Moon phase split, Rotary (Bite times and why they can differ from water to water)

[salokcinnodrog]

Sorry, I split the moon phase section out of the Rotary letter and bite times, because it interests me, causes confusion, works and then doesn't work.

 

I know a few years ago now Tim Paisley wrote about big fish being caught on particular moon phases; I think he worked out that Lee Jackson caught Two Tone from Coningbrook on the same moon phase as other big fish were caught around the country.

 

I know that the gravitational pull of the moon creates 2 high tides every 24hours and 51minutes, a lunar day, not an earth day. It is this time as to why high tide times change from day to day. What I don't understand is the spring and neap part of it, why spring tides are higher than 'normal' tides, I think it is to do with the particular phases of the moon, as the moon cannot change its gravity,  it is to do with how close it comes to earth.

 

From all of my big fish very few dates come to mind, apart from 2 fish, one a 33lb mirror caught on the 6th December and my river 28 simply because it was date stamped, so sadly I can't confirm or deny moon phases.

I know Simon Crow 'pooh poohs' the moon phase theory, because I recently reread Tim Paisley's 'More From The Bivvy', and it is referenced against a chapter in there.

 

 

[Ginger9991]

I have fished a few moon phases over the last few years and i cant say i have noticed any difference. A full moon creates a great view of the lake, theres something really nice about it, Playing a fish whilst a full moon is up, Being able to see the full battle in the dark is amazing and more memorable. Do more big fish come out at a full moon, or do people just remember these fish better due to the conditions around them? Also what is a big fish? How big does a fish have to be to be affected by a moon phase? Do so many anglers fish by the moon that more fish are bound to come out?

If anything i would expect a full moon to produce more fish then just the bigger fish if it played a part at all. I dont believe it affects the fish, But all the same i would fish a moon phase (especially a full moon) as its just a great time to be on the bank, amazing views.

[cloud9]

If I have it right,  when the sun and the moon are both on the same side of the earth the gravitational pull from both is at its strongest and then you get a spring tide, which is the highest tide,  when they are opposite each other you get a neap tides the lowest ( I think it's correct) ...... there are a lot of marine creatures that the moon affects at breading and feeding time, so it could be having a effect on something else in the lake rather than the fish themselves, something could be hatching or breading that the carp are eating.......

[muftyboy]

5 hours ago, yonny said:

Interesting that this weekend I saw nothing on each morning despite getting up at 4 am every day. There was no feeding activity at all until the hot conditions subsided. Then when the winds got up and rain started falling they started showing like clockwork. Just goes to show that no matter what we think of bite times sometimes it just won't happen if conditions aint right.

If I haven't shaved for a while I always get a bite.

If I'm clean shaven I struggle .

That's good enough for me lol

[emmcee]

Every year since I started "proper" carp fishing i have always had the same week off to fish. The week in question is the week of the autumn equinox. I'm pretty sure it's when the daylight hours are the same as the hours of darkness, a signal to not just the carp but nature in general to get ready for the coming winter.   This occurs around the 22nd or 23rd of September. I read an article by dave lane about the week in question and recall he stated it was a big fish week. I recall in my own fishing that the week in question was most definitely a big fish week. On the odd occasion I've been lucky enough to bank one myself but nearly always big fish were caught  around the lake I've been on at the time  and most definitely the carp mags are normally full of big fish captures around that week. Now I've heard of the harvest moon and one of my mates calls it the 40's moon. It's a fascinating subject but one I'm sure we may never understand. 

[B.C.]

I don't read that much into it tbh. purely down to not getting out enough... I think you need to be a real bank rat, ie, do enough nights outside the moon phases to be able to compare against them...…. But who am I to disagree with Dave Lane?...…  I was under the thinking that a full moon was good for commons, and a new moon was good all round, must have picked that up from an article somewhere...…. Funny thing is , I always buy a callender that shows the moon phases even though I don't really plan anything around them. If I'm on my way out to fish and look at the callender and see that it's on, or near a new moon, it's a bonus, and a little confidence boost. If the moon phase is nothing special, I just take no notice lol...🙂

[yonny]

5 hours ago, B.C. said:

I think you need to be a real bank rat, ie, do enough nights outside the moon phases to be able to compare against them...…. 

Agree, I'm sure we'd all love to plan our regular fishing trips around the moon phases but in reality it's just not possible for most with real life getting in the way. We go when we can!

9 hours ago, emmcee said:

Every year since I started "proper" carp fishing i have always had the same week off to fish. The week in question is the week of the autumn equinox. I'm pretty sure it's when the daylight hours are the same as the hours of darkness, a signal to not just the carp but nature in general to get ready for the coming winter.   This occurs around the 22nd or 23rd of September.

Funny that, I have it booked off too lol.

[chillfactor]

On 25/07/2018 at 08:31, greekskii said:

The estate lake fish, with rough timings too if I know them. Be interesting to see what you find. 

25lb - island 1 (23/05) 19:20
18lb - island 1 (24/05)  07:30 
26.08lb - shallows (18/06) 13:55
21lb - shallows (18/06) 19:30
10lb - shallows (18/06) 
19.12lb - shallows (18/06)  21:50
19.09lb - shallows (19/06) 00:35
13.10lb - shallows (19/06)
23.08lb - shallows (19/06)  08:40
20lb - shallows (19/06)
19.10lb - shallows (19/06)
16lb - shallows (19/06)
15lb - shallows (19/06) 
17lb - shallows (19/06)
15lb - shallows stalked (19/06) 19:00
14lb - shallows stalked (07/07) 16:00
11lb - deeps (13/07)
17.04lb - deeps (19/07) 18:00
21.06lb - deeps (20/07) 01:15
13.07lb - deeps (29/07)
10lb - shallows (11/08) 18:40
20lb - shallows (12/08) 09:00
20lb - shallows (01/09) 14:45
12lb - shallows (02/09)  03:50
19.04lb - shallows (02/09)  08:00
16.12lb - deeps (08/09) 23:00
17.06lb - deeps (09/09) 03:20
Low double - island 1 (15/09) 19:00
23.03lb - island 1 (15/09) 20:20
12.07lb - island 1 (16/09) 01:30
24.08lb - island 1 (22/09)  14:10
17.11lb - island 1 (22/09) 16:05
18.06lb - island 1 (22/09) 18:55
18.09lb - island 1 (23/09) 07:15
19.12lb - island 1 (05/10) 20:00
20.09lb - island 1 (14/10) 01:20
19.11lb - island 1 (21/10) 19:15
12.10lb - suicides (28/10) 15:40
20.03lb - suicides (28/10) 17:45
26.04lb - suicides (03/11) 18:30
21.03lb - suicides (03/11) 20:45
Low double - suicides (03/11) 23:00
24.02lb - suicides (10/11) 19:45
30.01lb - suicides (24/11) 19:00
Mid double - left dam (13/01) 12:00
17.06lb - deeps (26/01) 16:00
17lb - deeps (26/01) 17:10
15.13lb - deeps (16/03) 17:15
17.09lb - deeps (16/03) 18:30
23.14lb - deeps (29/03) 19:50
24.05lb - deeps (29/03) 21:30
15.04lb - deeps (30/03) 09:00
Barely double - island 1 (20/04)
26.02lb - island 1 (21/04) 01:10
23.06lb - island 1 (21/04) 07:10
21.04lb - island 1 (21/04) 09:15
23.04lb - island 2 (05/05) 16:20
21.06lb - island 2 (06/05) 02:30
20.10lb - deeps (11/05) 17:25
21.08lb - deeps (11/05) 21:00
23.04lb - deeps (11/05) 22:40
16.10lb - shallows (18/05) 03:00
Unweighed stocky - island 1 (18/05) 18:10
21.04lb - island 1 (18/05) 22:00
17lb - island 1 (19/05) 06:20

You can factor in my friend's captures too:

05/05 05:05

05/05 06:20

05/05 20:30

05/05 21:25

06/05 07:45

I will get round to studying your catch times from the estate Vic  ..... there's certainly a lot of catches !!! 👀 lol 

Already wondering if stock levels will muddy the waters a bit .

[greekskii]

On 24/08/2018 at 13:34, chillfactor said:

I will get round to studying your catch times from the estate Vic  ..... there's certainly a lot of catches !!! 👀 lol 

Already wondering if stock levels will muddy the waters a bit .

I had a look myself. I have it saved on my work computer. No correlation with moon phases. I then went and did my previous couple of years captures and found nothing of note. 

But then I fish when I can, not always when I want to.