Dreaminofishin, here's what I do when I fish an inlet. Other guys do it differently, it's all a matter of preference and what you're comfortable with:


Flood tide...
I generally like to be near the back of the inlet. If the inlet has a bridge or some kind of structure, I'll fish against the current and fish from whatever side allows me to do that. I don't want to confuse you by bringing bridges into the equation, but often there are car or train bridges near the back of inlets.

Big predators hang around structure in wait to ambush smaller fish. Since I generally fish at night, I look for the shadow lines made by the lights, and try to throw out so my offering ends up in the darkness of the shadow line.

Again, I'll try just to stay on the inlet topic here. All inlets are basic in their design. As Surfstix said, they are a highway for a water and the fish. There are many subtle differences for each inlet. That's why you should pick one inlet and learn those differences at different stages of the tide.

The first thing I would do if I didn't know an inlet was to go there at extreme low tide, right before slack. Pay attention to the rocks on the sides and the variations. All sorts of little fish, and also seabass, tog, crabs, etc will be hiding in those rocks as the tide fills. It's also a good time to check any nuances in structure you can see near bottom. If you're bait fishin it will save you many lost rigs.

As the tide fills in, you may have eddies, pockets, or areas in back of the inlet where the current is less. I think Surfstix, despite his modesty, did a fantastic job of explaining the difference between tide and current above.

The current will become stronger or weaker at different stages of the tide. A lot of guys like to fish the middle areas of inlets. Fine, but know when to move from them. IMO the middle areas are best at the beginning and end of the tidal flow when current is weaker. That's a great time to toss out plugs because you can retreive across the current and still have your plug at a slow enough retrieval speed.

Retrieving plugs when the current is too fast, like in the middle of a tide when current is at its strongest, can be a waste of time if you're targeting bass. What I usually dto is hit an inlet up to 2 hours before and 2 hours after high tide, as many have advised. That seems to be the best window.

Ebb tide:
Everybody's different. I like to be at the front of an inlet for the ebb. I try to figure out where the sweep is. The sweep is the direction the water is moving in the ocean. This depends on the moon stage, wind, offshore weather patterns which sometimes give rise to a swell, among other factors. Also the structure at the outer area of the inlet.

Based on that sweep I'll decide whether I want to fish the N or S side of the inlet. I'll note here that right before a storm, I might concentrate on the front of the inlet for he ebb, depending on the wind and sweep. If fish are pulled out of the inlet by the tide, and there is a swell pushing the water in at the same time, there can be some big predators right in front, or to the sides of the rocks in front. This gets a little dicey, safety gear is an absolute must. More on that in a bit.

When I work the front rocks of an inlet, I will take the bucktail and bounce it on the bottom as close as I can to the rocks without getting hung up. This is where you will lose the most jigs until you get the hang of it. Even after you get better, you'll still lose some jigs if you're fishin it right. I generally like to bounce the bucktail around the frong of the inlet, gradually working it around the structure WITH the tide.

If you were a scuba diver, you would be amazed at all the bass that sit at the bottom near the safety of the rocks. The strong current just 20 feet above them is less intense as the current action is broken up by that bottom structure.


Full/New moon tides:
However my fishin rules are not set in stone. If there's a full or new moon tide, the current will be extremely strong. It's a waste to fish the fastest running water during the mid-tide.

Does that mean ya go home? Nope, that's why ya need plan B, and C sometimes. I will bounce around an area and may come back to an inlet area 2 or 3 times in a night, fishing other spots until I feel the tide is optimal.