Let's talk about Full Moon Surf Fishing (and New Moon as well....)

[DarkSkies]

The days before and after the Moon Tides......


You will find discussions ad nauseum on internet fishing forums on most preferred moon fishing cycles.....
Waxing
Waning,
Gibbous, etc, etc......

I'm gonna simplify it all for you folks reading this...this is what works for me....
I make it my business to fish the 2 days before and after each moon tide.....
This puts your committment to fishing, to 8 nights per month....

If you're compulsive like me, you can make it 3 days before and after...which makes 12 nghts a month, that you absolutely must be out there fishing...

If you fish a lot, you will notice that the tides in between (this is why it's helpful to keep a log...) are generally less productive....
I call these "weak tide" nights because I feel that's exactly what they represent...weak tides, weak opportunity to catch fish....

Can you catch fish during these "weak" tides?
Absolutely, if there is a lot of bait around...
Whenever I am trying to illustrate a point in fishing theory, or what works for me...the absence or presence of bait., trumps all other factors...

[DarkSkies]

Fishing the Supermoon....

The recent June Super New Moon presented a great opportunity to fish....

As explained in other threads,
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ed=1#post70701

the new and full moon tides put more baitfish on the move, and more opportunities for predators to ambush and feed on them....

However, the extreme high and low, and stronger current flow, meant that folks out there fishing needed to change it up a bit, and change their timing....

Without giving it all away, I want to put it out there, that particularly during the strongest moon tides, like the one we just had, timing, and where you were at what stage of the tide, was key to success.....you can learn all of this, by keeping your own log, and making good notes....

[DarkSkies]

the new and full moon tides put more baitfish on the move, and more opportunities for predators to ambush and feed on them....

However, the extreme high and low, and stronger current flow, meant that folks out there fishing needed to change it up a bit, and change their timing....

Something I posted today about fishing the moon tides.....

IMO one of the most important things to back bay fishing right now is the moon phase. We are coming off the new moon, a key time to be out there, good for you for recognizing.
Since you mentioned bait all over, let's assume (even though you didn't have success,) that there could be some bass around)

Where would they be?
My answer is the most likely place would be the structure you were talking about. I think you can figure out the specifics by yourself. When the fishing is slow, I go right to the place where I know the most likelihood of fish are....and for me, that's structure with lights and shadow lines.

A problem with fishing that in moon tides is that the fishing can be better or worse, you have to learn each spot, as to what is optimal.

**I do notice, that for me, this "feeding window" changes during moon tides, and I have to adjust my fishing times and presentation at each area accordingly.


2. However, overconfidence, will sometimes get in the way of adaptibility, which IMO is the mark of a consistent fisherman.



4. What that means to me, if I see bait and no fish, is I have to be ready to move on to the next spot.
But....before I do,
a. I ask myself am I at the best place for presentation, at this stage of the tide?
b. Am I working the best part of the water column, where they are most likely to be?
I know you said you worked all levels, but in my last trips out, fishing structure, 80% of my fish have come on the bottom.
You said you were throwing rubber and jigs, but didn't mention small bucktails.
Last time I was out, I was not successful for awhile. I was throwing rubber shads, the 4 and 5" kind, no action at all.

I downsized to ball head jig with white curly tail.
** Note, for me this is one of the most effective things to get fish to hit, even better than zooms, because if they are feeding on very small bait they can't resist the curly tail. This will often pick up fish for me when they won't touch anything else.

I had almost immediate action on this, but only because I was bouncing on the bottom. If I was even 3 feet up from the bottom there was no action. Of course, depending on where you fish you may lose a lot of gear this way. Which is why many fishermen don't like to fish bottom. I change jig size and weight to accomodate different stages of the tide. Otherwise I know I don't have a real chance at staying where the fish are for that night, once I find them.









Hope this helps.,...with the final thought.,,,,,
When what worked yesterday does not....you have to really ask yourself...
1. Should I move on?
2. Am I really targeting where the fish are most likely to be, for tonight?

**(One quick note about structure...to me shadow lines are less important than stage of the tide....I have found during different stages fish will gravitate toward one side or the other....if you are not working both sides, and making notes in your log about when the bite changes, you will miss a big part of the picture, and will miss the bigger, solitary fish, that you might not know are there)

[buckethead]

Right on the $$ ds the stage of tide and current flow is of primo importance.

[jigfreak]

The full moon is Sunday. There is some strong current for the guys wading out on the bar. Fished tonight and there was a good S to N sweep. Be careful out there.

[DarkSkies]

This is the first year that fishing during new and full moon tides has not been a consistently productive pattern for me. I had a few observations from the other night's trip............


The night tides have been a consistent producer for me for bass and bluefish action, especially the moon tides, during which I have almost always done well.

To be out at night, moon tides, cloudy conditions, has been the ticket for multiple trips of double digit catches of larger bass for me in the past. There is one place that I only usually hit during the beginning of a noreast pattern, always holds fish for those specific conditions...

Thur's trip was the first time this season, that I have seen fish there.....and they were only bigger fish.....mid to high teens.....no signs of smaller bass at all.....which is really disturbing to me....

** Catching fish with artificials, especially looking for bass at night.....has been pretty disappointing for me, this year......because there is just no pattern that has lasted more than a few days, or hours, so far, for me.....and the catching (while focusing on areas that have always held a few bass) has been disappointing as well..
These are just my observations...thanks for reading.....

[cowherder]

Picked up 12 little guys on bucktail and teaser. They hit pretty hard. Missed a few more. Biggest was 27 1/4. All hit in close. Nice night under the full moon. Who says you can't catch fish under a full moon?

[vpass]

I lose all confidence with a bright full moon night. I have witness many times when the bass stopped biting as soon as the moon shows. I tend to not fish when I know the full moon will not be cloud covered. For me the darker the better some ambient light is good. And I had alot of great times with bass fishing the shadows casted by boat docks.

[jigfreak]

Good point vpass. Sometimes thats happened to me as well. Sometimes it hasnt. I read a post the other day where someone said they caught because their plug was extra shiny or holographic and that's what the fish focused on during the full moon. I think what may be happening is that some guys are fishing where there is a higher concentration of fish like a point or inlet area. Since there are more fish they are catching. If you took that same plug and fished it elsewhere you would not catch squat. So I think it's not always about the moon. It is about the concentration of fish if they are in front of you. just my .02

[jigfreak]

TTo be out at night, moon tides, cloudy conditions, has been the ticket for multiple trips of double digit catches of larger bass for me in the past.
These are just my observations...thanks for reading.....

I see that you qualified that observation that it needs to be cloudy for the best catches - I agree. Al McReynolds caught his record bass during a full moon.

[nitestrikes]

If you took that same plug and fished it elsewhere you would not catch squat. So I think it's not always about the moon. It is about the concentration of fish if they are in front of you. just my .02

X2. Bingo, someone who understands fishing.

[hookset]

..Moon didnt seem to bother the fish to much but the hit were lighter than they have been..

Blazin said this, I agree. I think full moon does matter sometimes but last night it was like a new crop of fish showed up and they were just there. slow presentation was the key for me. Also I usually use lighter colors but my best plug last night was a black magnum bomber crawled slow.
Go figure. The more I fish for striped bass the more I am scratching my head some times.

[hookedonbass]

I heard about the super moon but had no clue. So I did a search here. Awesome details and info guys thanks lots. Tried tonight because of that moon figured it would make some stripers or blues get motivated with the stronger tides. I didn't do that well. At least there was no skunk for me. Thanks for all the info and sharing.

[seamonkey]

Agreed on the helpfulness of this thread. I have heard repeatedly that you cannot catch on the full moon. When you dig further you see it's not just not true more like an old wives tale.
We just had an eclipse last night which coincided with the supermoon. Here's something I found that seemed interesting.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34375868

[seamonkey]

It's also called a blood moon which I thought was pretty cool. According to this we have one more in Oct and thats it for the rest of the year. They also talk about the super harvest moon in Oct.
http://earthsky.org/space/what-is-a-supermoon

[VSdreams]

Very informative and good reads. Thanks for posting.

[ledhead36]

Two words about this moon. Be careful. Last night at high tide water seemed about 2 feet higher than usual.

[DarkSkies]

Some more good info here, people. Just for sake of comparison, my best successes lately have been fishing the full and new moon tides for the reasons mentioned in this thread.

Some quick numbers....
-August to Sept - new to Full, to new moon tides - 51 bass, all smaller fish, night tides during these cycles
-Sept- Full moon - 22 bass, 2 nights of fishing. These were small, but 3 fish legal size in that number.
-Oct new moon - 2 nights fishing, skunked both nights. This was mostly due to my stubbornness in not wanting to fish where other groups were clustered up. I fished many of my usual spots, finding multiple crews at each location. Shifted goals to less popular areas. I was unwilling to abandon my strategy of finding fish in unpopular spots with no crowds, and as a result I failed.

** I posted those numbers not to brag but to let others know if you pay attention to seasonal patterns you can find a few fish. For the cycle where I managed the 51 bass I was fishing hard. Every night during the desired moon cycle, I was out there. Some nights were better than others, and I still failed in some of my predictions. As others have mentioned, fishing was very inconsistent for me, even when I thought I had a good bite and it would continue for days....things gradually petered out...the searching and changing different locations was constant and intense...I don't think a lot of others would have thought it worthwhile...with all the hours I put in for those fish.

**The solitude is more important than catching to me most nights, so I accept the good and the bad....
Just had to change it up a bit, and in the last few nights of the full moon have been catching again. Full reports in the night tides thread, -
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...-What-it-Takes
when I get a spare moment....

[jigfreak]

Well said dark. Would add to that the full moon has been better for me with cloudy skies. Also the first 3 days on the downside of the full moon have also worked.

[williehookem]

No issues with the full moon. Had a pretty good day out east. Started in the dark under bright moon. Fish didnt care.