moon bite

Are there any theories out there as to when or if the bite gets better when the moon comes up, or about how long at nite the bit generaly goes?. I’am talking about the period of three days before to three days after a full moon. Thanks

Man I definately see a difference in overall activity especially at night. Here’s the weird thing. The time of night that walleyes get active has varied considerably for me. The first full moon in September seemed to favor a later bite 10pm to 12 am and then again around 2am. During this current moon phase, its been a much earlier bite running from dusk to about 10pm. But these are just my observations where I fish and its surely a very complex thing. I just know this for sure when they are on get something in the water quick because when they are off, your waiting awhile. That’s the way its been for me at night. To illustrate this, I had no fish from 9 until two nice fish at 10pm on consecutive casts and then nothing for 3 hours. I fished the dark side of the first phase at night and got no fish. Lawrence Ecklor (Mountain Man) has a real interesting theory on the bite prior, during, and after the moon phases thats really interesting. Lawrence can you post that again?

Steve Hougom – FTR Webstaff

There’s an old wives tale, told to me by an old wife, that links fish, game, and people activity to the tides. I don’t know if there is any basis for it whatsoever, but it basically says that people and animals act crazy around a full or new moon because there is a subtle effect on their otherwise stable chemical makeup.

I had always just accepted it as fact, after observing people acting like complete idiots during a full moon. I figure that anytime I’m antsy, anxious, can’t sleep for no reason – the fish probably feel the same way. Anyone else ever heard this?

I have a cousin who use to answer the 911 calls and dispatch the appropriate department to the emergency. She claims that there was definitely more activity during full moons.

Which one? LOL I forget where it was first brought to my attention, I think it was either in one of Gary Roaches books or Mike Mc Clellands books that first mentioned what “seems’ to happen in and around the full moons, and to a lesser extent the new moons. I have had much better luck this last two new moons than I have on the full moons. Any way on full moon time-(3days before, full moon, 2-3 days after) if you have a clear night fishing is usually best at night and the daytime is horrible until about 12 hours after they fed at night, and then it seems like only a few scraglers. If you have clouds on a full moon period the daytime fishing is usually excellent with the nights about normal. The fish seem to be able to sense the full moon behind the clouds but the lack of light doesn’t seem to set them off till the sun comes up the next morning. If you live in the country like I do and have a chance to watch wild animals particularly deer you will see them exhibiting the very same feeding patterns, Brian and I on the way fishing in the spring and fall used to almost know what the bite was going to be like by watching what the whitetail were doing in the fields. My best day ever on “sheebas” was the day after a cloudy full moon five springs ago. I fished the night expecting great results, and fortunately stubbornly waited till daylight. From first glow till about 9 or 10 the smallest eye in the boat was 6 1/2 lbs and I averaged well over 71/2. We’re talking 14 fish here. I’ve never had a morning like it since. Several days latter in a tournament – nobody caught a keeper, including me, in that area. All other environmentals that I could think of were the same. Only difference was full moon behind the clouds and then no clouds at night. For six years I recorded this in my regular fishing journal and the theory(and it still is just a theory) seemed to hold true for almost every full moon period. The exceptions were the heart of summer when I basically didn’t catch much in either situation. If and when we ever find my journal, I will share more exact info. I have to say as a tourney fisherman for about the last three years I have avoided paying much attention to the moon, water flow, temperature, water clarity and the like so as not to get in a this is an impossible day mind set. Don’t misunderstand I take all of them into account I just don’t assume they always mean good or bad fishing. Those of you who keep journals,(I don’t anymore, I snap pictures instead), it would be neat if you would make note of the full moon and cloud or no clouds, to see if it still holds true. THERE IS NO QUESTION IN MY MIND THAT IF YOU FISH THE WHOLE FULL MOON PERIOD FOR A PERIOD OF A YEAR IT WILL ALWAYS BE THE BEST BITE YOU HAVE. Since I mentioned new moon- it seems that the new moon is great daytime fishing period, no matter what the night was like. go figure??? Lawrence