This is an article about the effects of moon phases on fishing ~ or not...

[Bubba 460]

Like many, I had always thought that the moon had an effect on fishing. Well the moon does cause the tides and moves entire oceans, surly it has "some" effect on fish ~ right? I thought that this article was interesting. Does this change anyone's mind?

 

https://fishingbooker.com/blog/solunar-fishing-calendars-fishing-by-moon-phases/

[Jig Man]

One thing that I have noticed about the moon is the effect it seems to have on the weather around here.  Quite often we have storms near the full moon which definitely has an effect on my fishing.

[Bubba 460]

1 minute ago, Jig Man said:

One thing that I have noticed about the moon is the effect it seems to have on the weather around here.  Quite often we have storms near the full moon which definitely has an effect on my fishing.

I concur ~ weather patterns, high and lows (to some extent) rain, drought, heat, cold, wind or lack of it all can have an effect on fishing for better or worse. Day and night are big factors in fishing. In my younger days I've had some crazy fishing a 2am on top-water in the middle of summer in the middle of the night that you would be hard pressed to match in the middle of the day. Sometimes you hear things on the water at night that make you think you should better head in ~ Hmm, sounds like someone just threw a bathtub in the water? You guys that have done much night fishing know what I mean, Catching ten pound catfish on a jitterbug at night is just not a normal day time activity.

[RDB]

Great article...thanks for sharing.  It really doesn’t change my thoughts.  I have never looked at moon phase in a vacuum but just another piece of information as it’s difficult to isolate one variable and draw any scientific conclusions.  Is it instinct or environmental impact or both?  Does a full moon trigger a primal urge to feed at night or is just opportunistic lighting conditions?  Does barometric pressure have some sort of swim bladder effect that influences comfort level and desire to feed or is it that pressure can represent weather conditions.  If forced to choose, I would choose environmental v. instinct but it’s not going to influence whether I wet a line.

[A-Jay]

Decent write up but the article does not change my 'perspective' as it relates to my fishing.

While I do believe the moon plays some type of role, years on the ocean & the sweet water,

have yet to 'prove' anything to me. 

When I was an avid night angler (in both venues) New Moon nights were by far, more productive for virtually every species, including green & brown bass.

I've always attributed this to the lack of light; still do. 

 While day time angling, I've had some very memorable trips & catches during virtually every moon phase.  This makes it hard to get behind any theory revolving around Solunar Fishing Calendars.

Beyond that, seems this 'data' is all over the place.

For me, the ever changing current environmental conditions trump whatever the moon, sun or any other planet might be doing.

Finally,  the single Best 6 day stretch of green bass fishing I've ever had In My Life,

happened during the Full Moon week of October 2018.

Go Figure . . . .

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

[Bubba 460]

48 minutes ago, RDB said:

Great article...thanks for sharing.  It really doesn’t change my thoughts.  I have never looked at moon phase in a vacuum but just another piece of information as it’s difficult to isolate one variable and draw any scientific conclusions.  Is it instinct or environmental impact or both?  Does a full moon trigger a primal urge to feed at night or is just opportunistic lighting conditions?  Does barometric pressure have some sort of swim bladder effect that influences comfort level and desire to feed or is it that pressure can represent weather conditions.  If forced to choose, I would choose environmental v. instinct but it’s not going to influence whether I wet a line.

Good thoughts ~ thanks for your input

[Bubba 460]

38 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Decent write up but article does not change my 'perspective' as it relates to my fishing.

While I do believe the moon plays some type of role, years on the ocean & the sweet water,

have yet to 'prove' anything to me. 

When I was an avid night angler (in both venues) New Moon nights were by far, more productive for virtually every species, including green & brown bass.

I've always attributed this to the lack of light; still do. 

 While day time angling, I've had some very memorable trips & catches during virtually every moon phase.  This makes it hard to get behind any theory revolving around Solunar Fishing Calendars.

Beyond that, seems this 'data' is all over the place.

For me, the ever changing current environmental conditions triumph whatever the moon, sun or any other planet might be doing.

Finally,  the single Best 6 day stretch of green bass fishing I've ever had In My Life,

happened during the Full Moon week of October 2018.

Go Figure . . . .

A-Jay

Good response. Who really knows what the real effect the moon and the cosmos are?  How do Monarch butterfly know where Mexico is? How do salmon return to the river they were born in? So many mysteries things we don't know about.  

 

 

 

 

[WRB]

All 5 bass listed; 17.4, 17.4, 17.6, 18.6, 19.3 all caught during the 5 days of the full moon cycle. Weather played a roll as all 5 bass caught during light rain or heavy cloudy conditions.

Seasonal period played a major roll the 5 bass caught during pre spawn with water temps between 55 to 58 degrees.

None we’re using live bait, all were caught using hair jigs.

Caught about 50 LMB over 15 lbs. during 50 year period.

Tom

PS, my thoughts are published; see my Cosmic Clock and Bass Behavior, online.

 

 

[FishTank]

Good read.  I wish it would have held true for me today.  We got skunked. 

[Deleted account]

The moon influences fish and fishing in both direct and indirect ways, some are crucial and significant, some are not. As far as bass fishing, except for the periods around the spawn the effects are secondary to other factors. The striped bass mantra is "3 days before and 3 days after", we went out yesterday in that window, and along with other good factors, it got us a 48" 56 lb one,.

[Team9nine]

My general observations over the years is that the moon definitely has a great influence...over anglers, more so than it does bass ?

 

I pay some attention to it in the spring, mostly because that’s when the angler-science dichotomy seems greatest, and I’m always fascinated by it. Otherwise, the rest of the year - meh!

[PhishLI]

A full moon typically spells disaster at night for me. We had a nice southern wind last night, so with cloud cover and ripple the bite was pretty good. The clouds parted and the wind died at around 2:00a.m. and nobody got a sniff afterward. I didn't even need my headlamp to get though the woods. My best and biggest at night have come mostly closest to the new moon.

[Glenn]

I treat moon phases and lunar periods as additional sources of information to help adapt to mother nature, not pick best day to go fishing.

 

Understand how different factors affect fishing, and create good plan B's and C's, and you'll increase your success.

[Paul Roberts]

Search back for moon and lunar phases here on BR. Lots of good discussion.

[river-rat]

I'm definitely in the school that believes the moon has an influence on fishing success. For example, I've been keeping a fishing log for over 35 years. I always want to know when moon rise and moon set occurs because my records show that that there is a one hour window on each side of either when I find the fish most active.

 

I've gotten to the point where I time my night fishing around the moon's rise or set because that's when I catch most of my fish that particular night.

[WRB]

I can guarantee you will catch more bass when actually fishing in lieu of pondering when to fish, regardless of the moon phase.

The reason I was on the water when working is took time off to fish around the 5 days of the full phase every year. 

Tom

[Bubba 460]

7 hours ago, WRB said:

I can guarantee you will catch more bass when actually fishing in lieu of pondering when to fish, regardless of the moon phase.

The reason I was on the water when working is took time off to fish around the 5 days of the full phase every year. 

Tom

I'll go along with that. When I was doing construction work (many, many years ago) my buddy and I would get up extra early and go fishing in the morning. We'd fish a couple of hours  before work and then again after work. Weekends as well. Now of course it wasn't every single day but it was most days. We did this for years. People would say to us when they would see photos of all the bass we caught, "How do you two catch so many bass?" Our answer was because "We fish a lot". Can't catch a bass if your line's not in the water. We always kept a couple of two piece spinning rods hanging in the gun-rack of the pick up truck back window. If we spotted a new pond or lake we would pull up to the owner's house and ask for permission to fish it. I remember one time the old lady that answered the door said, "Well, I don't know about fishing, I have cows down there. My buddy said, "Yes ma'am, we'll throw them back."

On 3/27/2021 at 9:43 PM, WRB said:

All 5 bass listed; 17.4, 17.4, 17.6, 18.6, 19.3 all caught during the 5 days of the full moon cycle. Weather played a roll as all 5 bass caught during light rain or heavy cloudy conditions.

Seasonal period played a major roll the 5 bass caught during pre spawn with water temps between 55 to 58 degrees.

None we’re using live bait, all were caught using hair jigs.

Caught about 50 LMB over 15 lbs. during 50 year period.

Tom

PS, my thoughts are published; see my Cosmic Clock and Bass Behavior, online.

 

 

Now that's some big bass in a short time!

[TcRoc]

Interesting read,but I’ll stick with any of the list of excuses I spurt off to the wife why I’m going fishing.

[Bubba 460]

14 minutes ago, TcRoc said:

Interesting read,but I’ll stick with any of the list of excuses I spurt off to the wife why I’m going fishing.

Shrewd

[the reel ess]

I don't plan my days around the solunar table. But I do look at it. Interestingly, I've caught some of my biggest bass during the full/no moon windows. But sometimes I only catch one big fish. IMO, weather can have as much or more to do with fish biting than the moon. But I think big fish and little-average fish are almost like different species in the ways they behave.

[Bubba 460]

1 hour ago, the reel ess said:

I don't plan my days around the solunar table. But I do look at it. Interestingly, I've caught some of my biggest bass during the full/no moon windows. But sometimes I only catch one big fish. IMO, weather can have as much or more to do with fish biting than the moon. But I think big fish and little-average fish are almost like different species in the ways they behave.

I concur

[river-rat]

18 hours ago, WRB said:

I can guarantee you will catch more bass when actually fishing in lieu of pondering when to fish, regardless of the moon phase.

The reason I was on the water when working is took time off to fish around the 5 days of the full phase every year. 

Tom

 

 

Please understand that I am not saying I only fish around the times of moon rise and moon set. A normal trip for me is daylight to dark or dusk to dawn.

 

I'm only pointing out that my records indicate the fish seem to be more active during the 2 hour period surrounding either moon rise or moon set.

 

 

[WRB]

W2I agree during  especially during spawn cycle” pre, bedding and post that in larger impoundments can spawn 2 months with a few cycles.

After the spawn cycle is over then night fishing becomes the primary driver for moon cycles and it’s a coin toss which phase is predominate. Clear water the 5 day full moon cycle, for me, has a better bite.

I wouldn’t stay home based on moon cycles but tend to be more focused at those time periods.

Sun rise and set  the bass for=me are more active along with mid day wind

Moon relative to the horizon being key hasn’t been a factor.

Tom

[MGF]

I only wish that I had enough fishing days that moon phase could even be a consideration. When a free (fishing) day comes and weather and water conditions are, otherwise, tolerable I fish.

[Biglittle8]

I just go fishing.... Whenever possible ??