If you're only able to get out on the water once or twice a month, mark well what McCue has to tell us - you'll know how to pick and choose your days wisely or know what time is likely to be most productive on any given day. Most fishermen check the tides before they head out - you want to fish the moving tide, of course. To answer that question, it's important to remember what causes tides in the first place. The gravitational pull of the moon against some part of the earth is present all of the time. The earth continues to rotate and the moon continues its orbit - pulling the bulge of water along with them.
Movement is from west to east and south to north in the northern hemisphere.
When the earth, moon and sun are in alignment with one another, the gravitational pull is strongest, therefore that bulge of water will be very high with a resultant higher than normal tide. Easy answer - the fisherman should care because nature cares. I'll tell a quick story to illustrate my point while you digest what we've learned so far. On the southwest Florida coastline, there is a place called Boca Grande Pass, which enjoys legendary status among Tarpon fishermen for producing some really giant fish. There is a particular species of crab which lives along the shoreline of the pass, rarely straying very far into the water.