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Posts: 609
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERrrHTXNybw&list=WL&index=1 |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Here's some data, but it begs the question: is fishing better during these times or is it just that more fishing is done during these periods? m
http://www.redwinglodge.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Distribution...
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Posts: 5
| Over the last few years we have been following the moon and it seems we do have more success during a minor or major. We never catch fish sitting at home waiting for a moon. |
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Posts: 720
| According to someone I have fished with from In Fisherman, their most visited part of their website is the moon page… likely because trips are being planned around it, as in more man hours. |
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Posts: 1344
Location: E. Tenn | Not only are more hours spent fishing solunar peaks, but we're out there on our "best spots", with lures and techniques we have the most confidence in, and fishing with heightened intensity and confidence..
That said, weather and water conditions trump solunar conditions every time.
Tom Gelb covers this topic well in "Musky Strategy". |
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| Wind, weather, barometric pressure changes, all impact fishing. Moon phase something I check, like most folks. Moon phase is something that is predictable, unlike other elements. Many years ago my uncle kept a barometer in his rustic cabin in Northern WI. If there was a pressure change, we were out the door and on the water. We caught fish, but was it because of the barometric change or because we believed are chances were better and we fished harder? Don't know. |
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Posts: 1344
Location: E. Tenn | North of 8 - 1/4/2026 9:41 AM
Many years ago my uncle kept a barometer in his rustic cabin in Northern WI..
I'll bet it was one of these..
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Posts: 1626
Location: Brighton CO. | I've lucked into my largest fish during prime moon conditions but fact of the matter weather and water trump moon every time.
We need to have a lure in the water and anything with hooks can score a fish of a lifetime. |
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Posts: 8852
| I kept a pretty extensive log for many years. More often than not, action during peak times could be attributed to changes in wind, weather, light, etc. than just the majors. There have been a few times where there was no other explanation to sudden bursts of activity. 4 hours of nothing followed by a 2 hour stretch of musky chaos, just so happened to correspond with that day’s major. The only consistent thing I’ve found is if the fish aren’t moving something needs to change. Wind picks up, sun comes out, sun starts to set, wind shifts direction…. Contrary to that, if the fish are moving, and anything changes? They shut right down. |
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| The one weather change that dramatically changed my fishing was a wind change while ice fishing. Had met a buddy on a backwater of the Wis. River for panfishing. I was seeing a number of fish on the flasher but after 45 minutes only had one keeper and a few dinks. Buddy encouraged me to move holes, he had drilled a number of them. I stubbornly said they are there, I just have to figure out how to get them to bite. About 10 minutes later, wind changed about 90 degrees. I had to move to the other side of the hole. Over the next hour, caught over 40 fish, including the 10 keepers I wanted. How the heck wind impacts ice fishing, don't know. Maybe it was a change in barometric I don't know, just saw the difference in the bite. |
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Posts: 414
Location: Selkirk, Manitoba | It affects fishing for muskies in the sense that if others are spending their energy on good spots bases on the moon, they may be taking a nap or having supper when they should be out when a front is coming or not putting their energy where there has been a multiday blow on "secondary" spots that become primo spots because of wind effects. Save your energy and fuel by following the weather, not the moon IMO.
The moon may have an effect on the timing of lake bug hatches or plankton movement which then affect prey species and hence predators, but you are better off just paying attention to the aquatic environment directly rather than the moon (ie birds like terns and pelicans active and prey fish rising on the surface).
The ocean is completely different given tides are obviously related to the moon and plenty of fish and other species rely on tides and lunar cycle. For example when I lived in BC the Eulechon runs (related to smelt) were directly related to the moon (new and full) given they required high tides to get to where they need to spawn - these runs then turned on all the predators that fed on them.
Edited by Angling Oracle 1/5/2026 2:59 PM
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Posts: 8852
| Saltwater fishing is heavily dependent on tidal movements, which are influenced by the moon. I think that probably translates to some influence on larger freshwater systems. Makes sense… but on a 200 acre lake? Probably not significant. It seems like there is more activity of all species around moonrise, but that could be attributed to a lot of things, not the least of which is being on the water when the moon comes up. I’ll never forget the trips to FL fishing for sheepshead off the city pier as a kid. Hours of hanging bait in front of fish you could see. Dozens of guys doing the same thing. Nobody caught fish until somebody caught one. Then everybody caught fish. |
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Posts: 73
| Muskies Canada has some data as well, through the log program, that suggests overall being on a full or new moon versus other moon phases doesn’t matter. I can personally confirm the majors (overhead/underfoot) can be a major factor (no pun). I do think full and new moon has some impact on Great Lakes systems. |
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Posts: 591
Location: deephaven mn | ive caught a number of fish that i had follow and then when back either at the major of the minor.
some where over 50" that being said i have gone back and not seen anything way more times.
does moon effect yes always no |
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| I wonder if anyone has studied impact of wind direction on fishing. I noted that his past season that when there was an East wind, none of the roughly 30 teams on two occasions caught a qualifying fish and that on that on other nights only one or two fish would be caught.
Not a big sample but did get me thinking about it. |
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Posts: 687
Location: Duluth | The answer is yes, not smart enough to explain the why...it just does. I prefer musky fishing a new moon myself (pressure related) but across species I have chased heavily (musky, lake run brown trout, steelhead, lake trout and brookies) I have caught more and bigger fish on majors and minors. |
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Posts: 1441
| North of 8 - 1/6/2026 8:57 AM
I wonder if anyone has studied impact of wind direction on fishing. I noted that his past season that when there was an East wind, none of the roughly 30 teams on two occasions caught a qualifying fish and that on that on other nights only one or two fish would be caught.
Not a big sample but did get me thinking about it.
The old saying wind from the west, fish bite best, and wind from the east, fish bite least, has a grain of truth. The reason, is that our weather predominantly comes from the west, following the direction of the jet stream. When the wind is out of the east, it is usually just the wrap around of the cyclonic rotation of the storm system, so it doesn't last very long. A day or two at most. Fish like consistency. On rare occasions, you can get several days of east wind. When this happens, east wind can be good fishing. I remember a walleye opener on Vermilion when there had been 5 straight days of straight east wind. We had done trade out for several years, with a resort on the west end of Head O the lake bay. The fishing on that shoreline was usually pretty poor. However that year, the fish were stacked big time. Went out at midnight and fished off the dock, and we all had our limits within about 15 minutes. That went on the whole weekend. |
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Posts: 8852
| East winds have been notoriously unproductive according to my logs. Usually happens after a big weather system moves through accompanied by blue skies, high pressure, and presumably a missed bite the day or evening before. But we're all used to fishing in W/SW winds, so maybe we just fish the spots wrong during an East wind out of habit. Maybe we need to fish the wrong side of the reefs/islands on days like that, or hit all the stuff that's unproductive the rest of the time. The few fish I've caught during East winds were in unusual places now that I think about it. |
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Posts: 2077
| I’ve had some amazing days on a strong east wind, one lake I fish just sets up well for east winds pounding a primary structure the fish setup on frequently anyway… then again I can say the same thing about west winds on different lakes..and yes the moon effects fishing to what extent for musky is really hard to measure but I definitely pay attention to moonrise and set for sure. As was already mentioned in saltwater it’s a much bigger part of the entire equation |
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Posts: 114
| I feel like there are some really interesting psychological effects of moon effects more than anything. All of the variables involved would make it almost impossible to test. Our brains are wired to find patterns and connections even with very weak correlation. I think it is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy and/or correlation bias. If you truly or even partially believe that the moon has a huge positive effect on fishing, are you: 1- booking trips around certain moon phases? 2- for sure fishing those hours of the day? 3- are you fishing your known historical good spots during these times? 4- are you going back to previously seen big fish during these hours? 5- are you counting fish caught near a moon peak (when does it officially star/stop)?
Hypothetically, IF I could change the moon phase calendar without anyone knowing, and everyone would continue these same behaviors based around slightly different times/phases, would you see the same positive correlation to certain times/dates that have nothing to actually do with moon phases? I think you 100% would. BUT like I said, there are so so so many variables to control it makes it possible to come up with an actual test. I can see certain periods like full moons attributing to more activity due to more light levels (again, more people fishing after dark as well), and in the fall correlating it with spawning baitfish.
Interesting either way, we may never know, and I could be wrong, but we can always have the internet to debate it all lol. |
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