Marsh tides

[Rob loper]

I live east coast and im goin to purchase a canoe. At longest 12foot. For the massive tidal marshes in my area.
I wanna do some serious stuff out in these marshes snd need too get a canoe.
I want an Aluminum for the light weight and be able to loading truck myself.
A kayak i tried i dont like to strap things down so another reason a canoe will be better. Gear will be inside instead of strapped on top.
Besides im hefty boy and im nit comfortable sitting on top like you have to do in a kayak.
My question or answers i seek are from fellow tidal marsh hunters.
How-are planning hunts? Is it very hard to navigate or propel a canoe through a good running tide?
Low tides? How does one deal with the low tides
When the water is at its lowest?
Im sure its been asked before but im curious on how everyone dealing with the incoming and outgoing tides in the marsh.
I know if you dont. You might going sleepy out there which could become a cold or absolute mosquito torture ?
Of course cell phones and gps will help
Thanks guys for any tips or info you could give me on this question

[Wlog]

It all depends. You’re probably going to find some places where paddling isn’t an option because of the current. Go out and scout when it’s low tide and see where you do and do not have water. I know from duck hunting some of those places years ago there are areas where you will completely run out of water. If it were me, I’d probably get a 12 or 14 foot John boat with a 15hp outboard. Those deer hear duck boats zinging around there all the time they probably won’t think anything of it.
The current gets pretty strong in some of those places. I’ve broke down and paddled back with 2 guys before and it isn’t easy.

[EllieTheChubb]

Short canoes can be tippy so id reccomend testing a couple out to make sure you are comfortable in it before you buy. Second its a really good idea to spend alot of time in the area you plan to hunt before the season. See what its like at all tides. Marshes have this funny attribute where you dont always get a steady ebb and flow. instead you often get a long low tide followed by a remarkable surge of water right before high tide. Ive been on stand before on totally dry ground for 4.5hrs then within 30 minutes I'm surrounded by 3' of water.

As far as navigating it is very situational. I have a few spots around me where a 15hp outboard isnt enough to fight the tide other places you could paddle against the tide with little extra effort. Again it all comes down to familiarizing yourself with the waters out of season.

Other things to consider is that tides will affect the wind. The air is usually cold enough during hunting season that getting wet could be life threatening because you cant always leave when you want to due to currents or the tide and finally tracking a deer in tidal marshes is a nightmare. Waiting several hours on a bad hit can mean the tide washing the trail away.

[Rich M]

I hunt ducks a lot and we planned it around the tide if the tide was gonna be an issue.

Used to use a 12 ft fiberglass canoe and a 14 ft car topper aluminum boat with 10 hp. Both had their purposes and the 14 ft aluminum was used in icy conditions. Most memorable duck hunt was when I beached the boat 2 feet from a harbor seal and hopped out, turned light on and there it was. Very neat.

Current is place dependent - you can have tough current in creeks draining large ponds and hardly anything in bays that are flowing out. Your scouting should tell you what you need.

[mspaci]

John boat all the was, Mike

[LateRiser]

I too deal with 10-12 foot tides in salt marshes. My experience has been that, at least in my area, it is pretty much impossible to fight an outgoing tide in a canoe or kayak. I mean, you can go forward with a lot of effort, but it's not sustainable for anything more than a few hundred yards. Incoming are better, but it's still no fun. Some places are accessible in my fishing boat, but most are not, either due to the size of the creeks or lack of a ramp or access.

As such, I've timed my hunts to take advantage of the tides and just ride them down and back. I have run into issues with a slow incoming resulting in the need to walk the majority of the 2 miles while pulling my kayak through 3-6" of water in a 10 foot wide creek bed that had 12 foot banks on each side. I could have waited and hour or so, but didn't feel like it. But my overall suggestion is that you often need to plan in 6 hour time chunks of time, and if you miss one you can have a very long wait for the next.

And, if it's anything like here (MA), there are some DEEP holes in our marshes, and they are almost invisible. I've gone in up to my shoulders before, and only stopped there because I threw my arms out. Middle of the day, and in summer, thankfully, while scouting. It was a little hole, probably only 2-3 feet wide in the middle of otherwise solid ground on an open marsh with grasses less than knee high. Caused quite the pucker factor for me because it looked exactly like the rest of the ground, where the water was an inch or two deep. So walking back can often be a very bad idea, especially in the dark.

So, anyway - you probably know this, but there are a lot of dangers with salt marshes: tidal rivers and creeks, cold water, hard running tides, hidden holes and feeder creeks, and a bunch of other stuff. I try to go with a buddy these days. For safety and twice the paddle power in a canoe.

But the deer are definitely out there. And further. My buddy just found a huge set of sheds on an uninhabited island off the coast that is a minimum swim of 1000 yards from land.

[Hambone79]

Airboat is what we use a lot here in Florida. no water necessary.

[Rob loper]

Airboat is what we use a lot here in Florida. no water necessary.

Well i dont think we could use them here. Maybe.
Not sure. Msn thst would be fun