Is there anything to lunar tables? Are they a reliable for a GENERAL idea of which day/what time the fish will be biting?

I can find tables on the net that show best days and others that show best times. Is there anything to this? In other words, can I take this information and know when I should or should not be on the water for cats?

Example: if I look at this table
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/fishingtips/news/story?page=bass_solunar

Then I need to have my trotlines baited the next two weeks. Don't really care about hours with a trotline (if I am wrong here, let me know).

Looking at this table, they seem to agree on days. http://www.texasprimetimes.com/Texas_Feeding_Tables/texas_feeding_tables.html


Thanks.

The guys over at Catfish1 swear by those tables. I have never payed much attention but I am going to jot those times down and see what happens this weekend.

just fish

Fish when you can. There is no better experience than time on the water no matter what the moon phase is. Don't stay home just because someone says the moon isn't right for fishing.

I've gone back and checked my logs over the years and moon phase didn't seem to have any affect on how many fish we caught on any particular day. We've had exceptional days on new moons, full moons and just about everything in between. We've also had slow days under the same moon conditions. I pay a lot more attention to wind and barometric pressure than anything else.

Now deer hunting is a different story. I want to be in my stand on the days when the moon is rising in the afternoon or early evening.

Can you give me some direction on the wind and barometric pressure? The only thing I have heard from an old catter around here is that he watches the weather (especially in the spring) for chances of big storm systems coming through - seems they "turn on" before it hits and he wants all his lines baited and ready to go. Haven't gotten to test that out yet.

Only advice I have gotten that I found works is to go up into the creeks that feed the lake after a big rain and set up the lines there. It does work.

moon phase charts are just for selling calendars ... they have nothing to do with fishing. it's a play on superstition to get folks to buy their calendars and you don't see any difference on the good days or poor days if you don't pay any attention to them ... I've had clients out with me several times that told me the moon phase said the fishing was supposed to be poor today ... I'd reply well that's a good thing cause if it was a good day I'd be out here until tomorrow cleaning fish. what'd we catch? 34 fish? yeah, if that moon phase had shown it was supposed to have been a good day we might have caught 65 fish.

my advise is to not pay any attention to hocus pocus stuff ... if stuff like moon phase or anything else had anything to do with fishing, I'd go broke in a few weeks cause I wouldn't be able to meet my 50 lb guarantee on at least half the days. this year I haven't missed it but once and that was only the last day outside my cut off date for the summer vacation that I take ... the fish had already left the lake a couple days earlier. but one time out of nearly 50 trips instead of 25 out of 50 trips so like I said ... if moon phase had anything to do with fishing then I'd go broke. compare my photos page with the moon phase calendar and see if it matches the calendar

Those tables are great for saltwater fishing. It tells you when the moon phases are which will give you a good idea to the tidal movement and how strong the current will be by the moon gravities pull. On freshwater fishing, it makes no difference. I pay more attention to the wind in freshwater. It is what helps move the bait around on lakes.

Tiny, well put again, the "Catfish Guru". Tiny, you need to start writing the book. The only way you could possibly argue with the guy is if you put on scuba gear and followed the cats around for a year.

I will put it to you this way, you could be fishing a full moon and not get any bites but, I guarantee fish are eating somewhere in that lake at that exact time and it just so happens it is not where you are fishing, they have fins and will move to eat. My editor asked me to include best fishing times and that is the only reason why I include it in my column, because he asked me to.

Bobby and Zee are dead on, wind for freshwater is a better sign to watch.

Barometic pressure and wind direction are, in my opinion, better indicators. I prefer a dropping pressure that brings some rain along with a wind from the west. The old saying goes:
" Winds from the east, fish bite the least, Winds from the west, fish bite the best"
Of course unless you do not work and live on the lake, you cannot really pick your time to go fishing.

ignore them
pressure by clouds water temp and wind direction tell me everything i need to know about "day quality"
can't speak for salt water but in lakes and rivers it's BS

That's how my Cherokee Grandma taught me!!!

I knew you had some injun in you somewhere