Negative Tides
When you fish on Florida’s Gulf Coast, you encounter both diurnal tides – one high and one low per day- and semidiurnal tide – two highs and two lows a day. Took me some time to get use to. But the oddest tides on Florida’s Gulf Coast are called Negative Tides.
Negative Tides occur mainly during the winter months, around the New and Full moon causing exceptionally low tides. Tide charts note them as minus tides. Days when low tide is lower than you expect, perhaps much lower. These Negative Tides can cause a very real problem for boater. Yeah, you can easily run aground. But even a kayaker may get a wake-up call. I know it happened to me. Here’s how that came about.
I headed out one morning just after first light to catch the first of the incoming on a favorite flat. Wham my kayak ran around before I got there! Why? Look at the tide chart to the left. On January 21, a low tide arrived about 8am. It was a -57 Negative Tide or about 6 inches lower than normal. A flat holding about 18 inches on low tide will hold only 12 inches. And since flats aren’t perfectly level, some spot may be only 8 inches. But even at 12 inches, you may not be able to paddle effectively. Now for the kicker! Tide charts predict tide, but not the weather. During the prior night, the wind had been steady from the north. And a north wind on the Florida’s Gulf Coast drives water away from shore. Bingo, the flat I wanted to fish had just 2 inches of water on it! Lesson learned.
