Last Night’s Bite vs. Game and Fish Forecast

Well, here’s a debate. I know that the moon can and will affect fishing as well as hunting, especially when the full moonn arrives.

The bite last night was, well, pretty pathetic. Sure we got hits and numerous ‘lite’ bites that just wouldn’t stick. We only landed three last night, but had around 16 hits. Tried it all that would work in the past, different colors, 4″ moxies, 3.25 pulsars, and all our ‘go-to’ spots and colors, etc…It just seemed they were picking at it, but then there were just a few that would strike fairly aggressive.

It was worth it, we quit fishing all the dams that everybody hits and always receives pressure and tried brand new spots and non-wingdam areas….these areas were the only spots that produced fish and produced most of the hits.

On the way down, I stopped at Joe’s for some supplies…there is a game and fish calendar on the wall by the line winding station…it shows that this week has ‘poor’ fishing with the chart pretty much flat-lining in the afternoon throughout the evening. The Star & Tribune Game and Fish Forecast ( Game and Fish Forecast ) shows it being good to nearly excellent fishing in the evening.

Who makes this stuff up? Does somebody pull out a Ouija Board, light a candle and talk to King Neptune? I really don’t put any faith into these charts…anybody else?

Hopefully the bite is better tonight..but got a feeling it wont improve much until later in the week.

Link to Moon Connection<

One of many authors of Fishing/Moon phases.

I’m still relying on the Golden Fishing Rule of..”The best time to go fishing is when you can”.

Steve and I did fairly well last night. Steve pulled out the elusive ringworm and it was on.

Its the river, theres always a bite happening!

My own personal fishing forecast is that fishing will be poor but will show much improvement if you go fishing.

I heard a couple of slow reports from last night to. One thing to keep in mind is those fish dont get that fat by not eating.

Nice fish guys.

I KNOW that spot!!

Quote:

---

I KNOW that spot!!

---

Pink eyes! Go Figure

I noticed the same thing about some lite bites about week ago. I had only hooked up on 2 of about 7 bites. After I started waiting a count or two after feeling the bite, I started to hook up pretty consistently. It was hard to get use to waiting a count or two as I normally try to hammer them immediately. But that night a lot of the bites were not the typical crack that really jerks the rod tip down but more of a pick-up type of bite.

Nice fish. The biggest we got last night was a 24″. Funny though, the smallest fish I ever caught on the Miss was caught last night…a 15″ walleye, and it hit the hardest of all…maybe he(or she) is trying to get caught up to the big ones and making up for lost time…sure hit hard!

I hear ya on the usual ‘wham” and its on-like-Donkey Kong-kinda-hits. I think i am going to try slowing down the reaction and see if I cannot hook up more. Lost way too many fish last night.

My daughter had pink eye like that last week..had to stay home fishing, I mean work.

I have been fishing the river 12 of the last 14 nights. Initially I thought I had some things figured out on when the fish would bite. It seemed like clouds with light wind and low pressure was the best. A few nights later there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, zero wind, very cold, and I caught them like I’d never caught them before, and big ones too. The one thing I am sure of now is that the fishing is good when the fishing is good, and you just have to go and keep your fingers crossed and fish hard.

In response to CrawDaddy: I completely agree. There have been nights when it’s snowing or raining and it’s lights out. Then there have been nights when the wind turns them on, or nights when it’s dead flat calm and you can watch your line jump before you feel it. bottom line for me, I never know until I’m out there and I’ll never know if I’m not out there. Had two trips this year where we smacked em and 2 where we caught 1-3 fish all night.
Last night for us was really slow.

That’s it, I am pulling out my Ouija board before I head out…

I have always done better with clouds and wind as well…that’s a common denominator more common than not. Oh wait….its gonna be clear and calm again tonight. Dang. K…gonna fish hard!

I’m a firm believer in both Solunar tables and weather patterns.

The thing about Solunar tables is this: Substantial weather patterns, (cold fronts, major systems & so on) will always over ride a good or bad solunar phase.

It can & will go two ways:
A big weather system can totally kill a good bite at the wrong time of the year or it can totally enhance a good bite if you hit it right. Clearly there’s a lot more to it than just that but without writing a book, that right there is the jist of it.

Steady weather usually means the solunar tables will be much more accurate than when we have constant weather pattern interruptions.

Spring weather vs Fall weather – they work just the opposite of each other.

In the spring, water temps warming slowly but steadily is exactly what I like to see. Get a big cold front that drops water temps 5 degrees, don’t be surprised if the bite dies with the dropping water temps.

In the Fall, slowly cooling water temps is exactly what I want to see. Indian summer weather has killed many, many good fall solunar periods for me. Steadily, cooling water temps in the fall give fish the urgency to feed & feed heavily before ice forms and winter sets in. Warming water temps in the fall tend to make walleyes & saugers lose that urgency to feed and makes them lethargic. Kind of like you and me after thanksgiving dinner.

This is not gospel, just what I’ve noticed over many, many years of fishing.

JKOB–Great pics. even with steve in them. ..rrr

Nice fish Steve hope to be down soon fishing Sat. Turkey combo for sure

Bring your fishing license! Sounded better than “Bring your wallet!!”

Quote from a popular TV Fishing Personality~

Quote:

---

I do follow the barometer. A little. To be honest I’ve always had the mind set that I need to find a way to catch fish regardless of the conditions so I don’t plan my trips around changes in the barometer. And I’ve never seen any “hard and fast” rules to live by regarding changes in the barometer. It would be incredibly useful if the fish bit like mad every time the barometer was falling or if an angler knew the fish didn’t bite at all so we might as well stay home when the barometer was high. But it just doesn’t work like that. I’ve had fantastic trips when the barometer was off the charts high and I’ve also had horrible luck when the barometer was falling right before a storm rolled through.

Generally speaking I favor a falling barometer. The fish tend to be more active and aggressive and I can fish faster and use more active presentations. When the barometer is high, again, generally speaking, the fish will be less aggressive, I’ll need to fish slower and use less active presentations.

Either way I’m going fishing and I’m not going to use the barometer as an excuse for why the fish aren’t biting. The fish are ALWAYS biting somewhere. Somebody will always figure out a way to catch fish even under the toughest conditions. And I’d just as soon have that guy be me!

---