The Best Tides For Redfish, Snook, And Speckled Trout [Flats, Bays, & Creeks]
- By: Luke Simonds
- on April 24, 2018

Do you want to know the absolute best tides for redfish, snook, and trout are for the flats, bays, and creeks?
If yes, this video tutorial below will show you the #1 factor to keep in mind when planning your next inshore fishing trip.
Plus, you’ll learn about the two most common mistakes anglers make that significantly decreases their odds of success when it comes to fishing the different tides.
And as you’ll see towards the end of the video, there are some tactics that can be used to catch inshore slams (redfish, trout, snook, flounder) even when fishing “bad” stages of the tide cycle.

But even during those “bad” tidal stages, you can still have some great fish catching if you know how to roll together all of the various factors and put yourself at the right spot for the given conditions.
In fact, you’ll see a good slam (redfish, snook, and trout) caught during the exact tide period shown above in the tide tutorial video below.
Please watch the entire video on reading tide charts and don’t hesitate to ask me any questions in the comment area below.
Click the play button below now.
Best Tides For Redfish, Snook, & Trout (VIDEO)
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Conclusion
Were you shocked by the answer for the best tide?
We’d be doing you a disservice if we said tides weren’t critical.
In fact, it is essential for all saltwater anglers to know how to effectively read a tide chart because tidal cycles play such a big role in the feeding activity of redfish, snook, and trout.
However… make sure to not just focus on the tide height because the current is an EXTREMELY important factor to consider.
In order to get consistently good at catching quality inshore fish (redfish, trout, snook, flounder, etc.), you’ll have to get good at predicting where the top feeding zones will be based on multiple important factors such as:
- Tides/Currents
- Season
- Wind direction/speed
- Water temperature
- Cloud cover
- Water clarity
And if you’re serious about increasing your ability to catch more redfish, snook, trout, flounder, and other inshore fish, then be sure to give our Insider Fishing Club a try.
Why?
Because it’s the only fishing club guaranteed to help you skyrocket your slam catching success without having to spend years of time and thousands of dollars on gas, tackle, etc having to learn it all the hard way.
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- Are you coachable?
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Looking at tide chart for Friday showed best feeling time is morning in coming tide but the out going tide has steeper angle ,thought I watch one of the courses say the steeper the angle the better time for feeding is that right
Although the tides are important, we need to make sure to factor in other things like time of day and the weather. For example, I’d rather be fishing a bad tide right when the sun is coming up than a great tide in the middle of the day when fishing the flats this time of the year given how good the feed generally is during the twilight periods.
Could you do a video on the feeding level chart please? I am guessing that the green is best feeding times what is the dark blue bars don’t seem to match with the tide chart though on the steepest falling tides example 13th of June thanks D Baxter
The colors don’t mean anything in particular… just to try to help differentiate the height of the bar that represents the projected feeding level each hour.
Im going to panama city beach for the first time and want to catch a redfish off the mb Miller pier for the first time…what tod/reel/line/bait/ and most importantly rigs would you use? Thanks
For redfish, it’s tough to beat soaking half (or quarter) of a blue crab on the bottom. Here’s a link to a lesson about that: https://www.saltstrong.com/fishing-tip/how-to-rig-blue-crab/
I’m still not too clear on how to read these charts. I’ve watched the videos a couple of times, but for some reason, it’s not clicking in my little pea brain lol. Any assistance would be gladly appreciated.
This lesson explains it all in more detail: https://www.saltstrong.com/spotsmastery/bonus-material/understanding-tide-currents/
Any tips on finding redish in the indian river?
Of course… we reveal the type of spots that redfish can be found in that area every week in the weekend game plan lessons: https://www.saltstrong.com/article_categories/smart-fishing-game-plans/
Plus, the real time Insider Reports will show examples of exactly what tactics are working best to get results.
Also, you can see reports from members in that area by checking out the Brevard page linked here: https://community.saltstrong.com/index.php?region=11-Brevard-County-FL
Any tips on fishing piers or on shore
Yes, this tide lesson applies to all areas. If looking for specific tips on wade fishing, beach fishing, or pier fishing, just use the Search feature at the top of this page (in hamburger menu if on mobile) and to find what you are looking for.
The tide chart is a good place to start since these are the “predicted” levels according to astronomical data. I always used these and NOAA used to have several graphs overlapped together that I took data from for almost 30 years and about 6 or 8 years ago NOAA underwent some major changes online that made putting all the information together much more difficult. The other charts included wind speed and direction, water and air temperature, barometric pressure, tide levels, and direction (incoming or outgoing). When all of those were combined onto one chart you can see how each factor plays in with the others. There are direct correlations between barometric pressure, wind direction and velocity, and tide levels. There are direct correlations between cloud cover, atmospheric pressure, wind direction, and velocity. I found that out when I used to race sailboats. You can do an entire school on predicting tides, weather, etc. In the heat of summer and cold of winter, one of the most instruments on my boat reads the water temperature. Oxygen levels are another subject but most often affects fishing during the summer months. This was a good start, Luke. Keep it up.
This was so encouraging, that any time of day there is a fish to be caught. Good Vid.
Plus it makes for a good excuse to go fishing whenever some time opens up on the calendar:)
How do I get Current sea surface temps
Hey George, great question. I’d love to find an app or more granular web site for this data. For a broad overview, I use NOAA’s Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Contour Charts. If anyone knows a good app or web site, I’d be grateful for the pointer.
For offshore water temps and currents, ROFFS is probably one of the best. http://www.roffs.com. On Instagram roffsfishing. It offers a host of hydrological data..
I don’t know where you live, but in the Tampa Bay area, you can call PORTS (Physical Oceanographic Real Time System) for information at 866-827-6787. Another useful tool is NOAA’s Tampa Bay Weather phone number. 813-645-2506. These are recorded messages with prompts for different data.
How far inland will redfish/trout regularly go in the Suwannee River?
That’s tough to say because every area is different and some fish go way up while most don’t. In general for trout/reds, I recommend staying in the zones where there’s still enough salt in the water to allow for barnacles to grow on dock pilings.
It’s answers like this that make me really appreciate this club 🙂 Now I have a good visual indicator I can track to know if I’ve gone to far upriver no matter where I am. Thank you!
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment Andrew!
Good advice, Luke. Trout will travel well up into freshwater during extreme cold, even though they are very cold tolerant. We had a cabin on the Chassahowitzka River from the late ’40s through the early ’70s and trout would come several miles up the river toward the headwaters and springs. In the spring, they would go back out to the edges of the Gulf.