Moon cycles.

[Sinker]

Ladies, Gents and others,

Does anyone here fish differently according to the moon cycle?

I know the moon affects the tides and makes the night brighter to see by but does it affect the fish? Do you believe it makes any difference during the daylight, prefered baits etc?

Or it it superstitious hocus pocus best left to witches and herb growers?


DOC.

[tunaticer]

I tend to fish the clearer water areas more towards a new moon and murkier haunts on the full moons. Some species coincide thier migrations and or spawns at specific moon cycles each year that gives rise to seeing big schools on the new or full moons sometimes. Overall i prefer surf fishing and river fishing on a full moon period. Squid are best targetted on a new moon as they are attracted to lights anf the full moon disperses them, dark moons they will hang around any light sorce from a ramp light to a jetty light or nav light.

[wayno60]

the ol man always recond that the the lead up to the full moon was the go,,,and i tend to agree any time ive been fishing at that time and ive always got a feed.

[Spencer]

I saw a calendar the other day that had 9 days of good fishing with the full moon being the 5th day

[after7]

any more opinions on this would be welcomed

[yellowbeard]

Best ever is first full moon after the annual suicide of the lemmings...Arrrr!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsdxY-a_K00

[yellowbeard]

My observations only:
Although the moon controls the tides it does not control the local weather or the swell, which can come from thousands of miles away, and both local weather and swell greatly affects fishing conditions. So given this fact the moon would be a poor guide to fishing conditions. Added to this are the theories that the brightness of the full moon either adds to or detracts from good fishing: Some say that bream are spooked by light -- some say that the brightness increases feeding activity, but in either case if its overcast on a full moon then there is none or little light, so the moon again becomes an unreliable gauge of fishing conditions.
There's also a theory down on the beach that the early bird catches the errr...fish. So last Sunday morning we saw the most beautiful conditions on the beach this year (well here anyway). There was just myself and another guy who had walked several metres to pick a very nice bank. So, "smart guy" I thought.
But as there were no fish about he left about an hour before the high tide, and just befor the turn I caught two prize bream. Maybe he had to go to church, but I'm betting he was from the early-bird school and didn't pay much attention to tides.
If there was ideal weather, a nice swell and a light nor easter or south easter and say a nice high tide and the ocean was brimming with fish, I personally wouldn't stay home because I didn't like that particular phase of the moon.

[rusco]

Some reckon mackrel go off the bight 2 days before and 2 days after the full moon
Any thoughts?

Rusco

[Scott nthQld]

To me moons dictate 2 things with the fishing I do. 1st is the tide, around the full and new moons we have our bigger tides, which generally brings the fish on the bite, during our neap tides the fish just don't bite as well.

the 2nd thing is what bait i will be using, moreso when I am targetting fingermark at night. A new moon, and the bait of choice is live squid, a ful moon baits on mullet, yakkas and herring are used, becasue the squid are dispersed, chasing the moon it makes them harder to get for me, and harder to ball up for a feed for the fingermark.

And yes Rusco, the mackeral do tend to bite better a couple of days either side of the full moon for some reason, they still bite during the new moon, but I have also found they ar far more aggresive during the full moon period. That's not to say they aren't biting during other moon phases, it just thats when I've found them to be their most prolific.