Harvest Moon???

[mhall]

We are on the full Harvest moon phase this weekend. Questions for you guys as I have been pondering? What does this do to the fish if anything special? Is the night bite going to be better than the day, or day better than night? Does it bring them shallow or drive them deeper? I have a bunch more questions concerning this topic and won't attempt to cover them all. I'm interested in hearing what any of you experts on this subject may have to say. Tightlines to all.

[mhall]

Must have been a stupid question I guess. :+

[Bandit1]

Interesting question..... If I could help you, I would. I am not real sure either. I am intersested to see what people would say also.

Sorry I can't be of any help.

Jason

[MsgMills]

Not a stupid question, the only stupid question, is the one that was never asked.... If I knew I would respond to the question...But like you, I'm waiting for a reply as well....I would like to know the answer... So come on all you peeps who know sophiscated question answers like this please reply....

[fisheater]

I always thought the fishing was better because of a crawdad hatch on a full moon?

[biggw]

Well this is my answer---Me and my brother inlaw would go to watts bar in tenn. this time of year we would fish at night an hook up with some nice smallies--A real big one kicked his butt one night there lol.--I know he will see this post.And people there practice thier witchcraft on the harvest we seen that also one night....Remember that Charlie??????? lol------now THATS ALL I KNOW ABOUT IT..

[Spider04]

How many full moons in the year is there a crawfish hatch? Is it continuous during warmer months?

[mhall]

>Well this is my answer---Me and my brother inlaw would go to
>watts bar in tenn. this time of year we would fish at night an
>hook up with some nice smallies--A real big one kicked his
>butt one night there lol.--I know he will see this post.And
>people there practice thier witchcraft on the harvest we seen
>that also one night....Remember that Charlie???????
>lol------now THATS ALL I KNOW ABOUT IT..


Very interesting, care to eloborate further. Shady banks, lit up banks?? What type of lures, come'on give us some more, you have peaked our interest.

[Danny]

You know, I only know what the physics of it all is. When the moon is full, it is one of the two times per 28 day rotation that it is the closest to the earth. This causes a greater gravitational pull, that although we don't conciously feel, it does affect us, just as it does all life.

Most articles tend to belief or state the largest fish are caught 3 days before or after the full moon, or new moon. But if you look at that statement, it specifically names 14 of the 28 day cycle as the best. Some have hypothicized that is because more people fish during these periods, because of the statement about the big fish.

I also read that the most big fish are actually caught in the middle of the day, as these fish are normally deeper, and the light penetrates the water the most during the middle of the day. And fish still fish primarily by site, except the occasional bline one that actually bites my lure.

Now, it is also written that fish instinctively begin to feed more heavily as the cold fronts cool the water, and the days get shorter.

You now have two things to consider, night fishing has more hours per night than the days do right now, but the air will be much colder, and you should have less pressure.

Now given that, it is also written that the reason fish seem to feed more heavily at dawn and dusk is that a bass' eyesight adjust more quickly to the changing light conditions, and give them an advantage over the bait.

All this tells me it becomes a matter of preference. I prefer daytime fishing.

I hope all this helps a little.

Amazing how much I can remember here in front of the 'puter to forget it all on the water... LMAO

Good luck,

Tight lines and God Bless

Danny

[kc]

I wouldn't call myself an expert on the subject but I do love to night fish and have a litte to share. In the summer I use jigs and spinners on or near the bottom about 90% of the time at night. I have found as fall sets in and the fish start their transitions night fishing changes. I don't do as well with the bottom bumping techniques and I start catching more on horizontal retrieves. Jerk baits, crank baits, swimming jigs, and retrieving spinners high get more attention at times (especially on a bright moon). Further, some of the fish I find are shallower but I don't necessarily fish way up the creeks. I like to key on flats or points still close the the main lake or deeper areas of the creeks. I have one point on KY where I consistently catch bass in 2 ft of water. But that point is adjacent to a sharp drop off and I guess the fish move up on that shallow flat to feed.

As far as the night bite being better than the day bite it is a toss up day-to-day or night-to-night. In summer I like the nights but there are times the bass tear up during hot, summer days. I am sure the same applies to the fall. Further, I look at this in a differnt sense. In cold water periods sun light is a plus when fishing. Fish come up shallower, warm up, and become more active on winter or early spring sunny days. In the warm water times the opposite seems to happen. Bright sun light tends to push the fish out and down where as they tend to come up shallower to feed at low light times. I don't think we have hit that period where sun shine is a plus for fishing during the day yet. We are still another 4 - 6 weeks out from that time so night fishing is still a good bet now although day fishing has picked up as well.

kc

[biggw]

Ok i will tell you this- fish at Thief Island deep side--We would use black buzz baits at dark and then go to black or dark purple spinner baits after dark single big blades and hang on lol--yes shady side--I DON,T remember what he lost that big one on, maybe a jig..And good luck if you try this...

[GeoFisher]

I don't believe the gravitational pull or tidal pools, or ANYTHING else has much to do with fresh water fishing......BUT I do think the lighting has EVERYTHING to do with it.....

I know when there's been a full MOON and the sky has been clear, the fish put on the feedbag. This feed usually lasts WELL into the next morning, sometimes 10 - 11 am...........I've had some GREAT days during this time.

I also know that when there's a full MOON and the sky is cloudy, they FEED all DAY.......the NEXT day, but normally not too much during the night. I don't know how the fish know this condition, but they do, and fishing changes with it.......

I think when the moon is full a much better silouette of the baitfish can be seen by the fish, so they naturally feed more.

I'm not sure if I explained this right.......

Later,