peytoncominsfishing Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 How do moon phases create scenarios in which trophy bass are more likely to feed and how much greater are your odds in catching one during a certain phase vs another? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azfisher Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 Here's a great book that will shed some light on your question and those to follow... https://lunkercity.com/products/in-pursuit-of-giant-bass peytoncominsfishing, obiwanton and Jon P 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwp Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 Honest opinion. Just go fishing. While there's a million things that may align to create a perfect situation that increases the chance of a monster bite by 3%, its still mostly luck. The only way to tip the odds in your favor is to get a line in the water as often as possible. If you are sitting at home waiting for the moon to be the correct color of cheese, you have a 0% chance of getting bit. bassbass, Jordan B, 168 Rookie and 10 others 12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanhick Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 My best fish this year came 3 days after the new or full moon. I have a solunar app on my phone and have had horrible days when it says excellent and stellar days when it says poor. peytoncominsfishing, Niki814, azsouth and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peytoncominsfishing Posted November 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 1 hour ago, rwp said: Honest opinion. Just go fishing. While there's a million things that may align to create a perfect situation that increases the chance of a monster bite by 3%, its still mostly luck. The only way to tip the odds in your favor is to get a line in the water as often as possible. If you are sitting at home waiting for the moon to be the correct color of cheese, you have a 0% chance of getting bit. I 100% agree. I’m out as much as I possibly can, but just wondering how moon phases affect your chances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbass Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 As above had said time on the water. In my opinion 3 days before and 3 days after a full or new moon. But do not over think things, many on here spend more time wondering what color bait, rod, handles, or is my rod to hard or to soft, or do you have the box the lure came in, or what color shirt will match my rod with the sparkerly handles.... Get out on the water and cast, worry about you and not the internet guy catching 2 pound fish with 40 million followers. Oh my PB was on the UFO count down gill Jzxmnky, El_Weruso, 96straight and 8 others 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon P Posted November 23, 2020 Report Share Posted November 23, 2020 Don't choose when you will or won't go fishing by the moon phase. there's no sense in only going fishing when the conditions are at their absolute best and sitting on your ass the rest of the month. I go fishing whenever an opportunity presents itself, but if there's a stormfront, new moon or full moon I'll take time off of work and sleep in my car at the spot to capitalize on prime-time as much as possible. A lot of folks dismiss moon phase as an astrology buff's crack-fueled conspiracy theory, but anyone who pays attention to the moon phase and the weather know that there is great value in observing it. BoatSquirrel, SWMoBassn, Wickedweld_Jesse_G and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon P Posted November 23, 2020 Report Share Posted November 23, 2020 As to "why" it works I have two ideas. The most likely being that all nocturnal animals need some measure of reflected light to be able to see. Night vision isn't seeing with an absolute absence of light, it's just seeing the frequencies of light that humans can't in better definition. There will be greater feeding activity at night during a full moon, and greater feeding activity in the day during a new moon when the nights are dark. Fish don't sleep, they feed 24/7 so the only effect nightfall has on them is a change in lighting, which will inarguably affect them one way or another. The other idea is that fish experience vestigial tidal behavior. shallow water fishes feed more during high tide, something which salt water anglers would agree on. Though whether or not bass would have those same behaviors millions of years after becoming a freshwater species is hard to prove. Though it would certainly explain why fish exhibit fluctuations in behavior during the daylight hours when the presence or abscence of moonlight wouldnt be there to influence them. Theres a couple of studies on whether or not moon phase affects fish behavior. one that was done exclusively on largemouth ("Effects of lunar cycles on the activity patterns and depth use of a temperate sport fish, the largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides") argues that there is no correlation between moonphase and fish activity. though what they consider "fish activity" is distance traveled. Which as anyone who knows anything about bass would realize, is completely irrelevant to how much a fish is feeding over a set period of time. If they could measure how many times a bass fed in that same study, that conclusion might hold some value. This sort of thing makes me want to major in fisheries ecology and do a proper study on the topic as a master's thesis, but at the same time the prospect of netting 50k a year at a trout hatchery for the rest of my life sounds dismal. Fallof74, yev14, Jzxmnky and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chazzy Posted November 23, 2020 Report Share Posted November 23, 2020 all i know: three days before the full moon, and three days after are some of the best times to fish. i rarely catch fish on the day of the full moon. also 3 days before and 3 days after the new moon are amazing. not the day of the new moon. I plan every single trip around the moon phase as i believe it is essential to fish feeding. also if you can get a magical day where moon phase and trout stock line up, you can stick hawgs. I do not like to fish unless i got the best chances, and we as swimbaiters need as much help as possible. NEbucketmouth19, peytoncominsfishing and Jon P 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humboldtpigdistroyer Posted November 24, 2020 Report Share Posted November 24, 2020 Time on the water. rwp and Jon P 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefchris Posted November 24, 2020 Report Share Posted November 24, 2020 Someone posted this last year. I forget who posted it and who was the original person that drew it. Please give credit if you guys know. Jon P, SoCalBassBum and Rld504 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londonmitch Posted November 24, 2020 Report Share Posted November 24, 2020 15 minutes ago, chefchris said: Someone posted this last year. I forget who posted it and who was the original person that drew it. Please give credit if you guys know. That diagram is from Bill Murphy's book In Pursuit of Giant Bass, here is a more clear image of it. It is a great read for anybody just getting into targeting big bass. Moon Phases play a big part in the times that I go fishing. My days/nights are limited so I like to go when the moon is best for my style fishing. Throughout the cycles I tend to do best when the moon is down while on the water so that is when I make more of an effort to go as often as possible. Harshwaters, Mkel83 and Jon P 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harshwaters Posted November 24, 2020 Report Share Posted November 24, 2020 On 11/22/2020 at 11:09 AM, rwp said: Honest opinion. Just go fishing. While there's a million things that may align to create a perfect situation that increases the chance of a monster bite by 3%, its still mostly luck. The only way to tip the odds in your favor is to get a line in the water as often as possible. If you are sitting at home waiting for the moon to be the correct color of cheese, you have a 0% chance of getting bit. "Still mostly luck..." I hardly think so. Mossypumpkin, japanesebassman, azfisher and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassoholic23 Posted November 24, 2020 Report Share Posted November 24, 2020 Not exactly moon phases but I believe Butch Brown has found that your chance of catching a double digit is very slim if he can see the moon in the sky while daytime fishing. peytoncominsfishing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
253caster Posted November 24, 2020 Report Share Posted November 24, 2020 I've noticed I tend to get more and better bites(day or night) when the moon is not visible to me, weather it be down or hidden by cloud cover. Personally, I've never had a good trip with a full moon visible. Harshwaters 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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