Moon Phases

[The Duke of Esox]

Ok so this is a serious question:  How do phases of the moon affect fish and the bite?  I've heard that the October full moon turns on the striper bite in salt water, but do moon phases affect freshwater fish too?  Like does the moon have anything to do with Lake Ontario salmon/steelhead runs, for example?  Or just generally, do fish feed any more or less at different points of the lunar cycle? 

Just wondering, seems like an interesting topic of discussion.  Tight lines, y'all!

[The Duke of Esox]

Just to pre-emt the comedians, I tend to hook lots of werewolves when the moon is full.   

[stripernut]

Lots of guys will say yes, but for years I was guiding every night, full or dark and on average I caught more fish the darker it was. In the case of striper fishing, I believe it had little to do with the moon, but more to do with the pressure on the water on the full moon nights... As to fresh water when the moon come up, most of the time my catch rate goes down. If I am fish bass with top water at night on the Quabbin and a full moon comes up, the bite will shut right off. If I don't quit for the night I can still do well if I fish in the shadow on a hill.
All that being said the most important thing is to get out on the water any time you can!

[fisher7450]

I found generally the same thing with walleyes the more moon the less I caught but if it was a full moon and it set say around 3am-4am  once it broke the horizon the fish bit better the when there was no moon at all. same with clouds if the moon disappeared behind a cloud the bite would pick up until it reapeared. So yeah best thing is to just fish all the time cause I'm sure some one has had the opposite experience

[MGK]

I've never been a fan of the full moon. I find the fish don't bite as well and the ones that do short strike a lot. The New Moon can be really good fishing.

[SKUNK-MASTER]

full moon phase will "pull" on the water and affect the fish, but the extra light seems to be a bad thing.    when the moon rises and sets sometimes can be the more important detail

[icin_eyes]

I have found fish to me more active midday during a full moon and the best bites to occur near the new moon.

[RIVERRAT2]

in my opinion, the moon phase's DO HAVE AFFECT on fish.
 
RAT

[Prchmike]

I agree with Icin eyes I have good luck during the day during the full moon period. I have also done well trolling for walleyes on cloudy nights with a full moon. I think the pressure changes have more to do with it than the moon phase.

[d4ng3r3ux]

http://www.sunrisesunset.com/predefined.asp

Build your own calender

moon rise / set
moon phases
and more

[RIVERRAT2]

http://www.sunrisesunset.com/predefined.asp

Build your own calender

moon rise / set
moon phases
and more

IN MY OPINION ,all info you can use to help you get fish must not be overlooked TRY IT ,it may or maynot work for you,
but you donot know unless you try,TRY IT,
 
RAT

[NBourque]

I used to fish alot at night for freshwater bass and I could tell you right now it would be absolutely dead when it was a full moon. The darker the better.

[RIVERRAT2]

IN MY OPINION,NEVER LET INFO GO ,all may help you,try it,several times before you put it aside.
everybody is different,what works for you may not work for someone else,TRY IT.
 
RAT