Most anglers have an opinion about how moon phase affects bass catch. In many cases, these opinions are supported by many years of fishing, so I do not discount them. But who to believe? A lot of anglers swear by the full moon, but others claim better catch rates on a new moon. With 20 million bass anglers
in the U.S., every phase of the moon probably has some fans.
To sort through this confusion, it may help to divide fishing into day fishing and night fishing. I can more easily understand an attachment to a particular moon phase by night fisherman. Everything about fishing is more difficult at night. First and foremost, a full moon on a clear night provides sufficient light to navigate to fishing spots. Certainly that was important 20 years ago, but now we have GPS. Nevertheless, a full moon still simplifies night fishing. Of course, none of these benefits accrue to “dark moon” fans.
For daytime anglers, support for the full moon or any other moon phase, is less obvious. Not encumbered by the difficulty of navigating and fishing in the dark, I am more inclined to think that their favored lunar conditions are based solely on past catch rates.
It would seem the moon, or more specifically the lunar cycle, would affect bass. The moon has a powerful effect on tides, and tides organize fish behavior. The dramatic spawning of the grunion that use the moon-influenced tides to deposit their eggs high on southern California beaches come to mind. Bass in tidal rivers position themselves at drains to gorge on the forage pulled from the marsh during falling tide. But there are no tides in inland freshwater systems. Does the moon affect bass in the vast inland acres where most bass anglers fish?
The simple answer is that there is no direct scientific evidence to support a lunar effect on bass. Numerous studies have assessed largemouth and smallmouth bass movement. These studies have found that bass have home ranges, select certain habitats, and exhibit seasonal and even day-night changes in movement and habitat use. A few of these movement studies have looked for lunar effects and found none. But these are movement studies; although feeding can be inferred from movement, these studies do not measure feeding behavior or angler catch rate. Continue reading this article at this LINK…..
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