Slow catching the last few days....I think I have a theory..

Full moon. 5 star days...Lots of fishermen on the water. Not too many catching lots of fish. What's up?

I may be crazy...but...it seems to this old guy that full moon days often don't produce as well as we think they should.

I think...IMHO.....that the d@#$ fish stay up all night on a cloudless-sky-full-moon and EAT. Then, when we go trying to catch them during the daylight....they aren't hungry any more!

What do you think? regards, Rich

Very logical in my opinion. lol but at this point i'll agree with anything that makes me feel less of an idiot when it come's to not even getting a single bite the last 3 times out.

That's very similar to how deer behave. I'll buy it!

Although I'm in Arkansas and imwas fishin last night and while I only got two on the hook I had a dozen or so bites

i got skunked today,but i think it was the 40 degree water.

Yea, I don't think that the theory works if it is cloudy or the water where you fish is particularily stained. but, clear water...moon filled nights....I think that the theory does have some merit. anyhow, I got skunked the last time out also...in a spot that normally would have worked fine.

Now, the.... "new Moon" ...where the fish never see the moon at all ( two weeks hence) has always worked better for me. Rich

I assume, like deer, they feed longer and later therefore not as hungry during the day so theyre just lazy. That would make some since on your theory.

Hummm, I didn't get skunked Friday. Granted I only caught one keeper and about a dozen dinks. Slower than usual for me.

Might be some truth to the full moon, eating thing though.

I was contributing my slow day to the sudden drop in overnight temps to freezing. Typically drives them deep even though they are in a transition period. Seems they are still in a early spring period despite the mild winter, in the deep outside there pre-spawn haunches. I was marking fish in 12-17' of water in the deeper parts of the lake, not really holding to anything, seemed like they were just moving about to and fro. I need to set my boat up for trolling.

The ones I was catching were in 17' or water about 8-10' deep holding under a fallen tree. Tree was up on a hump. Surrounding water was about 25' deep.

I hit the water at 6am Friday. Got my best 2 bass of the day on my 1st and 3rd cast. After 9:30 we were fish less the rest of the day. Got off the lake at 4:30. We were saying the same thing. Night time full moon fishing is better than day time. Make sense since all our fish were around dawn.

I got the skunk today too. It seems that after the record breaking temperatures, this cool spell (back to normal) really affected the fish. At least here in the Midwest.

Full moon always means strange fishing - remember that bass are by nature nocturnal so their eyes see really really well in the dark


I fish a night - a lot and a full bright moon does not always mean the fish have the feed bag on. In fact, given that many predators are also nocturnal I think the bass eat less on full moon night just because they spend more time hiding.

I have had full moon fishing days that were awesome and some that are awful - I do find that if the moon and sun are out at the same time the fish will usually be far less aggressive.


Fish just before sunset until moon rise and that is usually a "prime time" Once the moon is out things almost always slow down for a while

When fishing here in Florida I have found that the Solunar plays a key role in catching fish. I pay close attention to the times of the solunar and believe it makes a huge difference on how and when the fish bite. Check this site out and log your fishing times, catches, and species. Then compare the times using this website and im sure you will see a direct correlation with the solunar. I have caught many pelagic species in the Gulf of Mexico, and almost all of the hot bites happen during the solunar.

https://www.tides4fishing.com/

P.S. The bottom species do feed heavily at night on a full moon.....ask anyone that fishes for snapper and most would agree that the full moon bite can be awesome.

I've been wearing them out. Maybe you're not holding your mouth right?

richg99 said:

Full moon. 5 star days...Lots of fishermen on the water. Not too many catching lots of fish. What's up?

I may be crazy...but...it seems to this old guy that full moon days often don't produce as well as we think they should.

I think...IMHO.....that the d@#$ fish stay up all night on a cloudless-sky-full-moon and EAT. Then, when we go trying to catch them during the daylight....they aren't hungry any more!

What do you think? regards, Rich

Click to expand...

....You are dead on Rich! The bite on West Galveston Bay and down at San Luis Pass has been this past week turning on at night and on the outgoing tide early in the morning. Some friends have been stabbing the heck out of some nice flounder at night as they have been stacked up as well.
I have been fishing topwaters at night and catching some nice trout in the shallows about an hour after the moon has been rising.