Solar/Lunar fishing?
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: Landbased & Surfcasting
Forum Description: From rocks or beaches, here's the place for the landbased fishos to share information
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=29060
Printed Date: 29 Jun 2026 at 2:14am
Topic: Solar/Lunar fishing?
Posted By: fiddy
Subject: Solar/Lunar fishing?
Date Posted: 03 May 2008 at 6:32pm
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So a dutch guy at my work has started telling me that he now goes fishing depending on the moon and suns position ect and apparently it works well for him, and usually catch's his quota.
I've tried looking on the net to find out how to figure out when to go fishing and found a program called fishbyte 6 which tells you the major and minor bite time of the day. So I will try fishing off the rocks tomorrow at archilles pt according to what this program says and will get back to you on the success. Does anyone else fish according to the lunar/solar positions? Or does anyone have any tips or comments? Cheers boys |
Replies:
Posted By: Bungel_
Date Posted: 03 May 2008 at 7:55pm
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if it helps you to get out there more often... then its a good idea. i do take it into consideration sometimes, mainly fishing the change of tides ( high or low) depending on the spot.The weather usually dictates my fishing time more than anything too. But its usually an after work or weekend mission, and i cant take them into consideration all the time. I would try to plan a big trip away with some thought on moonphase phases and tidal heights ect. ------------- here fishy, fishy fishy..... |
Posted By: cosmo
Date Posted: 03 May 2008 at 8:07pm
so long as you are out there doing it and learning then you are doing it right ------------- i just want to go fishing..........amd ignore all my adult problems |
Posted By: Rock Fish
Date Posted: 03 May 2008 at 10:47pm
Agreed guys  . I do the same somewhat. I'm still in the learning process as far as that goes and have started jotting down stats every time I go out. Alot of it has to do with location though as well. One area may not fish well on a certain moon/lunar or tide while another would do extremely well. Trial and area would be my only advice in this area. Go out enough times and you'll start to get an idea of which of your local haunts will do best at certain times.Good luck with the fishing tomorrow, I know I'll be out with line in water ------------- Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught. |
Posted By: Uncle
Date Posted: 03 May 2008 at 11:23pm
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Here's some interesting reading for anyone who is willing to learn.
Back in the '70's, I had a bit to do with a DSIR scientist, Max Gibbs, & he did a fair bit of work on the subject.
To me, there was no doubt the theory had merit & it sure lined up with results.
http://www.solunar.com/the_solunar_theory.aspx - http://www.solunar.com/the_solunar_theory.aspx
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Posted By: one leg
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 12:07am
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Yes i've read through that as well Uncle very good reading ------------- woman who say they are equal to men ,show lack of Ambition . |
Posted By: JK
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 8:52am
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I've always been a supporter of the theory but if a not so good moon phase is on and i have a day off then its not going to stop me going fishing. I really like to consider the moon phases now that i have less time to fish due to work and family commitments. Therefore when i go fishing now its more important i go at times where i have more chance of getting the good results. Sure makes sense! btw this coming saturday there is a cracker bite time late arvo. wouldnt want to miss it but i unfortunately will be at a mates wedding grrrr ------------- LedgeNZ LBG |
Posted By: tugboat
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 9:28am
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Have a search on the forum under "moon" theres been alot posted on this subject...
I follow the theory posted by a longtime forum member "lethal" who knows his shyte!!! The theory is based around moonrise/moonset, read the info in the link below, the pics are gone but theres enough info in there to figure out what hes on about!! http://www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=5179&PN=1 - moon |
Posted By: surfsbest
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 12:06pm
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As mentioned previously by tugboat, lethal really knows his stuff.
I had also accumulated data for eons for snapper (and ONLY snapper) caught from the shore by mates and myself. (nowhere as much data as lethal would have) Took from this, this data from the largest, about 30 snapper over 7.5 kg. Is data from shore spots only from both East and West Coast in all sorts of weather conditions, times of day and year. Excel plots of the data would suggest that if you are after Trophy Snapper, that you are best to concentrate your efforts to the few days either side of the first and last quarters of the moon phase. The greatest numbers of fish caught were essentially right on the quarters most especially the third or last quarter. Only about ten "best" days for the month! Moonrise and moonset! Plots showed that most were caught at these times, particularly in the hour after the moon had just set or in the hour before it rose. Sometimes a bit earlier if on the east coast when fishing under a cliff at moonset at night, where the cliff casts a shadow well out. Times are not as clearly defined as the moon phase as could be within an hour either side of the rise or set times. Even on the non big fish days, I always put out baits for larger fishes at the times of moonrise and moonset and frequently it pays off with the largest snapper on the day. My original plots from the snapper data had been for a much wider size range, with the smallest at about 5.0kg. At this size up, there were still a few random fish showing up outside the bell curves for the bulk. An increase to 6.5kg had almost all were concentrated around the quarters. And at 7.5kg all were in. An interesting point is that most by far of my shore fishing was on the other tides, especially at new moon and despite this the largest snapper came at the quarters. I have no doubt that many shore fishers out there will have the skills to pick these larger snapper no matter what the moon phase, however I take the easy way and follow the numbers. And - check out all lethal’s posts. He really knows his onions. |
Posted By: shoby
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 4:25pm
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What i heard from some experienced fishos is that these moon phases mainly affect on snappers...other species like trevs kingies etc does not get affected.... I dont know how true is that, but i would go for fishing whenever i can... Tight lines |
Posted By: Gyro
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 5:06pm
| Wtides, from www.wtides.com is another free software program for solar, lunar and tidal prediction. |
Posted By: JK
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 5:42pm
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As too is the TUMONZ tide viewer avail from www.tumonz.co.nz Pretty sure the moon phases don't only affect snapper, have noticed it on other fish as well. Hell its quite evident in my fish tank at home! ------------- LedgeNZ LBG |
Posted By: fiddy
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 7:26pm
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Cheers for al the info, i've got a lot of reading material to keep me busy till my next time fishing next weekend.
Well I got myself a very nice Kahawai today, 4lb/50cm, and I saw a fair amount of activity of something chasing the local baitfish. sad to say it was a day I wish I was using a softbait or had a livey. But the weather got too bad to stay there much longer as an hour in the rain was quite enough. |
Posted By: kiwinoz
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 9:16pm
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i've said this in other threads but i definitely think theres something to this moon biz. i'll fish regardless but new and full moons seem to be better fishing. on occasion i have seen the first quarter fire quite hard as well. for pelagic fish i'm not sure that its the moon, rather its effect on the water. larger tides around the moons equal more tidal movement resulting in more activity. there has to be something to that old adage 'no flow no go'. kurt ------------- one more parking ticket and i'm going to snap! |