Wind finder tide predictions

May just be a glitch but was looking at winds for the narrows on Thursday and also checked the tides using tide tab on wind finder.( usually use tides 4 fishing site for tides) I then went to tides 4 fishing and MDR sites tides.. Wind finder has H-2:27am and L-8:32. Both other sites, and some others all list Within a couple mins of each other of H-5:10 am L-11:53 am. Looks like all the tides listed for the narrows is off at wind finder for this month, Not sure what's going on at wind finder.

[EMSer]

Thanks for the heads up Harry. I also use the tide info from both sites, but I did not think to compare them.

Do you (or anyone) know if the Tides4fishing has an app for the phone? I really like their layout and would love to take it with me. I have been using Fish Head on the phone, but it isn't as nice

[Dimo]

I use tidesnearme on iOS

[J.A. Veil]

May just be a glitch but was looking at winds for the narrows on Thursday and also checked the tides using tide tab on wind finder.( usually use tides 4 fishing site for tides) I then went to tides 4 fishing and MDR sites tides.. Wind finder has H-2:27am and L-8:32. Both other sites, and some others all list Within a couple mins of each other of H-5:10 am L-11:53 am. Looks like all the tides listed for the narrows is off at wind finder for this month, Not sure what's going on at wind finder.

Harry - I have noticed the same thing. On some days, windfinder gets the tides wrong compared to other sites. It does not hurt to check more than one site -- I use the tides4fishing site too. In addition that site gives you solunar predictions (I don't have much belief in them, but it is fun to see how my actual catches match up with their predictions). On other days, windfinder is in agreement with the other sites. Another interesting thing you can learn from the tidal information is how high the high tide will be and how low the low tide will be. Often the two tidal cycles in a 24.5-hour period will have unequal magnitudes. There may be a high-high, a low-high, a high-low, and a low-low. The amount of tidal water movement will reflect to some extent the difference in height between any adjacent high and low (or low and high) peaks. To confound things, once you think you have that all figured out, you can be totally confused by having wind driven water movement completely overwhelm the tidal current.

It is useful to have data before you get out on the water, but often the real conditions do not match the predictions precisely.

[EMSer]

It is useful to have data before you get out on the water, but often the real conditions do not match the predictions precisely.

Can't argue with that! I read in S. Kimbro's book that, typically in areas around the bridge., he observes that there is a 2 hour lag between a posted tide change and the actual change in current direction. Have you found this to hold true as well?

[J.A. Veil]

To me water movement and wave height at the Bay Bridge are very unpredictable. I don't worry about predictions when I am there, just react to what I find. I do not fish the bridge from my kayak -- when I go there, I am in my center console and have the ability to run to other spots. The water movement on one side of the bridge may be different from the other side at any given time.

[Mark]

It is useful to have data before you get out on the water, but often the real conditions do not match the predictions precisely.

Very true. The low tide at Weems on Monday was higher than some high tides I have seen there. You have to learn to react to the conditions you are actually facing because they often do not match what was predicted.