Moon Time!

[Lonnie84]

Yep it's that time again, how many of you take into consideration the Moon phase when planning your fishing trip? If your like me you go fishing when ever the opportunity allows regardless of the Moon phase or anything else for that matter. But on those times when your have been fishing during the full Moon cycle have you experienced better catches or worse? Here are some thoughts that may shed a little "Moonlight" on the subject.

The phases of the moon can have a large effect on the feeding habits of fish because of the ability of fish to feed throughout the night. Moon phases have an effect on the behavior of all animals; the behavior of fish which is often hard to predict can also in some ways, coincide with the different phases of the Moon.

In general, the movement of both the Sun and Moon have an effect, but the effect of the Moon is easier to spot because it is closer to the Earth than the Sun. As the Moon passes around the Earth the pull of gravity between the two causes the cyclical movement of tides in the oceans, lakes and rivers of the Earth. Although most bodies of water such as lakes and rivers are too small to visually see the effect; surface movement including rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, and human-made "flood" control areas which all have surface water are trying to reach sea level due to gravity. People who fish often know the best time in each month to fish based on the four phases of the Moon, which are full Moon, last quarter, new Moon and first quarter.

Best and worst times for fishing? Some people claim fish can be caught with greater ease when fishing the four days either side of the New Moon. Because fish are more active during these times, it is also thought that during periods of a full Moon fish are active during night times because of the greater amount of light making feed in the water more visible for fish. Some fishermen also believe fishing during the day four days around the full Moon is a bad idea as fish are less likely to bite at bait because they have been feeding throughout the night.

Moonrise and Moonset which are often unnoticed when combined with the Moon's phase will normally trigger heavy feeding. Fish are most active during the 90-minutes surrounding a Moonrise or a Moonset; 45 minutes before and after. Fishing during these times when Moonrise and Moonset coincide with a new or full Moon phases, should help you to load the boat!


Lonnie84

[Tony the Tiger]

A significant part of the first half of my life was on the water commercial shrimping and fishing. During this time I always searched for a pattern or a way to predict fish activity during different moon phases. Full moon was always bad for shrimping because there was so many soft shell (molted) shrimp. It was always the best time for us to wade the shallows at night and pick up soft shell crabs. As far as finding fish at night our methods changed with the moon phases. I have always liked to deer hunt the middle of the day on new and full moons. As far as recreational fishing I believe there is some influence but I also believe local weather and water conditions are the biggest influence. I think the best way to bee successful is to go every chance you get.

[CrimzonRider]

Totally agree...with a slow cool-ish front coming mid-late tomorrow also
charging yak batteries now for a hopefully a good evening & night trip
Good luck to you too.

cr

[lol11]

Moon phase is somewhat important to me when crappie fishing. If I am fishing by myself, I go when I can. If I am taking a newbie, I pay close attention to the moon phase because I want the newbie to catch a mess of crappies. I am a simple guy and like to keep things simple so here is my theory: during the transition of the new moon, as ya know, it's total darkness at night. Crappies find it hard to feed in total darkness so they starve and try to chase shad/minnows during morning if they are even successful. I'd say 8/10, I limit fishing during the day paying attention to the moon phase considering good weather. Night fishing during the phase is even better! Crappies have no choice but to feed under my green crappie light.

[Hanr3]

I prefer many things on moon lite nights. I know for a fact that animals are more active during full moons. Things you learn when you live outside for months on end as an infantry machine gunner.