Learn from Solunar Tables when fish will bite
Would you like to better understand fish and their feeding habits? Maybe even get a leg up on your buddies so you tear them up the next time you go fishing together?
There are a handful of things that affect when fish are hungry and how hungry they might be, and understanding them will certainly benefit your fishing. However, it’s pretty much impossible to understand them all, and sometimes an abundance of one cancels out another. Still, inquiring minds want to know.
The factors often discussed when trying to figure out a bite are the stage of the tide, the time of day, temperature, water temperature, wind direction and velocity, whether the barometer is steady, rising or falling and the moon stage. These factors cover a wide range of possibilities, and I don’t think anyone who has fished for very long will argue that these factors really do influence the intensity and duration of a feeding period. In addition to how they work, another question might be, “How do they work together?”
These factors all matter, but many years back I was introduced to the theory of moon position and took it to heart. Very few fishermen refer to it that way, but that’s what it is, and it’s often expressed in Solunar Tables. Fish are affected by the position of the moon, which enhances or limits its draw on the water and whatever is living in it. The Solunar Tables are the equivalent of tide tables for the position of the moon and predict activity periods for game and fish.
I believe that if all the other influences are steady, moon position has a significant influence on when fish feed and with what intensity. However, if one or more of the other factors listed above is also changing, especially one of the weather factors, they are more critical and will exert more sway with the fish. Still, moon position is valuable information, and many times I have found it to be the missing piece of the puzzle.
The effect of moon position on fishing isn’t a new concept; it’s been around for more than a century. John Alden Knight, a noted outdoorsman of the early 20th century, wasn’t the creator of the concept of moon position affecting fishing, but he strongly believed in it and developed the equations to compute the original Solunar Tables.
The story is that Knight was on a fishing trip in the early 1900s with a guide who introduced him to the idea that fish fed most actively when the moon was either directly overhead or directly underfoot. Knight took the guide’s idea to heart and over time developed it into a theory that corresponded the timing of the fish’s bite with the location of the moon in its orbit around the earth. He credited knowing these peak feeding times for successful fishing in many of his expeditions after then.
Knight documented his research and studies in a book, “Moon Up-Moon Down.” From that humble beginning and with Knight’s influence, that expanded into a theory and has been developed to the point that today’s Solunar Tables are plotted based on it. “Moon Up-Moon Down’ is still in print, with copies available through the Solunar Sales Company (www.solunartables.com). It chronicles Knight’s introduction to the idea, the development of the theory, his years of research and the eventual refinement of the Solunar Tables.
In a nutshell, the Solunar Tables are simply a listing of predicted activity periods for fish and game based on the position of the moon. These periods of feeding activity are classified as major or minor based on their intensity and duration, and two of each occurs in a time period of approximately 25 hours. This time corresponds to a lunar day, which is the basis for tides and moon phases.
Major activity and feeding periods occur when the moon is directly overhead or directly underneath a location, while the minor activity and feeding periods occur when the moon is out to the sides at roughly 90 degrees. Major activity periods are generally more intense and last longer, sometimes as much as two hours. Minor activity periods occur approximately halfway between the major activity periods and are noticeably less intense and shorter, sometimes less than an hour. Because the activity periods are based on the lunar day, solunar activity periods run roughly an hour later each successive day.
One aspect that many folks have difficulty comprehending is that not all major or minor activity periods are equal. They vary throughout the month much like the daily differences in the level and flow of the tide.
When the moon is at full or new stages, the solunar activity period and corresponding feeding activity is the longest and most intense, much like the tides being higher during the days leading up to and following the full moon or the tides being lower on the days leading up to and following the new moon. There are also lesser tugs by the moon when it is approaching and passing the first and third quarters, but these have less effect and are the shortest and weakest of the monthly solunar feeding activity periods.
I am a believer in using the Solunar Tables as a guide to fishing. They are not the be-all, end-all for knowing when fish will bite, but they are a surprisingly good predictor. I feel they are most reliable when the weather has been steady for a few days and no significant change is in the immediate forecast. In these cases, other factors that might affect the fish are stable, and the only thing changing is the moon position, which makes it the dominant factor. When weather factors are changing, they often exert more influence on fish than the moon’s position , especially around the first and third quarters of the lunar cycle, and the Solunar Tables aren’t as reliable.
I pay close attention to the solunar periods when fishing tournaments, and it has delivered prize-winning fish often enough it can’t be a fluke. There were times I stopped fishing to go catch fresh bait for the next major period and times I decided I had waited too late and made the decision to stay and fish with the baits I had — and both produced. The Solunar Tables were also consulted regarding changing or not changing locations because of a major period looming in the near future and wanting to be fishing, not running, during the activity period. I wasn’t always that diligent, but I learned the hard way that I wanted to be fishing during a major activity period, even if it was between the extreme moon phases and was a weaker major. There were times these times produced the only strike during a slow tournament.
Many knowledgeable fishermen consider knowing the feeding activity periods plotted in the Solunar Tables as important factors to consider. I have seen them work on a personal level and am a believer. The August tables are free elsewhere in this magazine, so do yourself a favor and use them for a couple of trips to see if they work for you. If you pay close attention and keep records, you’ll probably be asking for a set of the 2016 Solunar Tables to appear in your Christmas stocking and a copy of John Alden Knight’s book, “Moon Up-Moon Down” be wrapped under the tree.
Note: A monthly solunar schedule is included in the Astro Tables in each issue of North Carolina Sportsman.
Be the first to comment