Moonphases -does it make a difference.

[darenw]

Does anyone on here have any pearls to pass on about the above. Its all the rage in the freshwater world to predict the most likely time for a "biggun" to be at its most vulnerable and some seem to predict that a particular moonphase boosts your chances. I simply cant get my head around it, is it just a "part"of having a good tide. Are the two linked? What do you think?Do you really care?

[darenw]

Hmmmmm So more than likely an instinctive need to feed or be more active at that point in their daily cycle then. What I mean is they switch on because of the moon and where it is in its own cycle. That makes it all instinct totally linked to the moon. Before I read the moonstrike site one more question. Does the sun have the same effect?

[slippery]

like my friend says everything apart from us is govened by the moon!in answer to the sun, dawn n dusk good bass times???!!!!!!!!!!!!

[reelbargains]

Yep, I'm whole heartedly in on this one too.

It's not just the freshwater lot that are hot for this - all over the rest of the world saltwater angers are dedicated to moon phases for their angling timing - especially specimen hunters.

Just as an interesting sideline - do any of you remember the strange calenders on the back of ABU Tight Lines catalogues that predicted hot fishing times in pretty colours? That was just moon phases.

It's been a while since I thought in depth about this subject as I actually bought a Casio watch that does the calculations and simplifies the whole thing for you, but basically its all to do with the gravitational pull of both the moon and the sun - the moon being the major force. Now quite correctly Daren links it to the tides, which us sea anglers are only too aware of - probably the reason the freshwater lot find it SO amazing as they dont follow the tides. Thing is though tides themselves are affected by other stuff (like the Isle of Wight in my neck of the woods) and also there is quite a lag in the tide after the moon moves past, 'sucking' the sea towards it - if you think about it thats a lot of water to move - its not instantaneous! So tides are definitely related but not accurate to the whole moon phase thing.
I personally think of the moon phases as the fish's (and animals) clock or watch. I'm simplifying a whole lot here but basically fish can feel when the moon passes the horizon (both ways). This is an imaginary horizon, not the one we can see, one that is at 90 degrees to the fish. Basically, in a fish's balanced world, bobbing around in the sea, it can feel when the positive pull of the moon (above the water) changes to a negative pull (below the fish) when the moon passes below the fish. This happens in reverse when the moon rises too. Now we can only speculate why this 'timing' affects fish but with a bit of work making notes of exception catches I have proved to myself that there's something in it. Whether this is because its just a point in time for animals - bit like hearing an inner dinner gong perhaps - or whether the force of the moon actually affects the pressure in the fishes stomach and can cause hunger no-one knows but as I say I think theres something in it - enough to not poo poo it anyway.
There's all sorts of interesting facts to back up the affects of lunar activity too. Never have a major operation near a full moon - your blood is actually thinner and you have a higher risk of bleeding to death should something go wrong.
Speak to a primary school teacher in the know and they will tell you that kids become their most uncontrollable around a full moon - they kind of go mad - and that is probably where some old wives tales come from. Also there is factual information that there are more road accidents around the same time - like an imposed lack of concentration on us all. I quite like these ones because I can relate it to catching specimen fish - a large specimen fish only gets to large proportions because it is slightly more savvy than other fish for what ever reason - we all know big fish are wiser, right? Now what if these wiser fish - the ones we all want to catch, suffered from the same loss of concentration that has been proven in our traffic stats and the like? Wouldn't that be the best time to target those trophy fish?
Just a thought, and I'm sure many of you will say its nonsense, but as I say I think there's something in it. I get the distinct feeling that this was something our ancestors used almost daily - especially those that lived and worked off the land.

[solehunter]

Nice posts guys, true to the word!
On another tangent, i have NEVER had one sole when the moon is out (full). But i have had them during a full moon but when the moon is `obscured by clouds`i have! (not the Floyd album), so i guess its not the moon its self but the shine from it!
I have picked up the small amount of plaice i have caught mostly during a full moon. they must use the shine to their advantage.
Normally caught during the day, i find it strange that i have only ever caught them at night.

[darenw]

This is getting interesting now. Solehunter on your own website (I think) the sole is described as having 2 noses and when disabled (the noses) in an experiment they had great difficulty feeding. Total scent feeders. The plaice is a sight feeder primarily, beads ,rauto spoons , rag and squid strip, broad daylight. Reelbargains , very interesting post. I read a book once(honest) called supersense and a chapter was on plankton and how the moon affects its behaviour ie rising from deep water to the surface. Plankton away from the sea in laboratatory conditions still migrated upwards in sync with plankton still in the sea. Perhaps all this "moonstrike" theory is plankton based, after all the food chain moves together. As for measuring tides ,they have a measuring device in the US that is so sensitive it can measure the tidal difference in height from one side of a cup of tea to the other.Every body of water on the planet must be affected by the moons pull.

[topbanana]

to much for me my head hurts im going to lock myself in the cupboard

[dean macey]

i fished last night and as soon as the moon came out i had nothing,awfull weather most of night then it cleared aboat 0000 then nothing happened.
i think its all rubbish myself how can a fish see through 30feet of english channel water after all.

[darenw]

Yeah Im getting a headache now myself.

[slippery]

deanm said:

i fished last night and as soon as the moon came out i had nothing,awfull weather most of night then it cleared aboat 0000 then nothing happened.
i think its all rubbish myself how can a fish see through 30feet of english channel water after all.

its not just the light its the gravitational pull of the thing that affects EVERYTHING living

[Pete B]

Yep, interesting post indeed!.
A few of us have kept hand written log of reports good or bad & catch times tie in with Moon-a-clock un-cannily.
I cant see how this theory cannot be accepted by some when moon times have such a bearing on all of nature in such a massive way - Its a definete in my mind!
I suppose that theres an argument that if we're looking this deep into our fishing it takes a certain something away from it but the more elements we can put to our favour the better I think!
Pete

[stevieboy]

It's a good question. I'm more inclined to think the effect of the moons' on gravity is more likely to be the primary factor, as this directly affects the tide.

Mind you, all of this has a very small effect on determining whether I go fishing or not. Can you imagine if we all waited for the perfect tide, perfect wind, perfect moon phase, perfect time since the last onshore blow and then factor in family responsibilities... we'd never get out!

[reelbargains]

Definitely, definitely, definitely the light from the moon is important to us anglers as it affects fish behaviour. But, it's unrelated to the affects of the moon's gravitational pull (well, kind of related, but the point still stands). Two separate issues. I won't get started on light for fear of my (small and over worked) brain exploding!

Daren - great bit of info about the plankton, I can see a lot of scope in that and hope to find more info on it - thanks

I just had another example of the whole moon time in nature come into my head... We've all most probably seen the whole 'on mass turtle egg laying thing' on various animal programmes on the tele. Well some of that is due to light for sure - they time it so that when their sprogs hatch they have a better chance of avoiding predators when its dark (I think I've got that right) but they do 'time' it. Precisely too. Too precisely for it to be timed on light levels. I mean, it could be really cloudy a week earlier when the moon is actually 'out' and all the turtles would get confused and lay their eggs at the wrong time - that just doesn't happen. All the turtles time it to perfection, and unless some ingenious little turtle out there has developed the fin watch (fiendish these chinese), then it has to be down to moon time (that they feel).

I should comment that light is very important at dawn and dusk - we all take that for granted - that is another fish-o-clock. I think the reason for the difference in importance is that dawn and dusk is related to the sun, which is a hell of a better light source. i.e if its cloudy it still gets light in the morning. At night clouds can affect the moons puny light source massively (as solehunter pointed out in his previous post)

If you find this whole new world interesting and would like to play about with it then I recommend starting to take note of your best catches (I think specimens is more relevant than numbers of fish but who knows) in relation to 4 main points in the day/night. Dawn, dusk, moonrise & moonset. I'll try and find the web address of the tool you need to work out the last 2 for your location (its location specific by the way). That would be a good start. Then when you've got hold of that you can add in 2 further times (fish-o-clocks!), when the moon is at its highest point and when its at its lowest point (on the other side of the world). And then, if you feel really brave you can add in the state of the moon (i.e full, new, gaining or losing - think they're on this site somewhere!) You can see why I bought the watch now can't you!!!

[reelbargains]

stevieboy said:

Mind you, all of this has a very small effect on determining whether I go fishing or not. Can you imagine if we all waited for the perfect tide, perfect wind, perfect moon phase, perfect time since the last onshore blow and then factor in family responsibilities... we'd never get out!

This makes far more sense than my complex rant. As much as I find it all interesting I still only get to go fishing when when the missus says I can !!!!

If you're only just starting out with fishing and this all sounds a bit too much hard work, then forget it all.... NOW ... before it puts you off. Just get out there and fish.

[slippery]

spot on, keep records and you will all become moon worshipers!!
you still need to get destination, bait choice and a bit of luck or all this moon stuff is pointless