[Idlechater]

Hey Gang:

I understand (kinda) what slack tide is... The period when the tide is changing from an ebb to a flood, and vice versa... It seems reasonable to me that it should occur exactly at either the high or low tide point, but also understand that nothing is perfect and the mass of water causes it to occur either prior to or after the high/low tide... However, it seems to me that when I am on the water, it actually occurs quite a bit prior to, or after high/low tide (for example one hour)... Am I making a mistake when reading the tide tables and mis-identifying high/low tide, or do I not really understand "slack" tide? Is there a good website that will not only give me high/low tide, but also when slack tide is predicted to occur?

Any help on this will be greatly appreciated...

 

[Theking]

try this

http://www.coos-bay.net/understanding-tides.html

 

[Dash One]

Idlechater,

Actually ... there is no such thing as "Slack Tide". Tides are merely the rise and fall (height) of water. It is "Current" that goes slack - and follows periods of high and low water. You are correct to assume residual current flow, at a high or low tide. As with tides, current predictions are just that.

I recommend Capt'n Jack's Tide and Current Atlas. It contains a graphic tide chart(s) and current predictions for major Puget Sound waterways. They are about $16.00 or so at the usual marine supply stores.

Jay

 

[madcapmag]

Some tide charts have graphs. The steeper the angle, the larger the current, because the tide is changing faster for a given amount of time.

 

[cjk]

Try using the current tables closest to the area you fish, works a lot better than trying to go by the tide predictions. I see in another post you were asking about the islands, if you fish the flats or around James Is check out the Rosario current predictions.

 

[irishrogue]

I think these are *by far* the best (dropdown at the top to change location and timeframe):

http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/tides/WA/Port+Angeles/

 

[Idlechater]

GF'ers:

Thank you for the input...

I like the charts on the link you recommended Irish, however, they too fail to indicate a prediction for "slack"... On the website that TheKing suggested, it is implied that some charts show a horizontal line to represent the prediction for slack... Does anyone know of published charts that identify the predicted slack period? Perhaps the Captain Jacks charts show this.

Regards,

 

[Echo Mules]

Best that I've found can be displayed graphically.

http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/tideshow. ... on+Current

Choose your location, eiter tide height or "current speed"

Pick Graphic plot 960 x 640

Pick one day

choose your date

helps to check "show day of week"

This display is not the tide but the speed of the current at "Bird Rocks" in Rosario Straight for opening day of Lingcod season.

 

[cjk]

Search the internet for a program called wxtide32. It is a free program you install on your computer that works pretty well.

 

[Theking]

I just always looked a the hump and figured the steeper the bump the shorter the slack 1 hour give or take the fatter the hump the longer the slack up to 3 hours.

 

[Coho King]

Slack tide is when the current goes slack between tide changes and slack usually last 30min to an hour after peak high tide or peak low tide(hence high slack or low slack).

 

[Keysrob]

I second the Capt'n Jacks current tables and charts. You'll need to purchase the master chart book once and then buy the annual tables each year. The charts show severity (measured in 1/4 or 1/2 a knot of current increments) at specific locations throughout the Northwest. I used to use them all the time in the San Juan's as they were much more accurate for water flow than the simple tide guide. If you do any sailing then getting to know your currents is vital.

It's pretty interesting to see how the water flow actually accelerates and decelerates at specific points on the chart. When you overlay the tide data you'll see that slack (the moment when the tide switches from ebb to flow or from flow to ebb) rarely coincides with zero water movement at a specific location on the chart. In some areas of the San Juan's the water doesn't really stop moving at all, especially in and around some of the smaller islands. Additionally, the time of lowest flow at a specific location on the chart may actually occur close to halfway between high slack and low slack. The science of moving water is fascinating.

This is a good thread and I look forward to further input. I have yet to utilize some of the electronic tide and current programs but am real interested in what is out there and what people have experienced.
Tup:

 

[David]

The Washington Flyfishers site is interesting, but the data for Everett is off. I checked the data for Seattle and Kayak Point and it is within a minute or two, but the Everett data is off by hours.