scott craven
Well-Known Member
Anybody really know how a full moon impacts fishing
aside from bigger tides ?
aside from bigger tides ?
full moon/fishing
- Thread starter scott craven
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T
tortuga
Guest
Fishing usually sucks the a.m. after a full moon. One theory is that they can feed all night especially if it is a clear sky. I've wasted many a morning testing it out.
Huge tides don't usually help either.
New moon on the other hand is what you should concentrate on.
Huge tides don't usually help either.
New moon on the other hand is what you should concentrate on.
O
opp-i-ottan
Guest
In my experience - half moon is best! I think it's all tide related! When there's tidal current in the water, the salmon stops feeding simply because it demands greater EFFORT! They "know" from experience that the current will eventually slow or stop, so why not wait and go "hunting" when it's easier!? Hence, the smaller tidal exchanges the better... and you get the least difference between low and high tide during a half moon!
Oppi
Oppi
M
Mr. Dean
Guest
I pretty much follow the phase as opp-i-ottan does. Can't say as I agree or not with his theory... but it produces the best results for us.
O
opp-i-ottan
Guest
Half Moon is on August 20th! [
] So sharpen your hooks! Oh... maybe put rain gear on too!
] So sharpen your hooks! Oh... maybe put rain gear on too! 
O
opp-i-ottan
Guest
I guess it depends on what you believe. Is fishing bad during a Full Moon because the salmon is “full” from feeding at night – i.e. feeding during the pale light of the moon? Well, I don’t doubt that salmon may feed during the night (commercial line-trawlers sometimes fish at night) but I do doubt that full moon nights are prime feeding times for salmon! If the pale light of the full moon provide enough light for salmon to feed, would not the blazing sun do it even better? Also, is fishing only bad after a CLEAR full moon nights? Or is it perhaps bad even after cloudy ones? I think it’s bad during full moons – clear or cloudy!
My guess is that fishing for salmon is bad during the Full Moons mainly because of tidal currents. Tidal currents are the worst during a full moon because both the Sun and the Moon line up… the Sun in one direction and the Moon in the other. They exert a TWO-WAY gravitational pull on the Earth’s oceans! This produces so called “Spring Tides” at opposite ends of the Earth at the same time! Although full moons do not produce the strongest currents, they are the worst for fishing because they NEVER LET UP – there is no time during the 24h day when it gets quiet. There is almost no difference between HIGH/HIGH and LOW/HIGH , and the period of high and low slacks are very short!
The next worst is the New Moon! This is because during this phase, the Sun and the Moon line up … both of them in the SAME direction. They exert a ONE-WAY gravitational pull on the Earth’s oceans. The combined effect of both Sun and Moon tugging together produces the largest Spring Tides of the entire cycle and hence the strongest currents! However, the saving grace of the New Moon is that there are LONG QUIET TIMES… the so called “Neap Tides”… in between the HIGH/HIGH and the LOW/LOW. Fishing is usually pretty good during Neap Tides … at least compared with Spring Tides.
If this is correct, then the best fishing time is during a Half Moon! In this lunar phase, the Sun and the Moon are separated by 90° when viewed from the earth. The gravitational pull of the Sun partially cancel those of the Moon, thus producing minimal tidal exchange… i.e. Neap tides throughout the day and less currents than during any other time!
The lunar cycle is no doubt related to the tides in the ocean and thus to the currents. But these currents vary, not only because of the Sun and the Moon, but also because of GEOGRAPHY! For example: Flooding and ebbing currents in Johnstone Strait are affected by the Moon and Sun but follow a cycle that have a LONGER FREQUENCY than the rising and falling tides. Another example is the currents under the Lion’s Gate Bridge in Vancouver (the mouth of the Capilano River). They do not follow the high and low tides exactly – sometimes they could be separated by hours! This is because of the geography of these areas and they are not the only ones in BC! When I fish in the mouth of the Cap, I am much more concerned about being there when there is no current, than I am about being there during high water or low water!
Therefore, when trying to figure out the best fishing times, I think we would be better off by concentrating more on what the tides and the geography might be doing to the currents, and less on what the moon and sun might be doing to the tides!
My guess is that fishing for salmon is bad during the Full Moons mainly because of tidal currents. Tidal currents are the worst during a full moon because both the Sun and the Moon line up… the Sun in one direction and the Moon in the other. They exert a TWO-WAY gravitational pull on the Earth’s oceans! This produces so called “Spring Tides” at opposite ends of the Earth at the same time! Although full moons do not produce the strongest currents, they are the worst for fishing because they NEVER LET UP – there is no time during the 24h day when it gets quiet. There is almost no difference between HIGH/HIGH and LOW/HIGH , and the period of high and low slacks are very short!
The next worst is the New Moon! This is because during this phase, the Sun and the Moon line up … both of them in the SAME direction. They exert a ONE-WAY gravitational pull on the Earth’s oceans. The combined effect of both Sun and Moon tugging together produces the largest Spring Tides of the entire cycle and hence the strongest currents! However, the saving grace of the New Moon is that there are LONG QUIET TIMES… the so called “Neap Tides”… in between the HIGH/HIGH and the LOW/LOW. Fishing is usually pretty good during Neap Tides … at least compared with Spring Tides.
If this is correct, then the best fishing time is during a Half Moon! In this lunar phase, the Sun and the Moon are separated by 90° when viewed from the earth. The gravitational pull of the Sun partially cancel those of the Moon, thus producing minimal tidal exchange… i.e. Neap tides throughout the day and less currents than during any other time!
The lunar cycle is no doubt related to the tides in the ocean and thus to the currents. But these currents vary, not only because of the Sun and the Moon, but also because of GEOGRAPHY! For example: Flooding and ebbing currents in Johnstone Strait are affected by the Moon and Sun but follow a cycle that have a LONGER FREQUENCY than the rising and falling tides. Another example is the currents under the Lion’s Gate Bridge in Vancouver (the mouth of the Capilano River). They do not follow the high and low tides exactly – sometimes they could be separated by hours! This is because of the geography of these areas and they are not the only ones in BC! When I fish in the mouth of the Cap, I am much more concerned about being there when there is no current, than I am about being there during high water or low water!
Therefore, when trying to figure out the best fishing times, I think we would be better off by concentrating more on what the tides and the geography might be doing to the currents, and less on what the moon and sun might be doing to the tides!
wolf
Well-Known Member
Well OPP I fi I followed what you said I would be limited to only a few days a month to fish LOL seriously now Aug 12th was the new moon right??????and using what you said I shouldnt get fish right????well the day on "Sooke reports" aug 10th and 11 the pics are on there 3 tyee in 2 days and then the 12th we got this
then on the 13th got these
and then the last 2 days aug 14th and 15th got 11 springs in sooke so????
What I have found over the many years of fishing for springs you have to go when its the best posable times and the best times I have found is incoming floods and high tides be it knight inlet or sooke yes you will get fish on an ebb tide and low slack but for productivity the other is better. For the last 15 years I have written reports on what I do each day out there. I made up a spreadsheet of the times I get fish to the weather,wind,cloudy ,calm what I got the fish on (color)how deep etc,etc,etc about 40 different thing that I write down after a while you see a DEFINATE pattern.
Hope that helps you out damn just gave away another trade secret LOL LOL
Good luck Wolf
then on the 13th got these
and then the last 2 days aug 14th and 15th got 11 springs in sooke so????
What I have found over the many years of fishing for springs you have to go when its the best posable times and the best times I have found is incoming floods and high tides be it knight inlet or sooke yes you will get fish on an ebb tide and low slack but for productivity the other is better. For the last 15 years I have written reports on what I do each day out there. I made up a spreadsheet of the times I get fish to the weather,wind,cloudy ,calm what I got the fish on (color)how deep etc,etc,etc about 40 different thing that I write down after a while you see a DEFINATE pattern.
Hope that helps you out damn just gave away another trade secret LOL LOL
Good luck Wolf
R
reel easy
Guest
Oppi, good analysis, of course with fishing nothing is written in stone. Wolf, you are my hero.
scott craven
Well-Known Member
Doubt it's a slag Wolf, the proof is right there...
I will be fishing end of the month at Sooke, staying at
Sunny shores and i'll look you up for a cold one and
hopefully a few fishing tales !
I will be fishing end of the month at Sooke, staying at
Sunny shores and i'll look you up for a cold one and
hopefully a few fishing tales !
O
opp-i-ottan
Guest
Hey Wolf,
If we used YOUR statistics to talk about average fishing results we would all be humbled and confused. [:I] It's not that I think that that day was the exception that proved the rule... I think YOU are the exception that proves the rule... again!
Having said that... let me try to stick out my neck and use my way of analysing tides and currents to guess when you caught those fish:
I think really early morning would NOT have been good because there was a whooping ebb (typical of a New Moon) coming from almost 10 feet and going down to about 1 foot. But was it perhaps decent between 8:00AM and 10:00AM during low slack?
As far as the tides are concerned it looked pretty QUIET after 3:30PM until 2:00 AM the following morning (also typical of a New Moon). So perhaps twilight hours produced well?
.. now go ahead and slash my neck 'cause I'm probably all wrong!
Cheers ma man...
Oppi
If we used YOUR statistics to talk about average fishing results we would all be humbled and confused. [:I] It's not that I think that that day was the exception that proved the rule... I think YOU are the exception that proves the rule... again!
Having said that... let me try to stick out my neck and use my way of analysing tides and currents to guess when you caught those fish:
I think really early morning would NOT have been good because there was a whooping ebb (typical of a New Moon) coming from almost 10 feet and going down to about 1 foot. But was it perhaps decent between 8:00AM and 10:00AM during low slack?
As far as the tides are concerned it looked pretty QUIET after 3:30PM until 2:00 AM the following morning (also typical of a New Moon). So perhaps twilight hours produced well?
.. now go ahead and slash my neck 'cause I'm probably all wrong!
Cheers ma man...
Oppi
wolf
Well-Known Member
Those days I was out from 7 to 3 on all of them and got some right away and then later on one here and one there it all comes down to jut plain old POUNDING an area sometimes, thats all and I wouldnt say your sticking your neck out LOL I like a good debate now and then
Good luck Wolf
Good luck Wolf
