How to Know Best Fishing Times Using Moon Phases

Use the phases of the moon to improve your catch of the day.

If you like to go fishing, you know that conventional wisdom is that fish bite more aggressively during particular moon phases. You've probably seen the charts in fishing magazines that show when the best fishing times are, but they never seem to work. That's because the times in the charts are not for the specific area where you are fishing. In order to accurately predict the best fishing times, you need to research the lunar activity for the specific area where you will be fishing.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Find out the geographic coordinates of where you will be fishing. These are displayed in degrees, minutes and seconds. If you don't have a map for the area where you fish, you can use online maps to find the coordinates.

2. Use the coordinates to find the lunar times for the area. Go to the U.S. Naval Observatory website (see References), and type in your coordinates and the date you will be fishing. The website will calculate the lunar times for that day. You are primarily concerned with sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset and moon transit times. These events will most often be the best fishing times and produce more fish and bigger fish.

3. Plan your trip according to the lunar times. The best fishing times are one hour before and one to two hours after the events of moonrise, moonset and moon transit. You can also count on good activity 12.5 hours after moon transit.

4. If sunrise and sunset occur during the same time as a lunar event, the feeding activity of fish is even more intense. A full or new moon that occurs along with moon transit is probably the best time during any given month to catch big fish. Remember to also consider changes in weather patterns that coincide with lunar events to increase your catch.

References

• U.S. Naval Observatory: Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day