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Posts: 366
| On the subject of the moon, do you think it really makes a difference in muskie fishing? I'm talking about the perceived notions of things like moon rise, moon set, full moon, new moon, ect. |
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Posts: 285
Location: Price County WI | Nothing is a Guarantee to put more fish in you boat, I do know one thing the 6 biggest fish in my boat last year came within an hour of moon set or moon rise. |
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Posts: 238
| Nothing about catching fish is guaranteed,to many uncontrollable variables.
But i have seen signifigant increases in fish activity during key moon times,to many times to dissmiss as a fluke.
I do think it increases your chances at a better day on the water but dosent guarantee it.
Its deffinetly worth fishing the better times if you can,if you cant oh well any time on the water is good time.
Edited by kawartha kid 7/22/2010 1:10 PM
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Posts: 392
Location: lake x...where the hell is it? | fishing the windows gives you the best chance to catch them, it helps put the odds in your favor and we all know we need every advantage we can get. if you only have a few hours to fish and you can choose to go during a window or during any other time, hit the window and hit it hard. when i was in minn last sept for the full moon at least 1 50" fish was caught on the major every night including my first 50". the numbers dont lie, only the anglers.lol. |
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | I've seen where the fish were dead nuts on the moon times day after day . I've seen it where there was no correllation between moon times and fish activity for a two week stretch and we took several fish over 30#. That said, I make every effort to be in a good spot when the moon times approach because if all weather related conditions are right, the moon is probably the next most important factor from what I've seen. It sure doesn't hurt. But as it has been already stated, there are no garrantees! |
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Posts: 264
| Almost all of the muskies we caught in our boat last year were moon related. So yes, i think it helps. |
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| in 2006 on the north shore of mille lacs i was on the boat with bnelson and steve jonesi and at the moonphase i took a look down at the row of boats. it looked like the 4th of july with all the flashes going off on cameras.
that convinced me if you don't get to fish more than a couple hours a day ... choose those hours carefully, or at least make sure that if you are on the water during that time that you are in the place where big fish live. |
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| I'm fairly new to musky fishing yet so multi-fish days have not happened for me very often. However, last year, the night of the full moon in August (5th I believe) me and a friend boated 3 fish. That was the first time ever putting 3 in the boat in one day and has not happened since.
Then I got married 3 days later (8-8-09) and the luck has changed.... |
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Posts: 717
Location: Grand Rapids, MI | 619musky - 7/22/2010 3:27 PM
Almost all of the muskies we caught in our boat last year were moon related. So yes, i think it helps.
Every single muskie I have ever caught has been moon related. Wheter it was moon up or moon down, moon rise or moon set. Sometimes the moon was at about a 45 degree angle and I caught a fish. Other times, I couldn't even see the moon, and I caught a fish.  |
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Posts: 253
Location: On the water | Is any moon phase better than another? There are moon rise, set, up, down, full, new, major, minor. I've just started to try and follow the moon phases and I haven't been doing very good. The few Muskie that I catch don't seem related to anything. |
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Posts: 2089
| First, there are NO guarantees in muskie fishing. But, playing the moon can and will put the odds in your favor. Proven time and time again. |
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Posts: 323
Location: In the slop! | Snake-oil. |
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Posts: 551
Location: Columbus, Georgia | Hey,
How would some of you guys like to buy some swampland down Florida way?
Fishing these moon times provides hope and anticipation. Guys fish harder, are more alert, and are really turning it on during these notated phases. I suggest that if they fished the same way, with all of those characteristics on a constant basis, I believe that they would catch as many Muskies. If the formula about moon times was that accurate and contributed to markedly more fish being caught, I believe Musky fisherman would focus on them as strongly as they do using a leader.
I have paid very close attention to these moon times. I'd be telling a tale if I said that I caught any more fish at these times than others. And the mythic discussions about full moons ... I have fished dozens of full moons and never found that the fishing was markedly better than any other moon phases. Yes, I could see what what going on in the boat when the moon was full, but that was the only other advantage that I could perceive.
Just my own observations and experience.
Edited by cjrich 7/22/2010 7:34 PM
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Posts: 32883
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | 15 years of correlating Knights Solunar Tables and a barograph record from a local weather station to a carefully kept log during my guiding time convinced me there's definitely activity periods relating to sun/moon/earth relationships that are effected by weather and other factors.
As a hunter, I can definitely vouch for deer activity during many a solunar major. |
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Posts: 468
Location: Not where I wanna be! | I believe in it 100% for fish..... for deer...... not so much.... sorry Steve 
I have documented deer movement for years based on moon phase and I can say the ONLY correlation I have been able to find is directly related to the photo period at night... meaning, full moon=increased movement only because they can see better.... not due to the moon's gravitational pull.
But thats just me and this is about muskies.... :D |
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Posts: 32883
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | This fall, watch the Knight Solunar tables. I use them, and can't tell you how many times I'm in the woods when everyone else left for lunch. I passed on lunch because of a Major or Minor...and the deer move in numbers. Even better, many times I predicted I'd kill my buck while everyone else was eating lunch. my best three bucks were harvested center of a major, late morning to mid afternoon.
This isn't moon phase, totally different deal.
My trail camera supports the majors and minors with daytime and nighttime videos corresponding with solunar periods. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | For sure. As has been said, there's never a guarantee. I'll fish a moon period and not get a follow. I believe weather and local conditions can and do trump moon. But I've seen the day made on a moon time more times than I can count. Not to mention just driving the truck and every so often seeing deer, coyotes, owls, etc out in the broad daylight and you check your watch and it's a moon time. |
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| There is a good chance the deer moved because the woods were empty and quiet with most other hunters off eating lunch. |
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Posts: 12
| Guest - 7/23/2010 7:30 AM
There is a good chance the deer moved because the woods were empty and quiet with most other hunters off eating lunch.
How many times have I seen deer at lunch time? Too many to count but I tend to believe that it has a lot more to do with the other hunters getting out of their stands and pushing them around than it does anything to do with moon phase etc...
Just my .02 |
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Location: New Hope MN | I didn't believe for years... The results changed my mind. |
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Posts: 32883
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Nope. The deer moved all across the are we hunted, which is private, and came from/headed to areas where no one was all day.
Funny, one guy says the deer were pushed, another says they were up and feeding and the bucks chasing does because they weren't.
I'll use the Knight tables. If you don't believe in them, that's OK with me, but I'll still use them. Tooooo many times success came within very limited time in the woods and on the water during a solunar period, and didn't out of a solunar period. if I only have a couple hours to hunt and fish, I'll try to match those hours with a Major or Minor....and if I can get either at sunset I'm all over it. |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | I have followed all the indcators and the only conistent thing I have ever seen has been that one must be fishing to catch fish. Sometimes moon phases matter and sometimes make a big difference, but not always. Sometimes the Knight Solunar tables are very helpful and sometimes not. However, you always have a chance to catch a fish anytime you have a lure in the water.
My experience is that weather can play a much larger role. Post frontal is usually tough and storms can often shut everything down. Stable weather or pre-frontal most often seems to be the best.
All that said, I have caught some of my best fish when there was no lunar activity and no Solunar majors or minors and the sun was high in the sky. Yeah, those times when nothing should be going and yet the fish were very active. It seems the fish often just bite when they want to.
My experience is that the solar and lunar activity and the Knight Solunar tables can all help predict fish activity. Even so, fish activity can rarely be predicted more than 50% of the time. There are to many other variables like weather, water conditions, boat traffic, fishing pressure, and who knows what to be able to predict fish activity all the time.
Just my experience.
Edited by Herb_b 7/23/2010 12:45 PM
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Posts: 366
| So what I'm hearing, and I'm sure I'm over simplifying things as I usually do, is that those of you who put stock in the moon relationship to fishing activity feel that all other conditions being equal the moon can and might help you catch fish. Also, if given the opportunity to fish when ever you want, yet for limited amounts of time, should pick the times associated with key moon activity.
Ok, so how many of you have ever seen situations where all other conditions in muskie fishing were identical with the moon location being the only outstanding factor? Also, how many of you can pick down to the hour of the day when you can be on the water, if you’re only allowed a limited amount of time to do so?
I guess I'm a little skeptical. No, that's not true, I think it is mostly just b.s. I've just seen way to many times when I've worked on a dock and greeted every fisherman to come in each night and hear pretty much what everyone does and occasionally have one guy say, "yep we caught that 50" twenty minutes before the moonset. It just goes to show you...” all the while not mentioning how the four other muskies they caught that day had nothing to do with the moon activity, or the 35 other muskies that were caught by the other guests that day.
Honestly, overall I see the moon thing as either random chance, and/or self-fulfilling prophecy. And, even if there is some small advantage that the moon might give you, the chance that something else in your life or the conditions won’t be the bigger factor, is more to the point, not worth worrying about. Some guys talk about it like it is all that matters in muskie fishing. Alright, so that may be an exaggeration, but for the odds of it being able to make a difference and it actually happening, are pretty slim in comparison to how often it comes up in conversations. But, I do enjoy the discussion otherwise I wouldn’t have asked.
Ryan |
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Posts: 32883
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Herb_b,
Same here, some of my largest muskies were caught out of any solunar period. BUT...the barograph almost every time indicated a shift in pressure, and as a result, wind direction and approaching changing weather at the exact time the activity happened, especially mid day stuff. A flat barograph more often than not meant very little action until sunset. None of this is even close to absolute, which is why I still listen to SVL's 'When is the best time to go Muskie fishing?' belief...the answer is...when you can.
Even more interesting was the small 'spikes' up or down that were dead on with activity periods, where I was able to spank the walleyes in 3' of water on a calm day with not a cloud in the sky.
Sure, there's thousands of other variables. I try to pay attention to as many as I can to play my best hand for my time on the water. |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | I see two factors here and they're not equal in my opinion.
Rise/Set: I'm not a believer in moonrise/set much at all, too often these correspond to low light factors and therefore the moon probably isn't the reason. I have seen more of an impact during middle of the day or middle of the night when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot. This actually makes some sense scientifically because it corresponds to tides.
Moonphase: This one is important and the days around the new and full can impact overall activity. Once again though this has some science behind it because the highest tides are around the new and full moon. |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | For me, the more I fish, the less I seem to know. Seems most of the things I used to "know" were not so absolute - especially about fishing and women. I seem to know a little about fishing, but women - forget it! They are so confusing.
I think its best not to think to much and just fish when you can and have fun. That and have a good lunch packed. Fishing while being hungry is no fun.
Time to go home soon....
Edited by Herb_b 7/23/2010 4:21 PM
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Posts: 580
| I'm in the "I don't know" camp. At times, I've seen what I've thought were correlations. I used to be a big "believer", until I started going back and tracking all of my catches and matching them up with what the old Farmers Almanac says the moonevent times were.
What I found was that, at least in my experience on LOTW, I'm agreeing with Will as to the Rise/Set stuff. In 10+ years of doing week-long trips to LOTW (where we typically fish hard, all day long, sunrise to sunset), 10% of our catches have come within 1 hour prior to or after a moonrise or moonset. 33% of our boated fish have been caught within 1-2 hours of moonrise or moonset, 33% within 3-5 hours, and 24% at more than 5 hours.
I could argue from my LOTW data/experiences that the best time to fish is almost anytime OTHER THAN within an hour of moonrise/moonset. (90% of our boated fish have been caught outside of that 2 hour window). Or, I could argue that the moon "triggered" those 10% of fish that we've caught. Or, I could argue that the key time is between 2 to 5 hours before or after a moonrise/set, since that "window" has accounted for 2/3rds of our boated fish. But what seems most logical to me is that, actually, the moon probably hasn't made much of a difference one way or another....in my experiences on LOTW, anyway.
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Posts: 32883
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Ever compare your success to Knight's tables? |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | Today was textbook. Boated a fish within 10 minutes of the major, and then boated another about 15 minutes before the massive storm hit. If all days could be this easy and predictable. My last two fish though came entirely out of any moon phase and without any descernable changes in weather or conditions. Goes to show it's good to fish when you can, but if you have a choice of a moon time or not, take the moon time. |
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Posts: 580
| sworrall - 7/23/2010 9:38 PM
Ever compare your success to Knight's tables?
Actually, no. But I'd like to. Is there any easy way that I could get Knight's data going back the past 10-12 years? |
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