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I've seen fish go on a bite during a solunar period too many times to discount the influence. (I've noticed the influence on the activity of all wildlife since I began to pay attention.)
But as I think on it, it seems to me the effect is more pronounced on suspended crappie or crappie laying on the bottom than it is on crappie that are posted up on structure like stumps or pilings, or guarding spawning areas.
Anyone else see this pattern? Or am I reading too much into my experiences?
Just read an article a few weeks ago put out by QDMA from a five year study. There is no proof where the lunar phase has any effect on deer. IMO wildlife is wildlife, so I don't see where fish would be any different.
I have followed solunar tables for fishing and I call BS. I have gotten skunked on 100% days during the peak listed times and have filled a boat on days where the percentage was around 20% during all hours of the day. I also have noticed that different fishing forecasts based off of solunar tables don't match up. One will say it is a great day to fish while the other says to stay home and the third just says average. If it is all based on solunar activity, there should be no differences in the tables.Quote:
Originally Posted by brush pile
I have decided to just go fishing when I want to go fishing. I don't get as frustrated by not landing a boatload on a day that some scientist said the fish will bite. It is more relaxing when I don't feel so pressured by statistics.
Guys I don't question your experiences. I've caught plenty of fish during off-peak solunar influence. The influence is just that, an influence. If the conditions are otherwise bad, it doesn't mean there will be a bite. If conditions are good, fish won't be waiting for the next peak period. But I think the influence is clearly observable when the conditions are marginal.
I was made a believer one spring when I was fishing a good spot with some other pretty good fisherman. It was cold and the ice out bite was over. We knew there were crappie suspending there but we couldn't get them to bite. We caught a few here and there as the sun would pop out from behind the clouds or duck back behind them, but only sporadically. Late in the morning the fish went on a bite and we all began catching crappie and wipers. Fishing was really good for almost two hours, and then they shut down, back to a bite here and a bite there. I fished all day that day. I realized the two hour period coincided with the duration of peak solunar periods, so when I got home I checked. The bite was right on the major period, and it was a strong influence day. Since then I've been fishing on more than a few marginal days when there was a clearly defined bite and slim pickings the rest of the day, and that bite came during a major solunar influence period.
I hunt deer too and I think they are far less obviously influenced by the solunar effects. But I do notice the birds at my feeder and the squirrels in my yard are often more active during the peak periods, and I've noticed the same in the woods. Also, there are only a handful of peak influence days each month. During the rest of the month, the influence is much weaker and often provides no observable effects.
Fish whenever you can, but pay attention to the solunar influence. I think over time you'll see a pattern. It's just another tool in the toolbox.
Can't tell if you agree with me or notQuote:
Originally Posted by MyGirlfriendBeatsMe
I don't go by the tables. I go by barometric pressure changes. Pretty consistent once you learn what the changes do to fish. READ about it.
I also have had better luck with barometric pressure vs. moon phases. In my humble opinion a weather system will be more directly affecting the area your fishing where the tables would affect a very large area. Maybe even an entire Hemisphere?
I follow barometric pressure too. Another factor to consider. I've found a falling barometer after it's been steady for a while, but before the weather changes, may coincide with fish going on the bite. My barometer dropped a little last night and I see storms in the forecast tomorrow, so it will probably continue to drop today. We've had post frontal weather for several days and the fishing hasn't been very good. I'm going to go out later today though, hoping we may get a bite going before the next front comes in.
Today isn't a day with strong solunar influence, but I'd be out right now if I could be, fishing the major period of the day. I should be out during the minor period later today. We're coming up on the full moon though, and stronger influences for the next few days. Unfortunately, it looks like we're going to have two different fronts come through in the next five days, so the unsettled weather will probably be the biggest factor.
Don't get me wrong, guys. I fully understand there are many factors you have to take into consideration. You can't just consider one or two factors. But there are days when a lot of positive factors come together. Those are the days I make a real effort to get out and fish.
I fish when I get a chance to fish, and don't worry about pressure or tables or any of that. I haven't found a fish yet that can read or go by what someone else says they should do! There is more to fishing than just catching fish. :biggrin EB
Solunar tables are calibrated to your location. Peak periods depend on the location of the sun and moon and so they will vary based on your location. I use this one Worldwide Solunar Best Hunting Times and the Best Fishing Times Forecast and Prediction Tables for your own Geographic Specific Location - Solunar Monthly Hunting and Fishing Times Calendar. You can plug in your zip code and get the local times of peak periods and it also shows the relative strength of the influence each day. Once you are familiar with the process, you can come pretty close with the help of a source like the Farmer's Almanac. It has the astronomical information and also the tidal information for Boston, which you can adjust to your location. The solunar effect is closely aligned with tidal forces, and yes those forces affect a lot more than the ocean tides. For example, I dont' need the tables to know the influence will be strong on a day a full moon sets about the same time the sun sets, and if other conditions are favorable that is a good time to try. If conditions are marginal, the only active bite of the day, it there is one, may well fall during that period.Quote:
Originally Posted by chrispy
The guy who popularized the Solunar Tables was John Alden Knight. His tables appeared in the sports section of newspapers and sports magazines for many years. He even wrote a book about how he developed the tables. He was intrigued when one of his friends predicted a bite, and the friend explained that he was just using patterns that were well known to commercial fisherman. That's why he began to investigate and ultimately developed his tables.
Thanks Speckmaster. I learned a lot right there.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpeckMaster
You're welcome, chrispy. If you decide to observe the periods for a while, somewhere down the road I'd like to know how it worked out for you.
Will do! Thinking about keeping a log this year as it will be my first year targeting crappie and my first boat and sonar. took 50 years but I'm as giddy as a kid on Christmas.
I have this site bookmarked on my computer and look at it on a regular basis.
Worldwide Solunar Best Hunting Times and the Best Fishing Times Forecast and Prediction Tables for your own Geographic Specific Location - Solunar Monthly Hunting and Fishing Times Calendar.
I follow it but I normally fish when I get the chance. I am positive Bluegill nest by the full and new moon.
I agreeQuote:
Originally Posted by brush pile
Solunar tables do not take into account other prevailing conditions. They are but one cog in an otherwise very complex machine, which is nature.
Sol-Lunar = Sun - Moon ... and likely their biggest effects are when they are more or less on opposite sides of the globe. I can't remember ever having a good day on the water when the Sun & Moon were both in the sky at the same time. I believe they have an effect on fish/wildlife, just not that they are any great predictor of "prime" feeding or activity levels ... unless all other parts of the equation are at least leaning towards a normal/stable condition. :twocents
... cp :kewl
Sheesh; next you're going to tell me that my favorite horoscope columnist is just making it up too!!
I started keeping a fishing log in 1982. Nothing fancy, just notes on a calendar. Had a fishing buddy who swore by the solarlunar tables so for one year (somewhere in the early 90's) I would list the times on the calendar along with notes about catch rates. Our local paper would print the coming week's tables (Knight) in the Sunday paper, adjusted to our location. I don't remember how many trips I fished that year but it was around 65-70 entries. It was a crap shoot. Sometimes the fishing was best during a major feeding time, but it was just random, so by chance it would happen. But not very often. Not even close. If you keep a fishing log, keep up with it for a while and see what you think. As stated above....Mother Nature plays a much larger part in feeding times. Some people (when not watching wrestling) swear they're accurate.
Crappiecom comment Solunar tables
That's how I see it. One factor among many, but sometimes a critical factor. Sunrise and sunset, moonrise and moonset, sun or moon directly overhead (i.e., high noon) or directly beneath your feet (midnight), and particularly when the sum and moon align in one of these positions do you get the strongest effects. The effect is strongest at the middle of a major or minor period. If conditions are stable and there's only a short bite during the day, it's often smack in the middle of a major period.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappiePappy
I live in a small town surrounding a 900 acre lake. I grew up here and I fish in some of the same spots I fished over 50 years ago. One of my favorite crappie holes is a small harbor separated from the main lake by a fairly long channel. Often in Spring the crappie will stack up in that harbor and they usually spawn in there sometime around Memorial Day. In the right light you can sometimes see the big pod of crappie suspended, drifting slowly around in the middle of the harbor, often over the deepest point. If they're not biting you can drag anything you want through that pod but you're not going to get bit. This place in particular helped me to see the connection between fish activity and the Solunar periods. I've fished that place all day long on many a day when I knew the crappie were in there, and only catch the odd fish here and there except during a peak solunar period.
I've also noticed that crappie in particular will go on a bite for relatively short periods of time, sometimes turning on and off several times during the day, or even during a single peak period. Sometimes a bite seems to be triggered by environmental conditions like the sun coming out, or the clouds blocking the sun, or a change in the wind, other times there is no apparent reason. They'll bite for a while, then turn off, then turn back on again. Sometimes these bites are only 20-30 minutes in duration, and the periods between bites are usually at least as long as the bite or longer. I've definitely seen this happen during a major period when over the course of two hours there will be a number of observable active periods and inactive periods, then not much happening the rest of the day.
Chrispy, I've been keeping a log for many years, although not always as diligently as I wish I had. I think you'll find it's very useful. It will give you a reason to review all the conditions and consider details you might not otherwise have noticed. And of course you have the records to refer to going forward.
JP, I've noticed the timing of bluegill spawning coincides often with either a full moon or a new moon.
I don't know what else to say to those of you who have observed no influence from solunar forces, other than I frankly suspect you expect too much. The fish won't just start jumping in the boat directly a major period begins, regardless of the other conditions. I have no doubt the solunar forces sometimes predict when fish will be more active and go on the bite because I have observed it with my own eyes many times. I often fish all day long and on some days the times the fish are actively biting are pretty well-defined. I don't always check the tables and on a number of occasions I've only realized the fish were most active during a peak influence period at the end of the day when I make my log notes and look at the table. There's no chance of bias in those instances. This very spring I ran into some friends at a good spot and they told me there had been a bite earlier. That bite aligned with a major period, which I knew but they didn't.
I'm like most people and fish when I can. But I try to fish when conditions are most favorable, and among the conditions I take into consideration are the solunar periods. If I can only fish part of a day, all other things being equal I'll try to be on the water during a peak period.
He's good....Quote:
Originally Posted by brush pile
good reading speckmaster..the sun-moon moves the worlds oceans as much as 63 ft..the way i see it, anything that can do that has to have an effect on all critters at times...food for thought, eh 5
I lived outside for a long time, mother nature has a rhythm. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. It's there. Or should I say, just because you don't recognize the rhythm doesn't mean it's not there. It's there. Animals know.
Fuel for thought.
Everyone in your local hospital/EMS knows that the full moon brings out the crazy people and ER gets packed with stupid people accidents.
Ever see a bird on the day of a major storm? Next time you have a tornado on the way go outside and count the birds. If you don't make it to one, seek shelter.
Ever sit in a forest when the sun comes up? You literally watch the world come to life. The birds come to life, the ground critters come to life, the wind gets progressively stronger as the day wears on. As the sun sets one set of animals settle in for the evening and another set emerges. Did you know owls don't make a sound in flight? Ever watch someone walk through the woods, the animals have sentinels that sound the alarm, stranger danger. Just because I can't see the fish, doesn't mean they don't react to changes. Fish have natural rhythms, some are influenced by the sun and moon. We, humans and animals are creatures of habit, we respond to weather systematically. Humans run to the store to stock up for a major storm, animals do the same. Closer the storm gets, the more people/animals hunker down until its over. That is until people stopped living outside. Now most people have no sense of mother nature. We have shows like Naked and Afraid. Man has been living outdoors for centuries, and in the past 50 years we stopped learning nature skills and have reality shows to prove how far removed we are from mother earth.
Nature has a rhythm. Either you see it or you don't. But it is there.
Thanks for the kind words. Solunar forces clearly influence life in the animal kingdom. They're at least more easily seen in fish activity than in some other forms of wildlife but I suspect they're more influential on fish too. There are many influences on the activity of fish and wildlife that interact. For example the Moon provides light as well as tidal forces, and the additional light cast by a full moon at night inspires activity, but that effect can be significantly muted in places covered by a heavy overcast. Solunar effects can be similarly muted by other more significant influences at any particular point in time, but that doesn't mean they aren't there or are never an important or even a determinate factor.Quote:
Originally Posted by fiveeyes
I see it this way. Unless you're doing the right thing at the right place you're only going to catch fish by accident. But even if you're doing the right thing at the right place it won't matter if you're doing it at the wrong time. The Solunar tables help to predict the right time. They don't say this is certainly the right time, or there is no other right time, only the relative strength of the Solunar forces on a given day and the times during the day those forces most strongly encourage activity, i.e., during the major and minor periods.
For example, there are a couple of places I fish that often produce well in a North wind, if those winds are moderate and other conditions are favorable and stable for a couple of days. If there was a strong influence that day I would try to be fishing one of those spots on a major period. But if there is a front coming in, bringing storms that will get there before that major period, I would try to fish during an earlier minor period or anytime that day before the front came in, because in my experience a drastic weather change will be more influential than Solunar forces. I would try to take advantage of fish going on a bite as the barometer drops before the storms roll in and they hunker down.
On the other hand, suppose that front is expected to come in an hour after that major period ends. In that case I really, really want to be fishing during that major period, because I see factors aligning to encourage activity, the Solunar forces and the effect of a falling barometer before a front actually arrives.