UTERTampa Bay has a mixed tide: usually two highs and two lows a day, but of unequal size, so one rise and one fall each day move far more water than the others. The best tide for fishing Tampa Bay is the strong tide of the day while it's moving: the incoming on the grass flats, and the strongest flow, often the outgoing, at the passes and the Skyway, Gandy and Howard Frankland bridges.
That one idea, find the strong tide and fish it, explains most of the good and bad days on the bay. Here's how Tampa Bay's tides work, which stage to fish at each kind of spot, and how to read the tide curve in Fish Scouter before you leave the dock.
How Tampa Bay's mixed tide works
NOAA describes three tide patterns. Diurnal tides have one high and one low a day, like most of the northern Gulf. Semidiurnal tides have two highs and two lows of about equal height, like the Atlantic coast. Mixed semidiurnal tides have two highs and two lows of different heights. Tampa Bay sits in that last group.
In practice, on a typical day you'll see a big high, a small low, a small high and a big low, or some version of that. The long fall from the big high to the big low is the strong outgoing, and the climb back is the strong incoming. The small swing in between may barely move water at all.
The strong tide moves through the day
The timing of the strong tide shifts later each day, roughly 50 minutes a day, so over a couple of weeks it moves from morning to afternoon and back. That's why a spot that fished great on Saturday morning can be dead the next Saturday at the same hour. Fish Scouter's Tampa Bay region note puts it simply: "the strong tide of the day is the one to fish, and it flips between morning and afternoon through the month."
Spring tides, neap tides and the wind
Around the new and full moon, spring tides give the biggest range and the strongest current. Around the quarter moons, neap tides are weak and the small tide of the day can nearly vanish. On a normal day the range in the bay is roughly 1.5 to 3 feet. Wind can matter as much as the moon here. A strong north or northeast wind after a winter front blows water out of the bay and makes the lows extra low, while a sustained southwest wind piles water in and holds the tide high.
Upper bay tides run late
The tide enters from the Gulf between Egmont Key and Anna Maria Island and takes time to work up the bay. Highs and lows in Old Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Bay come later than at the mouth. NOAA runs several stations around the bay, including St. Petersburg (8726520) and Port Manatee (8726384). Always use the station closest to where you're fishing, which is what Fish Scouter does automatically.
Which tide to fish, spot by spot
| Where | Best tide | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Grass flats (Fort De Soto, Weedon Island, Cockroach Bay, Terra Ceia) | Incoming, from the bottom of the strong low to two hours before high | Water floods the grass and potholes, and snook, reds and trout push up to feed on the edges |
| Mangrove shorelines and oyster bars | The top of the incoming and the first of the outgoing | Enough water to get under the roots; the fall pulls bait off the edges |
| Passes (Johns Pass, Pass-a-Grille, Longboat Pass, Bunces Pass) | The strong outgoing, and the strong incoming | Current funnels bait through a narrow mouth; fish set up in the eddies and along the edges |
| Sunshine Skyway pilings and fishing piers | Moving water either way, avoiding dead slack and the very peak | The outgoing flushes bait past the pilings; the incoming brings clean Gulf water |
| Gandy and Howard Frankland bridges | The strong tide of the day, either direction | Old Tampa Bay's flow is weaker than the mouth's; you need the strong tide to get the pilings working |
| Deep holes and canals (winter) | The afternoon incoming after a front | Warmer water from the flats moves in; fish that dropped into the holes start feeding |
| Nearshore reefs off the beaches | Moderate flow; neap tides are often easier | Too much current makes bottom fishing hard; enough keeps fish feeding up-current of the structure |
The bridges in more detail
The Sunshine Skyway
The Skyway crosses the mouth of the bay, where the current is strongest. The old bridge's fishing piers on the north and south ends, and the main span's pilings by boat, hold sheepshead and black drum in winter, mangrove snapper and Spanish mackerel in summer, and tarpon in the late spring and summer. The outgoing tide is the famous tide for tarpon, when crabs and bait wash out of the bay. On spring tides the current at the main channel can be too strong to keep a bait on the bottom; fish the beginning or end of the flow instead.
Gandy Bridge
The Gandy crosses Old Tampa Bay between St. Petersburg and Tampa. The water is shallower and the current gentler than at the Skyway, so the strong tide of the day matters more. Snook, reds, trout and sheepshead feed around the pilings and along the causeway edges when the water is really moving. Night fishing on the outgoing under the lights is a local favorite for snook in season.
Howard Frankland Bridge
Further up Old Tampa Bay, the Howard Frankland's pilings and the channel edges fish best on the strongest flow. Tides run later here than at the mouth. In winter, the deeper water around the bridge holds sheepshead, black drum and trout after a front.
Read the tide curve in Fish Scouter
When you open Fish Scouter on Tampa Bay, the Forecast screen shows the tide from the nearest NOAA station, with the station's name next to it. Here's what to look for:
- The tide tile: the current stage (incoming, outgoing, high slack or low slack), the height in feet, and the time of the next turn.
- The 24-hour curve: each high and low marked with its time, and a dashed line for now. Look at the vertical distance between them. The longest drop or climb on the chart is the strong tide of the day. That's the one to plan around.
- The shaded prime windows: the middle two and a half hours of each rise and fall, when the water moves fastest. A window that lands at dawn or dusk is marked up as the best of the day.
- Your water: the region card shows the Tampa Bay tide regime (mixed, about 1.5 to 3 feet), this month's headline and tactics, and what to do after a cold front.
Then the species list ranks what's biting now, and moving water is one of the reasons it gives for a high score. If you fish the same flat a lot, log your catches: the You screen shows the tide stage you catch most on.
A sample day
Say the curve shows a high of 2.3 ft at 6:10 a.m., a low of 1.4 ft at 11:30, a high of 1.9 ft at 4:40 p.m. and a low of 0.1 ft at 11:50 p.m. The morning fall is under a foot, and the afternoon climb is half a foot, so the day's big water is the evening outgoing, more than a foot and a half from the 4:40 high to the midnight low. That's your bridge tide. On the flats, you'd fish the mid-morning hours around the small low only if the wind is helping, or wait for tomorrow when the timing shifts.
Seasonal notes
- Winter: fronts blow out the water. The lowest tides of the year often come in winter, and fish crowd into the holes and canals. Fish the afternoon incoming. See Florida fishing in December.
- Spring: snook move to the passes and beaches, and tarpon show at the Skyway. The strong outgoing at the passes is prime.
- Summer: fish the early morning or evening strong tide when the water is coolest. Afternoon storms push water around.
- Fall: the mullet run turns the passes and bridges on. Redfish school on the flats on the big incoming.
For more on timing, see the best time to fish Tampa Bay and best tide for fishing. Rules for snook, redfish, trout and the rest change; check FWC's saltwater regulations.
Fish the right tide
We built Fish Scouter's Forecast screen around the question every Tampa Bay angler asks first: when is the water moving? We think it's the best app for reading a mixed tide on the bay, because it uses the nearest NOAA station, shades the prime windows and ranks the fish on top of it. Try Fish Scouter free.