Bass fishermen must vary their techniques for largemouth bass on tidal rivers, according to whether the water level is rising or falling.
Any angler who has spent much time along the coast knows that largemouth bass fishing on tidally influenced rivers can get complicated. Hotspots change continually, as do food sources and the behavior of the bass. However, anglers who learn how the tides affect the fish actually can use the upward and downward swings in the water level to their advantage.
Professional anglers Sam Swett, who grew up fishing the Louisiana Delta and recently won an FLW Tour event in Louisiana‘s Atchafalaya Basin, is a master at fishing tidal waters. As Swett devises daily plans for tidal fishing, his primary consideration is whether the tide is coming in or going out.
Given the option, Swett would prefer to fish outgoing tides. "High to low is generally best," he said. "High tides flood the backwaters of a system. As the water goes back out, I focus on ditches, canals and feeders that drain those backwaters, fishing in the current where those areas flow into the river."
Swett generally throws a small, shallow-diving crankbait, like a Bomber Fat Free Guppy, or bumps the bottom with YUM soft plastics as the tide is going out. He Texas rigs the plastics, generally using a YUM CrawBug or Ribbontail worm, and uses a light enough weight that the current will move the bait a bit every time he lifts it off the bottom.
"The bass are looking for food being swept out in that current," Swett said.
Because anglers don't always get to choose which tides they will fish, Swett has had to learn the best ways to catch fish from tidal waters no matter which direction the water is flowing.
When tides are rising, Swett turns his attention to steep banks, either along the main river or in the backs of any sloughs he can get his boat into. "When the water is going up, those fish seem to get right against the steepest banks they can find," he said.
Swett typically turns to topwater lures or jerkbaits for fishing steep banks during rising tides. He pointed toward a Heddon Super Spook and Excalibur Pop’n Image as great topwater picks and a 4 1/2-inch Rebel Holographic Minnow as his jerkbait of choice.
The most difficult time to catch fish, Swett has found, is during "slack tides," when the tides are turning around and there are no defined currents. "Nothing holds fish in any particular place during that time," Swett said. "So they roam a lot and don’t concentrate at all."
To contend with roaming fish, Swett moves quickly, covering a lot of bank and a variety of shoreline types with fast-moving baits. Some of the same crankbaits he likes during outgoing tides come into play, but he also makes a lot of casts with a Cordell Super Spot and with a BOOYAH Blade spinnerbait.