I'm going to be fishing a club tournament this weekend on the lower Apalachicola River.  High tide will be at around 6:15 a.m. with low tide around 12:30.  

I don't have much experience fishing tidal rivers, but I understand that slack tide times make for tough fishing.  Anyone have any thoughts on how to approach that time when the water isn't moving?

Fish the channels on the low tide, and fan out as the tide rises.

When I fished for stripers, that was the standard technique.

They'd go into the shallows and eel grass on the rising tide to feed on the critters that lived there, and retreat to the safety of the channels, gutters, holes, and other deep areas as the tide fell.

I fish the ICW almost daily, many people refer to it as the "river".  Low tide cast into the current and work back to shore as the tide rises.  Not knowing the strength of the tidal effect there, but here it's quite common on low tide to have no water at all on the shoreline.

During slack tide I slow down. I fish on the bottom trying to hit them on the head. I use t-rigged beavers, baby paca craws, baby brush hogs. Last tournament I caught all my fish on slack tide using a Shaky head with a junebug trick worm.

I fish the ICW almost daily, many people refer to it as the "river". Low tide cast into the current and work back to shore as the tide rises. Not knowing the strength of the tidal effect there, but here it's quite common on low tide to have no water at all on the shoreline.

The tide will go from a high of 1.7 to a low of 0.6 feet.

Wow thats not the tide swing I am used to!

The tide will go from a high of 1.7 to a low of 0.6 feet

Even 5-6 miles from the ocean depth changes much more in the canals in my area, sometimes at low tide you can just about walk across a canal, other times it gets deep.

Slack tide is different everywhere, at the Boynton inlet where I do much of my fishing slack lasts 5 minutes or less, then the tide reverses.

use the slack tide as a time to move between locations, grab a bite to eat, or bathroom break.  I have seen the bass bite completely shut down on a slack tide, but quickly turn back on when the water starts moving.

use the slack tide as a time to move between locations, grab a bite to eat, or bathroom break. I have seen the bass bite completely shut down on a slack tide, but quickly turn back on when the water starts moving.

Slack tide is a tough tide, but you can still catch fish. The bite will SLOW, but there are ways to still catch fish. You must fish the right spots and the right way. Yes of course when the current is pulling in or out that is the best time, but to be successful you better be able to get bit throughout the day. Sometimes due to wind you won't get the good current. Never depend on the tide... I see it all the time where the tide will be much later then scheduled.  

I see it all the time where the tide will be much later then scheduled.

Very true happens all the time, good 20 mph wind will slow down the tide change here.

Down here tide rules, what you're gonna catch and when you're gonna do it, actually a small window for certain species.