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Part I
- The Wells Daily Fishing Forecast was first published by Harold Wells in 1957. At that time, few fishermen understood the importance of "fishing with the tides" and hardly any actually planned their fishing based on TIDAL CURRENT movement. Harold Wells discovered years earlier from personal interviews, at docks and anywhere he could find fishermen bringing in their catch, that fishermen had better success during times when there was current movement. His records from hundreds of fishing trips and countless interviews supported his theory that TIDAL CURRENTS were the controlling factor in the movement of bait, and as a result, gamefish. Wells reasoned that TIDAL CURRENTS were the most important factor in determining WHEN and WHERE to fish.
- The following will explain how you can use the WELLS DAILY FISHING FORECAST to plan trips days, and months, in advance. If you have to travel several hours to the coast, wouldn't you rather fish when the CURRENTS are rated TO BE IN YOUR BEST FAVOR? Your FISHING GUIDE knows this is a key to fishing success.
Basics of the Wells
Daily Fishing Forecast...
TIDAL CURRENTS - Because
they control the movement of fish food, they are THE ONLY advance
predictable factor in the movement of gamefish. All of the other minor factors
which effect the movement of gamefish can only be determined on a day-to-day
basis. It can be determined when and where the most fish movement will occur
on any given day. You can decide whether to fish the deeper reefs, the close
to shore feeding areas or the passes from the Gulf. Day or night, you can
use the WELLS DAILY FISHING FORECAST
to your advantage.
The Wells Daily Fishing Forecast tells you
when fish will move from one area to another, the direction in which they
will move, and how long they will stay in the area. Each tide
change creates its own tidal current, its direction, starting time and maximum
speed of flow being a predictable scientific fact. The Wells
Daily Fishing Forecast shows the time when a tidal current has become
strong enough to move fish, and the time when this movement ends. It must
be pointed out that winds which are stronger than moderate can be a factor
in upsetting the starting time schedules as much as 30 minutes.
Currents move fish food...
It is a well established fact that our game fish feed almost constantly
on shrimp and small bait fish. They are continually on the move with their
food supply. Their food supply is propelled throughout the bay systems almost
wholly by the force of the tidal currents.
| CURRENT
MOON lunar phases |
These currents are constantly forcing shrimp and other small baitfish into shallow water or out to deeper water whenever they have sufficient speed or forcing power. It is simply a matter of when the food moves, the gamefish move, too.
Because tidal currents are the only reason shrimp move for any distance,
it is important to know why fishing on a shell reef or hard sand bottom
is usually more productive than a soft mud bottom. Almost the only means
shrimp have for protecting themselves is the ability to bury instantly in
soft mud. A tidal current which forces them across a shell reef or hard
sand bottom, causes them to lose their protection.
The time factors used in the daily tables of the Wells
Daily Fishing Forecast are on the horizontal movement of the tidal
currents and do not reflect when high tide or low tide will occur. These
time factors cannot be directly correlated to the times of High Tide or
Low Tide that are periods of stand.
Every time factor used in the Wells Daily Fishing Forecast is original to Gulf Coast Fisherman.