Mid-Atlantic tide fishing.
New Jersey to North Carolina — semidiurnal Atlantic tides with the Delaware Bay spring black drum spawn and the Outer Banks fall flounder run as flagship tide-driven fisheries.
Regions
- New Jersey Inlets & Barnegat Baysemidiurnal · 4–6 ft
Semidiurnal tides with 4–6 ft typical range. Manasquan, Barnegat, Little Egg, and Cape May inlets all produce major tide-driven fisheries.
- Delaware Bay & Tidal Delaware Riversemidiurnal · 5–7 ft
Semidiurnal tides with 5–7 ft range up the Bay. Strong current corridors at Cape Charles and Reedy Island concentrate spring-spawning black drum.
- Chesapeake Bay Upper & Tidal Riverssemidiurnal · 1–2 ft
Microtidal at the head of the Bay (1–2 ft) but currents in the tidal Susquehanna and Patapsco are still meaningful. Wind is more important than tide for much of the year.
- Chesapeake Bay Lower & Hampton Roadssemidiurnal · 2–3 ft
Semidiurnal tides with 2–3 ft range. Bay Bridge-Tunnel structure creates concentrated tide-driven fishery for cobia, striped bass, and red drum.
- Virginia Barrier Island Inletssemidiurnal · 3–4 ft
Semidiurnal tides with 3–4 ft range. Barrier island inlets with extensive grass flats and oyster bars behind — productive marsh-drain redfish fishery.
- Outer Banks Inlets & Pamlico Soundsemidiurnal · 2–4 ft
Semidiurnal Atlantic tides at inlet mouths (2–4 ft); Pamlico Sound proper is wind-dominated rather than tide-dominated. Inlet tides drive the famous fall flounder run.
- North Carolina Southern Inlets & Cape Fearsemidiurnal · 4–6 ft
Stronger semidiurnal tides than the Outer Banks (4–6 ft) at Cape Fear River mouth and Carolina Beach inlets.