to deeper water. Next time your fishing watch the wading birds (if they are hunting and feeding). As the morning progresses you will often notice the birds gradually move into deeper water as the morning progresses. They too are following the food source. So to answer your question, they typically move to deeper water. You will also probably notice that when your catching fish in shallow water there is usually deeper water nearby. Hope that helps!

 

Most of the time this summer, the fish were filleted and in my cooler at 10am, hehe.

I'll go with salty_waders response though.

 

Where do the fish go after 10am?

School?

 

Okay, that was funny...

 

Get the TroutSupport DVD's. You'll learn exactly what you need to be looking for. Start with the "Catching Limits" DVD if you just want one.

 

I don't fish the area you fish, but fishing is fishing. Time of day hasn't got anything to do with saltwater fish IMO. Time of year, tidal movement, and food control when fish are going to eat. I wouldn't expect to catch fish in July where I catch them in January most of the time, although there can be exceptions. There are times that during the early morning the wind is near perfect, water near perfect, bait present, but no tide. Even though everything is going in your favor, the fish aren't going to eat until the tide starts moving (most of the time) and that can be any time of day.

When I was just getting into saltwater many years ago I fished during a full moon, throughout the morning we caught a couple fish. Around lunch time the tide did its thing and we caught fish for several hours. The advice given to me by a more knowledgeable person about staying past mid day during those conditions proved to be spot on.

Fish when you can fish and pay attention to what's going on around you when you are catching fish. Birds, slicks, and fleeing baitfish will definitely give the fish away when you find them.

Good luck.


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I don't fish the area you fish, but fishing is fishing. Time of day hasn't got anything to do with saltwater fish IMO. Time of year, tidal movement, and food control when fish are going to eat. I wouldn't expect to catch fish in July where I catch them in January most of the time, although there can be exceptions. There are times that during the early morning the wind is near perfect, water near perfect, bait present, but no tide. Even though everything is going in your favor, the fish aren't going to eat until the tide starts moving (most of the time) and that can be any time of day.

When I was just getting into saltwater many years ago I fished during a full moon, throughout the morning we caught a couple fish. Around lunch time the tide did its thing and we caught fish for several hours. The advice given to me by a more knowledgeable person about staying past mid day during those conditions proved to be spot on.

Fish when you can fish and pay attention to what's going on around you when you are catching fish. Birds, slicks, and fleeing baitfish will definitely give the fish away when you find them.

Good luck.

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I agree the only time i see a time of day be the most active is the morning during the highest heat of the summer. otherwise tide, clarity, tide, depth, tide, tide, tide tide is the answer

I don't think they go anywhere, i think when the tide stops they stop. If the tide hasn't stopped and you aren't catching em where you are and you just were . . . move

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate the advice!

 

Excuse me for asking, but does a Moving tide = current? Say, if my boat/kayak is being moved around by a current. Is that equivalent to a type of tide?

 

Read this and you will understand.

http://www.gulffishing.com/fcstframe.html

 

There is definitely enough fish to sightcast to during those hours.. in fact sightcasting gets better between 10 and 2. Is the bite weaker during those hours.. to some extent yes it is.. then again if you are sightcasting those fish during that time they will absolutely inhale a lure if it get's in front on them. Have to follow the current as it shifts.

 

I noticed something of the Gulffishing tables. Most of the time, STRONG or MODERATE tides times were called BEST. I understand those predictions.

However, on October 24 and 25 for our area, WEAK tide times were called BEST.

What am I missing?????

richg99

 

I haven't looked at that table in years.. in general its very good for predicting when current is.. perhaps if it's the only tide movement that day and it's during a major feed time early or late then that can be enough in the right areas to kick off a bite. Also, in the winter (not october) I've found that when the tide slows it can also start a bite.. but overall with a weak tide in general i'm going to be looking for wind driven current mostly for both trout and reds.

 

During the summer when the water is real hot the o2 content falls because of the water temp. Fish tend to stop being as agressive then. With redfish i have seen them in the lakes by the hundreds and they won't eat anything. They act like zombies it seems like. Hell they won't even eat a fresh cracked crab sometimes!!! They will sometimes act the same when it is extremely cold also. Tjere are other factors also but this seems to be a major factor into them really irritating you

 

I fish for Reds in the hottest part of the day, from 2pm-Sunset. I catch trout in the early am (when I'm lucky) but always seem to get the reds when it's blistering hot. May be a local thing.

 

but in south Texas its' tide tide... wind wind wind wind... ;-) Im not disagreeing.. in fact I do agree, current is that important. It doesn't just apply to south Texas though Even if an outgoing tide is predicted for the lower laguna if the wind gets above 17, you can bet it's going to kill that outgoing and in some areas make it seem like an incoming.

 

I agree that reds during the evening can be awesome but from about 11:00 - 4:00 they seem to lock up, especially in the lakes with no deep water nearby. Then again having confidence in an area or even time of day is more important!! This all goes out the window when it starts cooling off (relatively) in October.

 

Redfishing in shallow water (marshes) is just like the rest of saltwater fishing IMO. The tide has to be moving for them to be triggered to feed. If the tide isn't moving in the morning, but moving in the middle of the hottest part of the day, they are going to feed in the hottest part of the day. There are exceptions to the rule, such as wind driving the water (current) around islands and points. These areas will give up fish even though the tide in the cut leading into the marsh may be dead.

Lots of the backwaters I fish are so far off the main tidal flow that you really don't see the tide pushing like you see in areas closer to where the water enters the marsh at. In this case when you roll in there, the tide is dead in the cut, and it's mirror calm, you have the odds stacked against you! I've seen this scenario and can't give away a live shrimp, but not long after the wind starts blowing and generating wind blown current, a limit is iced in short order.

These are just observations I have made over the years.


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