moon phase and night fishing

[beenfishin?]

Has anyone kept up with how the moon phases affect night fishin?? I think it has an impact during the day but do not night fish and am thinking about trying. Just wanted to see what you had to say.

[Jason280]

I do a lot of crappie fishing at night, especially during the summer months, and used to believe that full moons would affect feeding patterns at night. However, in my experience, it hasn't had much of an effect. I've had just as much success on moonless nights as I have on full moons. In fact, I don't even consider the moon when preparing a night trip.

What I have seen that affects feeding more at night is water movement. I consistently catch more fish when the dam is generating power (moving a lot of water). When the water is basically pooling and not moving much, biting almost completely halts. Of course, I am anchored in a particular place with lights, and I do not know how it affects guys hitting docks. I think water movement and location relative to structure is more important when fishing at night than lunar phases.

[joejv4]

The "solunar" stuff I've read over the years says moon rise and moon set are more important than phase, but that best phases are full moon and new moon.

Not sure how much truth there is to it, but that's what how they predict activity using the moon.

[John Brower]

i'VE KEPT A JOURNAL FOR THE LAST TWENTY YEARS,
AND DO MOST OF MY NIGHTSTALKING WITH A SUBMERGED LIGHT, WHEN THE MOON IS FULL I DONT DO
AS WELL.I CAN STILL CATCH FISH, BUT NOT AS MANY.
PEOPLE FISHING OTHER WAYS BESIDE SUBMERGABLE
LIGHTS MAY DO BETTER, BUT I DON'T.

JOHN B.

[GRIZZ]

I do a lot of crappie fishing at night, especially during the summer months, and used to believe that full moons would affect feeding patterns at night. However, in my experience, it hasn't had much of an effect. I've had just as much success on moonless nights as I have on full moons. In fact, I don't even consider the moon when preparing a night trip.

What I have seen that affects feeding more at night is water movement. I consistently catch more fish when the dam is generating power (moving a lot of water). When the water is basically pooling and not moving much, biting almost completely halts. Of course, I am anchored in a particular place with lights, and I do not know how it affects guys hitting docks. I think water movement and location relative to structure is more important when fishing at night than lunar phases.

My understanding is that moonless nights are one of the best times along with full moon. I used to be one of the people who thought all this moon phase stuff was bunk, but my experience with both deer and walleye in the last 5 yrs has made me a believer. I consistently catch more walleye in the fall during new and full moon phases, and I have studied "ASSESSING THE MOON'S IMPACT ON THE WHITETAIL RUT" by Charlie Alsheimer, and there is no question that the moon plays a dominant role in when the rut will happen. He can accuratly predict when the rut will happen 20 yrs from now and can show when it was 20 yrs ago by just studying the moon phases. Its really fascinating. Crappie fishing has been so bad at Chautauqua generally that its hard to pick out better times according to moon phases. Even when the weather is awful in the fall I don't miss full moon or new moon night walleye fishing. I'm not a big deer hunter, but it has always interested me, and I do it occasionally, and in the future I will time my hunting days with Charlie's predictions of the rut.

[gabowman]

I've also kept logs for the past two years and have fish 3/4 of the full moon weekends. Now I give those weekends to the wife and family since I know I cant catch many fish on those nights. I have caught alot of fish on full moon nights when the moon is extremely late rising though.But the fish seem to shut off when the moon gets high.

[gabowman]

Has anyone kept up with how the moon phases affect night fishin?? I think it has an impact during the day but do not night fish and am thinking about trying. Just wanted to see what you had to say.

Shoulda re-read your post before posting. There's absolutely nothing wrong with going on a night stalk even during a full moon. You can still load a cooler, invite a friend, and have a great time and good fellowship even if the fish tend to shut off during the full moon. The beauty of nightstalking is the peace and quite, and pure enjoyment of just taking it all in without the hassle of constant winds, boat waves, jet skis, and rude boaters. Now, if it's just about the fish.....wait for a dark night or you might be disappointed...or not! :D

[papasage]

my experince is when the moon shines on the water they quit bitting . maby back under the docks where the moon can`t efect the water they might bite .

[Jason280]

Now deer hunting is a completely different story. I always have less luck during the day on nights with a full moon, almost to the point I want to sleep in on those days. Rabbit hunting is the same, which we do at night with handheld lights. You simply don't see as many on full moons, and the best time is when its a dark night with a little fog. A little mist doesn't hurt, either!

I keep a log of all my fishing, but I don't write down the status of the moon. I need to go back and actually check, as it should be fairly easy to find out what the moon was doing on a particular day.

[John Brower]

I didn't mention mention the late moon rising, but I
totally agree. I've also noticed on cloudy nights
the full moon doesn't affect the fishing as much.

John B.