Timing is everything when fishing tidal cover, according to the textbook of bass fishing. To maximize success means being on the right place at the right time, according to the tide. That ebb and flow positions bass on the cover according to current and available water.
On the Potomac River we find another factor to add to the tidal bass fishing equation. That is hard cover and grass cover. As defined, hard cover is dock pilings and any manmade structure creating an eddy or current break. The other, aquatic vegetation, is another key staging area used by the bass to either hide or find food.
That makes the outgoing tide best for the hard cover. It’s the last available habitat available to the current-oriented bass as the shoreline cover disappears. A proven case in point is the current status of Justin Lucas.
All of the 18-plus pounds caught today by Lucas came from the outside edge of a long pier.
“The low tide pulls them out to the outside of it to feed,” he reasoned.
Elsewhere, expansive grass beds obviously need lots of water to make them productive. The bass–and other prey–spread out beneath the grass as the water comes back up, making those best on the high tide.
We’ve not yet seen that scenario play out as of yet, although it’s coming.