| Bunce's Pass Tides & Best Times for 2010 (West Central Florida) |
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| Written by Richard Martin |
| Tuesday, 19 January 2010 00:00 |
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March 10th - March 16th
Gulfport Tide, March 10th - March 16th, 2010
3/10
3/11
3/12
3/13
3/14
3/15
3/16
 March 10th (Wednesday): Tidal conditions will provide adequate opportunity to test the waters late this evening when the low tide dips below the average water level around midnight and bottom out below sea level near five in the morning. Due to the heavy freeze that affected Tampa Bay fish populations in January, this year may get off to an early start with bigger shrimp than normal making an appearance earlier in the year. If you are itching to test out your equipment and get a jump on everyone else, give tonight a shot if you have the free time and report back to the forum. As it is a late night, you will find few people and should get adequate rest before going out. March 11th (Thursday): The tides will be much as they were last night but fall an hour later putting shrimping this evening out of the reach of all but the most diehard of shrimpers eager to start the season early. While tidal movements fall late this evening, the moon is lining up to the benefit of shrimpers as it falls into it approaches the New Moon on Saturday. As the season continues, look for optimum tides lined up with the New Moon for a five-gallon evening! March 12th (Friday): Tonight marks the first Friday night of the shrimping season and you will no doubt see a few more people out on the water than previous evenings even though the season is still in its infancy and tonight's low tide is well into the early morning. Expect to arrive near midnight and walk out with the outgoing tide as it passes the mean (average) water level around 01:45. You should be able to follow the slow outgoing tide for most of the morning and be driven back to shore not by the tide but by the rising sun.  March 13th (Saturday): Unfortunately, tonight marks the first night of a tidal shift that will cut the amount of time shrimpers have available to a few hours at the beginning of each evening for the next several days. The good news is that it is still only early March and the shrimp that you are probably catching are few and small in comparison to what the season should bring in the next two months.  March 14th (Sunday): Tides are coming in just around sunset tonight and will cross the mean water level threshold quickly near 10:30. If you just want to get your equipment wet, you might get an hour or two at most of shoreline shrimping done before the tide comes back up. Be advised, the tide will continue to come in until it is about a half a foot above mean at 13:00. Daylight savings time will subtract an hour from your shrimping time at 02:00 so don't forget!  March 15th (Monday): Continuing the trend of early evenings and at just the right time - falling on a Monday. Consider it your shrimp light at the end of the tunnel after a hard day's work. Sunset it around 19:30, giving you about three hours of shrimping until the tide is back up to its normal average. That will be the end of the show for tonight.  March 16th (Tuesday): Tonight is an optimum low tide for this time of year. Sunset will occur near 19:30 as usual and the tide will have been on its way out for about three hours already. The water level should be significantly lower than the night before but this will only last for a very short while until it begins to come back in slowly around 20:35 when the moon sets. Tonight is a New Moon folks and you know what that means - more shrimp to be found. Enjoy the low tide until it comes back in around midnight. Tonight is an evening you can get to your favorite spot and be standing in the water while the sun sets. Maximize the time you have because it may prove to be worth it!
March 17th - March 23rd
Gulfport Tide, March 17th - March 23rd, 2010
3/17
3/18
3/19
3/20
3/21
3/22
3/23
 March 17th (Wednesday): Another evening of great tidal conditions for shrimping. Let's hope that the shrimp benefited from that cold snap in January because tonight would be a great night to catch them! Sunset will find the tide continuing its way out to sub-sea level marks and not coming back to normal levels until near 01:30. Get to your favorite spot early to get prepared and enjoy one of the first perfect tides of the season. March 18th (Thursday): Tonight is a win on both the front and back end of the low tide. Arrive before sunset at 19:20 and enjoy an outgoing tide that will bottom out below sea level around 21:45 and won't return to normal levels until nearly 02:30. Bring an extra battery and remember a windbreaker or jacket for those March winds. Conditions can't get much better than this.  March 19th (Friday): It is possible to shrimp all evening tonight but the best of it will happen between sunset at 19:20 and 04:00. If the flats are on fire, you can choose to stay until the sun comes up because the incoming tide will stop below normal levels around 04:45 and make a turn back out for a small outgoing tide until well in the morning. As tonight is a Friday and the tides are both perfect and long, you can expect to see and meet a variety of people from around the region on the flats. Get to your spot early to park your car and carry extra batteries and lamps if you need them. Say hello if you see a fellow forum member!  March 20th (Saturday): Just like last night, tonight is going to be another perfect evening that could very well go on until dawn. The tide will be on its way out at dusk around 19:20 and won't come back to that level until nearly 11:00 in the morning. Don't forget to arrive early because it is a Saturday and parking spaces may fill up. Be courteous to fellow shrimpers by following the simple rules of Shrimping Etiquette narrated on our site. Most of all, have fun!  March 21st (Sunday): Tonight is a great night to go shrimping but you won't get as much super-low tide action as previous nights. The tide cycle is changing so that the low tide has a lot more time remaining until it reaches bottom around 01:00. No worries for now though, it's a Sunday and if we are lucky, the worst of the tide change will happen during the work week! If you can find the time to go tonight, you will get some prime shrimping time in between roughly 11:00 and 02:30.  March 22nd (Monday): The tide cycle is shifting and bringing some above average levels of water our way in the early evening hours. If you don't have to work tomorrow and you are feeling adventurous, feel free to head out around 21:00 for some good shrimping. The water levels after this time will be below average and worth your trouble.  March 23rd (Tuesday): Arrival time is getting later into the evening as the tide cycle progresses. Tides will be about two feet above average at dusk so don't feel like you are in a rush to get to the beach. Arrive around 23:00 and you will have about six hours of good shrimping time with the bottom of low tide reaching nearly a half foot below sea level around 03:30. It's a later start to the evening but worth it if you can find the time.
March 24th - March 30th
Gulfport Tide, March 24th - March 30th, 2010
3/24
3/25
3/26
3/27
3/28
3/29
3/30
 March 24rd (Wednesday): The only shrimping that will get done tonight will be after midnight. The tide will be at its highest point of the day just around sunset tonight. Water levels will not be in the range of acceptability until midnight. This said, if you have the time, head out around midnight. You will be able to shrimp from midnight until dawn with sub-sea level water levels between 02:00 and 06:00. The next few days will push low tides into the daylight hours so enjoy it while it lasts. March 25th (Thursday): Like last night, the only shrimping possible this evening will be early in the morning. If you feel up to it, get out to the beach around 01:00 and enjoy some below sea-level water levels between 03:00 and 07:00. Your shrimp catch will be significantly less than normal given the extremely late hours and approaching full moon. Unless you absolutely have to go shrimping, tonight is probably best spent at home. March 26th (Friday): This evening is a wash. The tide will be above average for most of the evening and won't drop below average until nearly 02:30. Around this time the shrimp become inactive and the effects of the approaching full moon will only help put them even further out of reach and in deeper water. Take a break and spend the time cleaning up your equipment and spray painting it with flat black spray paint for the next tide cycle.  March 27th (Saturday): Another bad evening for shrimping. Tides will be above average for the entire evening, coming in slowly starting well before dusk. It's a shame that it had to happen on a Saturday but we win some and we lose some.  March 28th (Sunday): This evening will generally be a waste of time if you want to get out onto the flats and do some serious shrimping but, it may provide a little time just around sunset for you to do some shoreline shrimping. You may get two hours in if you are luck until the tide comes back in enough to push you off the water. Stay close to shore, the tide won't be out for long. March 29th (Monday): Tonight we welcome the new tide cycle as it begins. This evening it will be possible to shrimp until about 23:00 and the shrimping shouldn't be all that bad. Arrive before sunset and be on the water when the sun dips below the horizon. The water will be just below sea level at this time and will be coming back in until about 23:00. If you feel up to it, you can get to your spot before sunset, walk out to the edge of the tide an let it push you back in over the next few hours. Look forward to more favorable conditions over the next few days. March 30th (Tuesday): The tide will still be going out this evening at sunset so be sure to get out there and be ready! You should be able to shrimp until a little after midnight and get some great low tide action while you are there. The next few days should be an improvement and mark the break of the recent bad-tide cycle.
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| Last Updated on Monday, 22 February 2010 15:35 |
