The 10 Best Tide Watches for Fishermen
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Synchronize your fishing to the tides to work out what is best for your area. It might be best to start fishing 2 hours before high tide and fish for 1 hour after. Becoming aware of how the tides effect your success will pay big rewards.
In estuary and salt marsh fishing, a high outgoing tide means that fish will be concentrating in the tidal outflow areas and seeking out the deeper holes in the creeks and rivers.
Why Would you even Need One?
Anyone who has fished a tidal estuary or salt marsh knows that the fish come and go with the tides. Catching fish in these places is all about being in the right place at the right time.
Heading offshore? Then you really need to know which way the tide is running. Getting stranded on a sand bar can be worse than just embarrassing!
Which is the Best ?
The perfect tide watch would tell you all the following things and be completely waterproof in normal use.
- High and Low Tides with graphs
- Moon phases- fish respond to the moon so learn the best conditions for your favorite places..
- Digital compass. A useful backup for navigation. Sometimes it's just important to know where the wind is coming from.
- Atmospheric pressure- a sudden drop will tell you a storm is coming.
- Temperature- another useful guide to weather and water conditions.
Not many watches offer all these abilities, so choose the ones that are important to you. The Casio Sea Pathfinder (pictured above right) is one watch with all these features. At $130 online, it is lot of watch for the money.
Where to Buy?
A good selection of tide watches is hard to find in any store. This is an area where shopping online not only saves you money but broadens your choices.
Buyer reviews at places like Amazon or Target are always worth reading- if someone got less than they expected from a watch, they will let you know!
Gifts for Fishermen and Women Too!
A tide watch is one of the best gifts for men or women who fish. It is great gift for people whose lives are linked to the sea.
Casio Men's SPF40-1V Sea Pathfinder Tide Watch
This would be my number one choice for features. It is also great value at around $130 to buy online. It is a big watch and very easy to read. You will need to play around with it for a while before you learn all the useful information that it can deliver- but that is part of the fun!
- Digital Compass
- Barometer with Atmospheric pressure tendency graph.
- Thermometer with fahrenheit and centigrade
- Tide Graph.
- Moon Data (moon age and graph).
- Low-temperature resistant.
- Backlight with afterglow.
- Easy to read Duplex, LCD Display.
- 5 Daily Alarms- useful if you get very absorbed in whatever you are doing!
- 12/24 Hour Formats.
- Approx. Battery Life: 2 years
300 feet (100M) Water Resistance
 | Amazon Price: $200.00 |
Casio Men's W753D-1AV
This is an inexpensive watch with some useful features. If you like classic stainless steel this could be the one for you.
- moon phase display.
- scratch-resistant mineral dial window.
- a day, date and month calendar.
- a countdown timer.
- a stopwatch.
- hourly time signal.
- stainless steel band.
- a sturdy fold-over clasp.
- tough 42-millimeter stainless steel case.
- stationary silver-tone stainless steel bezel.
- water resistant to 330 feet (100m).
 | Amazon Price: $25.13 List Price: $34.95 |
Timex Men's Compass. Tide and Temperature Watch
Timex are well beyond the 'cheap and not so reliable' tag acquired a decade ago. The company is one of the biggest brands in watches and offer some quality and affordable products.
The T45601 model, pictured right, has:
- Tide information.
- Electronic compass.
- Temperature display.
- Declination adjustment scale.
- A robust stainless steel case.
- A leather strap that won't shrink from water.
- night-light.
- It is water-resistant to 100 meters.
No Timex watch offers moon phase information, which is a pity.
 | Amazon Price: $140.00 List Price: $169.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $125.00 List Price: $169.95 |
Timex Men's Expedition Tide, Temperature and Compass Watch
For pure style. this would be my first choice for a triple sensor watch. It has an indigo back-light which looks great and more importantly, makes it easy to read in any conditions.
The compass needs some calibration when it first comes, so you need to read that instruction leaflet. After that it is a breeze to use. The buttons around the face are also an easy and quick way to call up the function that you need.
It offers
- A Tide tracker
- A Temperature Sensor- this can be used to get water temperature as well as air.
- An Electronic compass
- Declination adjustment scale
- Stainless steel case
- INDIGLO night-light
- Silicone water-resistant strap
- Water-resistant 100m
Casio Men's Gulfman Tide and Moon Watch
All of the watches on this page will stand up to being dropped a few times. This is one, you could drop, stand on and let the kids play with (maybe not for too long!).
The stainless case is protected by tough, thick shock-absorbing resin. If you knock it against a rock, the face and controls are well shielded from damage. In other words it is designed specially for the roughest outdoor life.
It also has the following features:
- moon data and tide graph
- 29 time zones
- three multi-function alarms,
- a countdown timer and stop watch
- Water resistant to 660 feet (200 meters).
 | This could be the watch to buy for a girl who wants to fish! Amazon Price: $87.99 List Price: $109.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $90.00 List Price: $99.00 |
Vestal Unisex SHV003 Shiv Tide Watch
A great gift for anyone who likes saltwater- and a tide watch a woman can wear without feeling like ground bait. It is light, elegant and completely waterproof and has customizable tidal information. You won't find moon data here but for some, this is less important for others. Nobody will laugh at a guy wearing one of these either!
It has solid stainless steel case and bezel, a solid mineral crystal face, and is water resistant to 100 meters.
 | For women who fish or just enjoy the outdoor life, Amazon Price: $162.00 List Price: $190.00 |
Rip Curl Tide Watches- Will a Fisherman Wear One of These?
OK, these are made for surfers, but what the heck. They are very tough and they will tell you everything you need to know about the tides.
No one is pretending they are not expensive but you will stand out for style even on the best marlin boat in Cabo!
For a younger fisherman these can make a great gift.
Rip Curl Men's A1001-WHI Ultimate Titanium Oceansearch
If I was still in my twenties or thirties this is the watch that I would want. I might even take up surfing to give me another excuse to wear it. It also offers the best information on tides you will find in any watch plus a reliable compass.
It offers
- Electronically-stored tide charts for 200 preset locations world-wide.
- Automatic Tide System that can easily be set to hundreds of locations worldwide.
- Dual Time, Light, Countdown Timer, Stop watch, Alarm, and date functions
- Digital Compass
It is water-resistant to 660 feet (200 M)
 | Fishing for Black Marlin in Cabo? This is the watch to wear if you want to catch the lady afterwards, Amazon Price: $400.00 |
Rip Curl Men's Oceansearch Yellow Tide Watch
This may not be the watch to wear if you are fishing in crystal clear waters. That yellow would alarm a shark.
On the other hand, yellow on a tanned arm can look great. Not every fisherman wears a camouflage vest!
 | Dazzle your prey. Amazon Price: $122.82 List Price: $150.00 |
Freestyle Men's Tide 200 Watch
There has to be a place on this page for a square-face, stainless-steel watch. This one is classic, masculine and clean-lined.
 | Amazon Price: $200.00 |
Find More Tide Watches Here
Timex has a complete selection of their models in their online store but you might pay more here than in other outlets: tide watch
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This would be a great review if only I had a coast to live by. I really liked the information presented, and didn't even know that there was such a thing as tide watches. I can definitely see how useful they could be as I too follow the patterns of the moon and atmospheric pressure for fishing. Thanks for the hub. Voted up and useful.
These are all good watches, but for me fishing is more than a watch. I don't need it to tell me the tide and all that stuff, I can manage by my own, I don't even want to know the time.
I am looking to have a good time fishing and relax.
i had one of the timex expedition watches in black with the metal strap, awesome watch once you got used to all the gadgets on it, but the outer casing that holds the strap on completely snapped off when i clapped my hands to congratulate someone!!!????
Lol.I've never heard of that before. Am I right in guessing are a big, strong guy, Anton!
This Is Perfect! I was shopping for a new fisherman's watch, talk about timing. It's Bookmarked. Thanks
The Casio Sea Pathfinder pictured above(SPF401V) is one tough watch! I've been using mine for 6 years already. Still using it and I never go out to sea without it.
Re the Rip Curl Ocean Search model- I fish and surf regularly - I have had 2, the first broke down 3 times in the first 18 months - returned each time after being 'factory repaired' - replaced with a new one 9 months ago only to have the compass (as with the first) go kaput within days. Aesthetically pleasing, comfortable but only 3/5 for reliability and service. And yes, the compass is (would be!) very handy on cloudy days when estuary fishing with multiple twists in the river and tributaries.
wayne 15 months ago
ta very useful info.
Are any of the compasses affected by magnets, such a mag switch on a sea kayak,please?