Let’s start off by first talking about tides.  Tides are defined as the periodic rise and fall of the waters of the ocean and its inlets, in this case the Delta, produced by the gravitational pull for the sun and the moon.  Depending on the attraction between these two magnificent wonders of our solar system, the tides will vary from day to day.  Sometimes tides will cause water levels to fluctuate six feet while at other times the water may only vary a foot or two feet.  There are three types of tides throughout the day:  incoming tides, outgoing tides, and slack tides.  Incoming tides move upstream away from the ocean while outgoing tides move downstream towards the ocean.  Tidal flow from incoming tides are typically slower compared to tidal flows from outgoing tides as it moves against the natural flow of the water.  With outgoing tides, the tidal flow is faster for the obvious reason that it flows with the natural flow of the water.  Slack tides are the time periods where the tidal flow slows down between an incoming and an outgoing tide. 

One may ask why tides are important to trolling for Stripers.  When fishing the Sacramento Delta river system, anglers need to pay attention to the tides at any given point and time for the location that they are fishing.  While fish still can be caught, the general rule of thumb is that large fluctuations in tides with fast tidal movement are not optimal for trolling.  These large and fast tides are typically more productive for bait fishing or throwing lures for Stripers.  The optimal trolling conditions are when there are small tidal fluctuations and slower tidal movement.  As a general rule of thumb, water fluctuations of three feet or less is considered a small tide.  The “best” bite window for trolling is typically the one hour before slack tide to one hour after slack tide.  When the tides are small, this bite window is extended beyond the time period mentioned.  Please refer to the image below to help illustrate the impact of tides on trolling.