I have always heard that a full moon allows fish to feed at night. And fishing is better on a new moon. Is this true or just some idea someone had?

Just go fishing, you will see that there is really no pattern. After years of trying to figure out the best time to fish, and fish when I can, I can tell you IT DOES NOT MATTER. Just when I think I have it figured out, I am proved wrong. You should plan your fishing trips, depending on the stress in your life, not the moon. You will have better luck, and be happier.

thats a good philosphy bigyella.

That really makes sense and will try to practice that.

Best Fishing Times by Catt

There have been numerous books, articles, charts, ect. published on this great mystery of bass fishing. A lot of the authors of these publications go through great lengths explaining how difficult it is to determine these times. It is really quiet simple to determine these times for your self with a little inside information. River and salt water publications go through great lengths explaining how difficult it is to determine tidal movements. The reality is that these best times and tidal movements are related to the moon�s phases.

People in animal husbandry, farming, hunting, and fishing has used the moons phases for centuries. One of the oldest publications giving this information is the "Poor Richard�s Almanac". The moon�s phases are divided into four quarters, two of which are your minor times, and two of which are your major times.

The times for the major periods are as follows
An hour and a half prior the moon reaching its apex
An hour and a half prior to the moon reaching its perigee
The major periods are the first quarter new moon and the third quarter full moon.
The gravitational pull of the sun and moon is three times greater on the new moon than the full moon. At the time of the new moon the earth has the moon and the sun in a straight line pulling together. This first quarter, dark night phase differs from the third quarter full moon phase when the earth moves between the moon and the sun. The new moon dark night is only difficult on the angler because you must rely on your sense of feel when working your bait. If you want to really learn how to fish baits that require a lot of feel like worm or jigs try nights.
The times for the minor periods of these moon phases are as follows
An hour and a half prior to the raising of the moon on the horizon.
An hour and a half prior to the setting of the moon.

Now take into consideration the above listed times you end up with 3 hrs. of major time periods and 3 hrs. of minor times periods. This does not take into account weather, seasons, or your ability to locate fish!

A widely held misconception is that big bass feed only at night, or at dawn and dusk. This is simply untrue; in fact, you are very likely to find large fish feeding during the middle of the day. Lunker bass can only bigger by feeding more often and eating more than other fish. They are more in step with the ecosystem, and have to be, in order to be first in line. They are the first to respond to such circumstances as the cloud cover before an approaching storm, the migration of shad to and from open water (usually occurring during mid-morning and mid-afternoon), or even the daily and monthly effect of the moon.

Once you determine the areas you want to fish, the key is to fish carefully and make certain that you frequent them during all times of the day. Be especially sure to fish during prime moon periods.

Sloppy technique is much more likely to show up in the bright light of day. These fish can be hard to catch in daylight, not so much because they are shy and spooky, but rather because they are bold enough and curious enough to swim right up and see what you are.

Darkness covers up an angler�s presence and most of all his mistakes. Fish don�t feed as regularly at night as they do in the day but when they are feeding, it�s far less of a problem to catch them.

Would not the very large lakes show more of an effect from the gravitational pulls ( i.e. tide levels ) than the smaller ones? In a large body of water, would the large high tides push bait fish into the shallows, thus making the fish feed in the shallow water more than normal?

yeah the very large ones ar better

Wow. I never really thought about all that. Thanks for all the info, I sure did learn alot about it

The gravitational pull is the same regardless of the size of the body of water; don�t confuse gravitational tide in a land locked lake with the gravitational tide of a river system.