Tralee Bay - Tides
Below is a tidal graph charting high and low water for the next seven days taken from the UK Hydrographic Office website. Remember to add 1 hour for British Summer Time. They provide tidal information for an extensive range of Irish ports. For predictions for other ports please visit Admiralty EasyTide.
Surf and Swell
Below is a collection of WAM charts, wave height and period models. These give a graphical prediction of surf and swell conditions for the next few days in the North Atlantic. Data is taken from the NWW3 Swell Forecast model. These are real-time animated models; please give them sufficient time to load.
| Wave Heights | Wave Period | Wind | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave Amplitude Model reports forecast swell heights and directions. | Swell period is probably the single best indication of a decent swell and the quality of the surf. | Wind Speed and Direction | ||
| Scripps | NOAA | Scripps | NOAA | NOAA |
 |  |  |  |  |
Tides and the Moon
The word "tides" is a generic term used to define the alternating rise and fall in sea level with respect to the land, produced by the gravitational attraction of the moon and the sun. To a much smaller extent, tides also occur in large lakes, the atmosphere, and within the solid crust of the earth, acted upon by these same gravitational forces of the moon and sun.
Each day, there are two high tides and two low tides. There is about 12 hours and 25 minutes between the two high tides. The gravitational attraction of the moon causes the oceans to bulge out in the direction of the moon. Another bulge occurs on the opposite side, since the Earth is also being pulled toward the moon (and away from the water on the far side). Ocean levels fluctuate daily as the sun, moon and earth interact. As the moon travels around the earth and as they, together, travel around the sun, the combined gravitational forces cause the world's oceans to rise and fall. Since the earth is rotating while this is happening, two tides occur each day.
Springs and Neaps
When the sun and moon are aligned, there are exceptionally strong gravitational forces, causing very high and very low tides which are called spring tides, though they have nothing to do with the season! When the sun and moon are at right angles (with respect to the earth) the gravitational forces act against each other, and the tides are not as dramatically high and low. These are called neap tides.
Spring tides are especially strong tides and since low water is lower and high water is higher they also have much greater range (distance travelled when flooding/ebbing across the beach). Neap tides are the weakest tides with the smallest range of tidal movement. The biggest spring tides occur one to two days after the full and new moons and neap tides occur one to two days after the first and last quarters. For a more in depth explanation of tides have a look at the following wikipedia article.
Moon Phases
Not only does the moon affect the tides (and weather) but many anglers believe it also has a direct effect on the feeding habits of fish themselves. There are many articles on the web in relation to this "Solunar Theory" which is credited to John Alden Knight. Like the sun, the moon rises and sets each day also. Dawn and dusk have always been considered excellent times to be fishing for certain species and much of this is attributed to the low light levels at this time of day. However there are those that argue that the gravitational effect of the sun is another factor (~40% of that of the moon). This effect is strongest at sunrise and sunset. Similarly when the moon rises and sets this gravitational effect induces fish to feed so anglers should watch the moon rise and set times as well. The moon rise and set times can happen at any stage day or night however and if they combine with a sunrise or sunset then the fishing is said to be fantastic! Other moon periods to watch for are those at the midpoint of the rise/set and vise versa. My own catches over the past few years lend weight to this argument but it is far from conclusive. However there is a mine of information here for the inquisitive angler. The best program (it's free) I have found for predicting moon rise/set and transit times can be downloaded from Infra-Azure Labs.
