UNDERSTANDING WHEN TO BE IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME
For millennia humans have been fascinated with the moon, the effect of, a source of confusion for just as long. Popularized and exploited in movies, music, and literature, some based on fact, some on fiction. As long as humans have hunted and fished for survival, the full moon has been perceived as favourable to success. Only more recently has the entire lunar and solar, “Solunar” cycles been followed by anglers, and hunters alike.
The musky fishing community has used solunar calendars for reference for several years. Most anglers that follow it closely can substantiate catches to minor or major periods. Fishermen that don’t follow it, see it as purely coincidence if catches line up with solunar periods.
SCIENCE OR VOODO?
What are solunar calendars? The solunar cycles are based on the position of the sun and moon in relation to any given geographical location. The major periods are when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot, with minor periods being moonrise and moonset. The theory is that a new moon or full moon has a greater effect than a quarter or three-quarter moon. Adding sunrise or sunset to a major or minor period will theoretically increase the positive effects on fishing.
FACT OR FICTION
The science behind this phenomenon is not truly understood. In fact, little hard science has been done on this subject. For those looking for some scientific fact, an article published by Mark Vinson and Ted Angradi ( see references below ) analyzed close to 342,000 musky catches and compared them to moon cycles.
The results shocked most musky anglers who use the solunar tables. The conclusion was a five percent overall increase in catch rates for those anglers fishing in peak times. A five percent increase certainly is not much in the way of scientific proof.
Musky anglers that spend any amount of time hunting these apex predators will tell you weather is the number one consideration to success. Those that follow the solunar tables will often cite it as factor number two. A vast number of anglers pick sunset as the most opportune time to fish, inadvertently fishing during minors or majors.
MINOR AND MAJOR PERIODS
In my experience the minors or major periods can be thought of as an added confidence element. Personally, I have seen enough success to trust the solunar tables. To me it becomes a “sixth sense” on the water, firmly putting it on the voodoo side of the scale.
I fish my best spots on the majors with my most trusted baits. With the added adrenaline I cast a little longer, reel a little faster. My body and mind become more in-tune to my surroundings. Believing it will happen during the major I work harder. During minor periods I fish my second-best spots, subconsciously working a little less aggressively to catch fish. Throughout the day, while fishing off peak times I continue to fish as normal, albeit with a reduced expectation of success. My thoughts are that solunar theory can become a mental confidence builder. Neither hard fact or fiction, somewhere in the middle.
HOW DO YOU FOLLOW THE CALENDAR?
I treat the solunar tables as a vital piece of information. As I plan a day on the water, I look for a couple things; daily and weekly weather forecast as well as solunar minor and majors for the day. Whether I am guiding clients or fishing with family and friends I can plan a day around the information I gathered. I know the weather forecast will allow me to pick spots based on wind direction and speed. Is there a system moving in that might change the wind direction? A storm front on the horizon? With modern weather apps we can stay up to date on weather while on the water.
When I know the minor and major periods I can line them up to the current weather and pick the best spots to fish. An average day on the water I can expect to hit a couple solunar periods. Fishing after work? I may be lucky to hit one such period. These are the times being tuned into the weather and solunar periods can be super valuable.
PROOF IS IN THE NET
All this matters little if we don’t catch fish. I have used the solunar tables for the past couple of years and I firmly believe it has helped me catch more fish. An interesting side note, with solunar apps we can go back and look at solunar cycles on days we caught fish in the past. I have found some interesting coincidences on days when only one fish was caught.
A DIARY BRINGS IT INTO PERSPECTIVE
- September 15, 2017 5:12pm : On an otherwise lacklustre day with little to no fishing action I hook into a 45” fish, the only fish we caught all day. Looking back moonset, the minor was at 5:05pm that day.
- October 11, 2018 3:20pm : While fishing in a brutal snow storm I caught the only fish of the day, one of my most popular catches, the ‘snow musky’ Unbeknownst to us at the time the moon overhead major started at 3:15pm.
FOCUS ON KEY PERIODS
During the last two years I try to focus on minor and major periods and don’t view catches as coincidence any longer. I believe these periods lead to ‘feeding windows’, times when musky become active for short periods of time. Sometimes these bite windows may only last a half hour, but in our experience can lead to multiple fish days.
- August 11, 2019 : The major period this day was moon underfoot at 10:18am to 12:18pm. We focused our efforts on key structure, landing three fish inside this two-hour period.
- July 18, 2020 : Moonset minor starting at 7:56pm to 8:65pm, storm front moving in from the west. I was fishing solo on Cedar Lake, ON and landed three musky and one pike between 8:00pm and 8:48pm. Coincidence? I think not.
- July 31, 2020 : Moon overhead major from 10:45am to 12:45pm Fishing deep structure, targeting fish located on graph we boated two and lost another two to finish just outside the major period.
PUTTING ALL THE PIECES TOGETHER
I can fill a magazine with examples of fish caught during the solunar phases, I could also fill it with fish caught during off peak times. It’s fishing. Like a lot of animals in the wild we truly don’t understand how and why they feed. The fact is they have to feed to survive. Being on the water during peak times I feel my success rate is increased. Is it a mental edge that I am gaining or a purely scientific edge? Something powerful happens to apex predators during peak solunar activity. It may be animal physiology or black magic. It really makes no difference. Anglers that fish according to the solunar cycles will increase their confidence, this alone will tip the odds in their favor.
Reference: Vinson, M.R. and T.R. Angradi, Musky Lunacy: Does the Lunar Cycle Influence Catch of Muskellunge?, PLOS One, May 2014, Volume 9, Issue 5. E98046