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Set up a fishing alert: get notified when the tide is right
Two minutes on your iPhone for an alert that goes off when the tide is coming in, the coefficient is right and the wind stays reasonable. No more checking tide tables and forecasts: your phone tells you when to go.
If all of these conditions are met:
- Coefficient between 60 and 90
- Wind less than 25 km/h (about 13 knots)
- From 2 h before to 1 h after high tide
- Daytime only (ticked by default)
Then: a notification on your iPhone at the start of each good window.
When to go fishing? Tide, coefficient, wind
From the shore, many anglers follow the same rule: fish the rising tide. The water covers the shore, stirs the bottom and brings food in; fish follow it and hunt close to the edge. The best spell often runs from two hours before high tide to the start of the ebb.
The tide coefficient is the French scale of a tide's size, from 20 to 120. Too low and the water barely moves; very high and the current gets strong and the water murky. Between 60 and 90 you get movement without the excesses of big spring tides. The tide coefficient, explained.
And the wind: nobody goes fishing in 30 or 40 knots. Up to 25 km/h (about 13 knots, a moderate breeze) your line holds, lures cast well and the sea stays manageable; above that, the alert stays quiet.
It's a starting point, not a law: every spot has its habits. The alert takes two taps to adjust to the way you fish.
Step by step
- Open Tide It on your fishing spot
- Tap the pill, then “Activities”
- “My alerts”, then the “Ideal fishing outing” template
- Set the wind: less than 25 km/h
- Add the tide window
- Set the window: 2 h before, 1 h after high tide
- Adjust the coefficient and name it
- “Daytime only”, then the preview of your week
- Done: your alert is on watch
- Bonus: dusk (or dawn) on the rising tide
1Open Tide It on your fishing spot
An alert is set for one place: your harbour, beach or pier. The spot on screen is named at the bottom, in the pill. Here, Arcachon.
Not the right one? Tap the + at the bottom left and search for your spot by name.
2Tap the pill, then “Activities”
Tap the spot's name to open the menu. Choose Activities: that's where alerts live.
3“My alerts”, then the “Ideal fishing outing” template
At the top, tap the My alerts tab (circled). Scroll down to Templates and tap Ideal fishing outing: the alert opens with two conditions already in place, a coefficient between 70 and 90 and wind below 20 km/h, and the “Daytime only” box ticked.
A template is only a starting point: nothing is saved until you tap “Create alert”.
4Set the wind: less than 25 km/h
Keep the Wind speed line and raise it from 20 to 25 with the + button (one step per tap). 25 km/h is about 13 knots: enough not to miss a session in a light breeze, too little to send you out in a blow.
The unit follows your settings. Do you think in knots? The app shows knots: set 13.
5Add the tide window
Tap the + on the right of the wind line (circled): a third line appears below it, suggesting “Wind direction”. Tap that name: the list of conditions opens. Choose Before/after tide.
6Set the window: 2 h before, 1 h after high tide
The new line starts at 3 h before and 3 h after. Use the − buttons to go down to 2.0 h before and 1.0 h after, and keep high tide.
That gives you three hours around high tide: the end of the flood, the slack, the start of the ebb. Each tap moves half an hour.
7Adjust the coefficient and name it
The template suggests a coefficient between 70 and 90. To catch average tides too, set the first value to 60: tap the number and type 60, or use −.
At the top, tap the title and name the alert Fishing the rising tide (circled): that's the name you'll read in the notification.
8“Daytime only”, then the preview of your week
Scroll to the bottom of the alert. The Daytime only box is ticked by default: the alert only goes off between sunrise and sunset, no notification at 4 a.m. Do you fish at night, for bass say? Untick it.
Below it, the Preview shows the next seven days: each blue bar is a time when everything lines up — right coefficient, right tide, forecast wind below 25 km/h, and daylight. The notification goes off at the start of each bar. Next gives you the day and time, and the last line how many notifications.
On the day of this screenshot, at Arcachon: two windows, Friday and Saturday afternoon, as the coefficients pick up and the wind eases. Nothing in your week? It's often neap tides or a windy spell: widen a setting, or wait.
Happy with it? Tap Create alert, top right (circled).
9Done: your alert is on watch
The alert shows up in My alerts, ticked: it's on, with its three conditions as small icons. If your iPhone asks to allow notifications, say yes: without them the alert can't reach you.
The ticked circle pauses it with one tap (while you're away, say); the row reopens the alert to change it. When the notification arrives, tap it: Tide It opens on your spot, with the tide curve and the wind.
+Bonus: dusk (or dawn) on the rising tide
Many anglers love the last light. Tap the + on the right of the tide window: a new line appears. Tap its name, choose Sunrise / Sunset, then switch Sunrise to Sunset (30 min before is already suggested).
Now the alert only goes off on evenings when sunset falls inside the good tide, with light wind: it's rare, and it's the window you don't want to miss. Leave “Daytime only” ticked: 30 min before sunset it's still light. The week of this screenshot, no evening matched at Arcachon; the preview tells you straight away. Same in the morning with Sunrise, but set to After (30 min before sunrise it's still dark).
Adapt the alert to the way you fish
In “Before/after tide”, pick low tide (2 h before, 1 h after) and set the coefficient to above 90: the alert goes off for the big low tides, when the shore uncovers the most. The French spring-tide calendar.
Set 0 h before and 3 h after high tide: three hours of falling tide, when the outgoing water pulls fish towards the channels.
Be stricter on the wind: less than 15 km/h (8 knots). Out at sea, even a light breeze quickly kicks up an unpleasant chop.
Under the alert's name, the spot menu picks where it applies. Create one alert per spot, or choose All ports: it then follows whichever spot you're looking at.
How does the alert know about the wind?
The tide can be worked out months ahead; the wind can't. For the wind, the forecast decides: the one you see hour by hour on the Today curve. Tide It combines the tides, the coefficient and the forecast wind, and schedules the notifications ahead on your iPhone — the windows the preview shows. So the alert goes off even with the app closed.
These notifications are only scheduled for the next three days, where the wind forecast is most reliable. Beyond that the preview shows the trend; windows get scheduled as the day gets closer.
A forecast moves: a forecast blow can shift, a calm spell can firm up. So Tide It reschedules the alert with the latest forecast: every 30 minutes while the app is open, and in the background whenever iOS wakes the app — iOS decides when, depending on how you use your phone and on the battery. With no network, the notifications already scheduled stay in place.
The best habit before you go: tap the notification, check the wind on your spot's curve — and look at the sea once you're there.
Good to know
Do I need Premium to create an alert?
Yes: creating alerts and getting their notifications is part of Premium. When you install Tide It you get 15 days of Premium for free, no payment details needed, to try it out. Without Premium you can still open the templates and see how they're set.
Does the alert go off when the app is closed?
Yes. Tide It schedules the notifications ahead on your iPhone (three days ahead, with the forecast wind) and reschedules them when the forecast updates (app open, or woken by iOS). You just need to have allowed notifications (iPhone Settings › Notifications › Tide It).
Why knots on my phone and km/h here?
The wind unit follows your Tide It settings. 25 km/h is about 13 knots; enter the value in the unit you read every day.
Does the coefficient work everywhere?
The tide coefficient is a French scale: it exists for ports in mainland France. Elsewhere, the preview tells you so; just remove the coefficient line and keep the wind and the window around high tide.
How often will the alert go off?
Once at the start of each good window, in daylight if the box is ticked, and the preview tells you how many over seven days. The “No more than once every…” setting spaces two notifications out if you like.
Can I rely on it for navigation?
No. Tide It is an aid for your leisure time. For navigation and safety, use official documents and bulletins, and always look at the sea before you commit, especially at low tide with a big coefficient.