Top 9 Best Watches for Fishing [Tide Watches]

Top 9 Best Watches for Fishing [Tide Watches]

For any sport and activity, whether you are out hiking, skiing, or fishing, you want to make sure that you are equipped with the right tools and accessories. Some of them may just be convenient to have, whilst others are crucial and will help improve your performance.

If you are fishing, and whether you do it professionally or as a hobby, you can find great use from a watch. But with that said, it is important to find the right watch – a watch that is built for the purpose, and a watch that presents information that can come in handy when you are fishing.

In addition to that, watches for fishing also have some requirements in regard to durability, water resistance, and build quality. Fishing can be rather demanding and physical, and therefore, you need to ensure that you have a watch that can withstand whatever you subject it to.

In this article, we will look closer at fishing watches (watches for fishing), many of which are often known as tide watches, depending on the functions they offer. We will look at some of the best and most popular fishing watches, as well as have a look at the most important things you should look for in a fishing watch.

Today, there are endless timepieces to choose from, and your choice ultimately comes down to your own needs and preferences. Some people look for a watch that will function as a tool to help them with key information and data during their fishing trip. But the fact is that a regular watch can be a fishing watch if all you need is to be able to keep track of the time. But if you’re going fishing, I advise you to pick up a fishing watch as these are specifically made for the purpose and will help you a lot in many different ways.

Best fishing watches – watches for fishing

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Casio Pro Trek PRW2500T Tough Solar Sport Watch

The Casio Pro Trek PRW2500T is a solar digital watch that is built to last. It is also a watch that has a lot to offer due to the fact that it is packed with different useful functions.

It is also robust and durable, which makes it great for fishing.

The watch uses solar technology, meaning it is powered by solar light, which removes the need for replacing the battery. For accuracy, it uses atomic timekeeping. Another important factor about this watch for fishers is that it has a water resistance of 200m. It is also equipped with tide graph and moon phase data which is important to know when fishing. In addition to this, it has a digital compass, altimeter, barometer, and thermometer, and is resistant to low temperatures as low as -10 celsius. In other words, lots of useful and important functions when fishing.

The Pro Trek PRW2500T also has 5 Independent Daily alarms, an hourly time signal, a world Time, and a 1/100-second stopwatch.

When fully charged, the battery has a reserve of about 5 months, but with exposure to light, it will essentially never run out of energy.

All in all, this is an excellent watch for fishing and ticks all boxes of what a fishing watch is expected to be.

Specifications

• Water resistance: 200m/660 feet
• Solar-powered
• Atomic timekeeping
• Tide graph
• Moon data
• Digital compass
• Altimeter
• Barometer
• Thermometer
• Low temperature resistant
• Stopwatch
• Countdown timer
• Auto calendar
• Power reserve: 5 months on a full charge

Suunto 9 GPS Sports Watch

The Suunto 9 GPS is a GPS watch made in titanium for ultimate lightness and made to last.

The watch offers a water resistance of 100m/330 feet which is the least you want in a watch for fishing. It can connect to apps via the Suunto app so you can access more information and tools.

It has a wrist heart rate monitor, and sleep tracking. The barometer function allows you to keep track of the weather and adapt your fishing accordingly.

Specifications

• GPS function
• Durable and rugged
• Water resistance: 100m/330 feet
• Heart rate monitor
• Sleep tracking
• App connectivity abilities
• Barometer

Garmin quatix 5 Marine Smartwatch

The Garmin Quatix 5 is a multisport marine watch suitable for marine activities, including fishing. To begin, it has a GPS function and offers the ability to connect with compatible Garmin chart plotters and other devices for a number of different functions such as remote waypoint marking, speed, depth, temperature, and wind.

It can measure heart rate and has compass sensor capabilities, an altimeter, barometer.

With smart notifications, you can receive emails, texts, and alerts right on your watch. The altimeter gives elevation data to accurately monitor ascent and descent and the barometer can be used to predict weather changes by showing short-term trends in air pressure. The 3-axis electronic compass keeps your bearing, whether you’re moving or not. The internal gyroscope helps improve position accuracy in UltraTrac mode.

Specifications

• GPS function
• Speed, depth, temperature, and wind measuring with compatible Garmin chartplotters
• Smart notifications – receive emails, texts, and alerts to your watch 
• Heart rate
• Altimeter, barometer, and compass sensor capabilities. 

Rip Curl Rifles Digital Tide Watch

The Rip Curl Rifles digital watch is an outdoor sports watch built for outdoor activities and durability.

It enables you to keep track of high and low tides thanks to the 500 pre-programmed tide locations in the graph or detailed display. It is water-resistant to 330 feet which is the lead you want in a watch for fishing.

It has a sleek design with a lightweight feel, ensuring it is not in the way when fishing. Of course, it also has lots of different functions including an alarm, stopwatch, and timer. 

Specifications

• 500 pre-programmed tide locations
• Alarm
• Stopwatch
• Timer
• Water resistance: 100m/330 feet

Casio 10-Year Battery WS-1100H-4AVCF Tide Graph

This Casio watch has both a moon phase and tide graph function. It has a comfortable and durable silicone strap. It is lightweight, sporty, and comfortable. What makes it stand out is its battery life of 10 years which is extremely impressive. In addition to that, it has all of the functions you want in a watch for fishing.

The watch offers a water resistance of 100 meters and has a LED light for improved legibility. It also incorporates 3 alarms, a stopwatch, and a countdown timer. It offers a full auto calendar and a dual time.

Specifications

• 10-year battery life
• Tide graph
• Moon graph
• Stopwatch
• Countdown timer
• Water resistance: 100m/330 feet
• Auto calendar
• Dual time

Garmin Instinct

The Garmin Instinct is a durable and robust outdoor watch perfect for any type of outdoor activity including fishing. It has a built-in GPS and is built to handle any tough occasion you subject it to. The GPS system is a multiple global navigation satellite system that makes tracking even more detailed and valuable.

Garmin has constructed this watch to U.S. Military standard 810G for thermal, shock, and water resistance. It is rated at 100 meters. Furthermore, it has a 3-axis compass and barometric altimeter which enables you to keep track of the weather situation and changes in it. 

The watch allows you to monitor your heart rate, stress, and activity so you can also keep track of your health.

It also offers the ability to connect the watch to your smartphone so that it can provide notifications and automatically upload data to the Garmin Connect online fitness community.

The Garmin Instinct has a battery life of up to 14 days in smartwatch mode and up to 16 hours in GPS mode and up to 40 hours in Ultratrac battery-saver mode.

Specifications

• GPS function
• Durable and robust
• Water resistance: 100m/330 feet
• 3 axis compass
• Barometric altimeter
• Connectability with smartphone
• Up to 14 days of battery life in smartwatch mode
• Available in a bunch of different colors

Casio Men’s XL Rescue G-Shock G-7900-2CR

Casio XL G-Shock Rescue Series G-7900-2CR is a robust and durable sports watch that is perfect for fishing. And, of course, packed with functions and features.

First and foremost, it has a water resistance of 200 meters. It is shock-resistant and has an auto EL backlight for optimum legibility at all times.

Like good fishing watches should, it has a tide and moon phase graph, allowing you to keep track of the weather. The flash alert busses and sounds for the alarm. This shows the tide level for a specific date and time.

The watch also has an hourly time signal, a countdown timer, and a stopwatch. Since it is built to last, it is made to handle temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celcius.

For when traveling around the world, it is good to know that it has a world time with 29 time zones and 48 cities.

Specifications

• Water resistance: 200m/660 feet
• Tide graph
• Moon graph
• Alarms
• Hourly time signal
• Countdown timer
• Stopwatch
• Flash alert
• World time with 29 time zones

Casio G7900-1 G-Shock

Casio has made this sporty timepiece with reference G7900-1, part of the G-Shock range for optimum durability.

The watch has an ordinary and convenient LCD screen that presents the time. The case is protected by a robust and durable rubber case for optimum protection and durability.

As we can expect, it has tide and moon phase data for keeping track of the weather, which is important for any fisher. The water resistance is 200m/660 feet which means you can go swimming and diving without having to worry.

The watch also has a world time with 29 time zones, flash alarms, and daily alarms. It has a chronograph with a 12/24 hour display. The alarm has 1 snooze alarm 

Specifications

• Water resistance: 200m/660 feet
• Tide graph
• Moon phase graph
• Shock resistant
• Chronograph
• Alarm
• Hourly time signal
• Stopwatch
• Battery life: approx 2 years

Casio Pro Trek Sport Watch

Last but not least, we have the Casio Pro Trek sports watch which is a watch that works great for fishing.

Like all good fishing watches, it is durable, robust, and built to last. It has a water resistance of 100 meters/330 feet. For optimum legibility, it is equipped with an LED light digital display.

Furthermore, it offers fishing mode with moon data and graphs which assists in determining the best time of day to fish.

Other functions include a stopwatch, countdown timer, Multi-function alarms, Hourly time signal, and full auto-calendar (to the year 2099), 12/24-hour format.

All in all, this is a great watch for fishing that you cannot go wrong with.

Specifications

• Water resistance: 100m
• Moon data
• Dual time
• Stopwatch
• Countdown timer
• Full auto-calendar
• Hourly time signal

Buyer’s guide for fishing watches

Fishing watches come in all kinds of different shapes and forms, with all kinds of different functions. Depending on your needs and wants, there are a few things you want to consider. If you want a watch for when you go fishing, only to tell the time, then there are plenty to choose from. However, most fishing watches are known to incorporate one key feature, which is the tide function, telling you when to expect low and high tide. This is a function that can be truly useful when fishing, both for professionals as well as hobbyists.

Depending on what watch you choose, there are also tons of other functions that can be useful. Then it is up to you to decide which functions you absolutely need in a watch and whether or not you can live without any.

Water resistance

The number one thing you need to consider in a fishing watch is obviously its water resistance. Fishing is a water sport, an,d therefore, you will be subject to water in different ways. This obviously also includes your watch. Most of the time, it will involve water splashes, but for various reasons, you may also find yourself in the water. With this said, it is important to have a watch that is water-resistant.

Seeing that you’ll likely not go deep diving, you won’t be needing a watch with the most serious water resistance of several hundred meters, however, you will be needing a watch that can handle water splashes as well as short periods of submersion in water at the very least.

First of all, it’s important to highlight the fact that 30 meters of water resistance, for example, doesn’t mean that the watch can go 50 minutes below the surface. Instead, 50m is the static pressure that the watch can handle, and in practice, this essentially means that it is resistant to splashes, but should not be submerged.

If you want a watch that you can go swimming with without worries, it is advised to get a watch with a minimum water resistance of 100m/10ATM/330 feet. Everything above that is great and just adds to the level of security and comfort in the watch’s resistance against water.

Easy to clean

You want to make sure that your watch is easy to clean. When fishing, it’s not unlikely that you’ll get a bit dirty, as you may come in contact with salt water, fish skin, and dirt. With that said, it is convenient to have a watch that is easy to clean whenever you have been out fishing.

This of course includes having a water resistance good enough so that you can rinse and clean it in an easy way. This is why, for example, leather straps may not be the best option for a fishing watch. Nylon straps can work, but they are not ideal.

When it comes to straps, rubber, silicone, and metal are most commonly used because they are the most convenient and practical when fishing.

Durability

Of course, it is also important that the fishing watch is durable and robust. It’s important that the watch can handle shocks and bangs which it may be subject to when fishing.

Since fishing can be rough, it’s not unlikely that this is exactly what your watch will be subject to. Everything from shocks from throwing the rod, pulling up a fish, or accidental knocks are scenarios that can happen whilst fishing.

To ensure this, many watches are made in durable silicone or rubber in order to make them more shock-proof and durable.

Good legibility

Legibility is key in any watch, not to mention watches for fishing.

When you are out fishing, you want to be able to tell the time easily with just a glance on your wrist, but it’s not always that the preconditions are ideal for this. Bright sun, rain, etc, will affect visibility, and this is particularly why the watch puts the utmost focus on legibility.

You want the watch to offer exceptional legibility in bright light, for example when you are out fishing in the sun, but also great legibility in darkness, if you are fishing in the evening, night, or early morning before sunrise.

GPS

Now it’s time to talk a little bit about the functions of fishing watches.

GPS and compass are two functions that, at least according to us, every fishing watch should have. However, it is not always a requirement for everyone.

The GPS function can be truly convenient for a fisher for a number of different reasons, including marking good fishing spots, identifying hazards, and much more.

Whilst many fishers have a GPS already, the watch GPS can work as a great backup, or for times when you can’t look at it. A watch GPS is a convenient and easy way to always access it at any time.

Compass

Another feature that can be convenient in a fishing watch is a compass. Compasses have many benefits, and whilst they come in both digital and mechanical form, a mechanical compass can be even more convenient since you are not dependent on batteries or other technological parts.

Battery Life

Most fishing watches are digital, and with that said, they are also powered by batteries. The battery life of the fishing watch is, therefore, something worth considering. Some watches come with chargers, others, have batteries that are replaced when they run out of energy.

The battery life varies on the watches, but think about how long you will be fishing and whether the watch lives up to your needs.

Barometer

Next up, we have the barometer function. Barometric pressure is essentially the measuring of air pressure. This is convenient because barometric pressure tells you a lot about the weather and what tendencies the weather has, for example, if the weather is stormy or if the weather involves blue skies. Low pressure generally means bad weather, and high pressure normally means good weather.

Knowing the weather conditions as a fisherman can be really important and allow you to plan your fishing accordingly. Furthermore, it’s worth keeping in mind that the weather also affects how the fish behave, which, in turn, affects how good fishing it is. Fish can sense changes in pressure and thus the weather, and it is particularly before a storm that they are the most active. With that said, the barometer can help lead the way to better fishing.

Tidal information and moon phase

Last but not least, we have the dial and moon phase functions.

The tidal function tells you the status of the tide and whether it is low or high tide. This is important to know when you are fishing in waters that are affected by the tide. Not all fishing watches have tide charts so this is something worth considering if you need, depending on where you fish. Similarly, the moon phase also affects the fish, so this is why it can also be useful to know the status of the moon.

Now that we’ve covered all of that, let’s go through some of the most popular and best-rated fishing watches on the market.

What does a Fishing Watch do?

It all depends on the watch you choose as they come with all kinds of different functions and features. In general, most fishing watches are known for being tide watches simply because this is one of the most important functions to have as a fisher. Tide watches can be both mechanical or digital, but most are digital.

The purpose of a tide watch is to give information about the ebb and flow of the ocean’s surface. You want to have a tide watch that can give you information about each and every location you are at, so regardless of where you are fishing, you can get access to this information. In addition, tides can vary depending on the exact location you are at and so this is why it is important that a watch is highly accurate in regards to the exact location.

Digital tide watches usually display this information via a tide graph which is a visual representation of the level of a tide based on the position of the moon and the sun at your exact location.

The benefits of a tide graph for fishers are many. Most importantly, they allow you to plan your fishing according to the tide and will make it safer.

Digital and analog tide watches

As mentioned, tide watches are available either in digital or analog format. Most fishing watches on the market today are digital as they are able to provide more detailed information as well as additional functions, but some people prefer a classic analog watch still, and in these cases, they may be the better option.