Musky Fishing
New Moon or Full Moon
4/5/13 @ 5:31 AM
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In terms of action in general, Weather trumps the moon regardless of rise or set. With that said, when I choose to take a trip with moon as my unilateral influence, records have shown that in terms of 50+" fish in my boat(just the bar I chose to look at), the new moon period wins out over the past 15 years when looking at a fairly equal distribution of days spent fishing each phase. I tend to see longer windows when fishing the new moon period, but again, there are so many more variables with regards to regional/seasonal/climatical/pressure related approach when it comes to choosing my windows and trips accordingly. In truth, I take the same trips on the same weeks each year now, based on the season and previous success, trying to err a bit towards the new moon phase, but not married to it either. In between 'big' trips, I fish around home and use weather, time to fish, time of day, moon as my guide in that order.
Jason Schillinger
Not all of us have the liberty to avoid heavily pressured waters. I mostly fish the Madison chain and the point I was trying to make is that I'd rather fish a lake with five other boats than 80 other boats. Having 10 other guys pounding the smae piece of structure you are takes the fun out of muskie fishing in a hurry. To each their own though. With that said I have had some great outings on full moon nights especially around moonrise.
Edit: Grammar lol
B Fish,
I try to get out and musky fish whenever I can, regardless of moon phase, weather, time of year, etc. Being on the water is a treat itself.
That being said, I have tried to time musky trips during full or new moon times. So far it's paid off, and we've been successful on every single musky trip timed during these periods. That's impressive. However, the true keys to our success are hard work and keeping our lures in the water. That rules the day when all is said and done. Compared to previous trips that were NOT timed during moon phases, there is definitely a difference. As an extra note, I haven't seen a difference between full or new moon.
NPike_Guy said he avoids the water during moon times due to heavy boat traffic. I haven't experienced this problem yet, but then again I plan for this variable in advance and avoid certain waters that may have more fisherman on them. Regardless, worrying about other fisherman on the water shouldn't deter your fishing decision to go to the water you want to go to.
It's funny when you read through all of the magazines, books, and comments made by other fisherman right here on Lake-Link. Much of the information out there in the musky community conflicts with itself, such as one guy having great success during a full moon and another guy having great success during a new moon. Some guys do well DURING the full moon, and others say they only do well BEFORE the full moon. That was mentioned right here in this topic. I've had some of my best musky days before, during, AND after the full moon.
The bottom line is that you have to work hard to produce fish. If you can line up other variables to increase your odds you WILL produce more fish, such as timing trips during moon phases, but this isn't always a possibility.
Not only is weather probably the biggest deciding factor in my opinion, it's significant weather changes that I like the most. If i have a good spot or better yet a spot where I've seen a fish earlier in the day and know that there's a big front coming in, I'll make sure I'm on these spots at just the right time. I use my phone to watch the radar, this helps me time the front better. We have all heard of small feeding windows and it's these suttle changes that can make the difference of a musky striking or not striking. Moon, sunset, strong wind change, blue sky's changing to cloud cover, weather change, are some of the more talked about and IMHO some of the best times to be fishing places you know hold fish. They all have there time and place when they work. As far as the moon phases, sunset or rise, I believe it works the same during night or day. I compare it to looking at a clock, when the moons at 12 o'clock (moon over head), or 6o'clock (moon underneath) this is where I either try to go back and fish an earlier follow up or a spot that I know holds or think should be holding fish. Does all this work every single time, no, but if you pay attention to these changes and the times that you have caught fish, you'll start to notice a pattern that has something to do with triggering a fish to strike. Musky is a fish of 10,000 casts and anytime you can tip the odds in your favor your going to have more strikes and hook-ups. Learning to read a Muskies behavior will help you know when and how to use these,to your advantage. It comes with time on the water and everytime I'm out fishing I will learn something new.
In addition to new moon/full moon, what about daily moonrise and moonset? I've been doing a lot of reading this off season and these times seem to trigger more bites, though the local weather seems to be the over-riding trump card over daily and monthly moonphases. Any thoughts?
When I was talking about the moon overhead or below, this is where the moon is on any given day, not just full moons. There are a lot of little things that may give you an edge or even better a fish on the end of the line. I'll take a day of fishing no matter what on anyday, rain, snow, sleet, hot, cold, you name it I'll fish it. But there are things to pay attention to that will help with more fish.
I love dark nights, the cloudier the better. And I go out of my to fish the dark side of islands on brighter nights. I like the fact the fish has a harder time figuring out what he is thinking about eating.Considering muskies are pretty active night feeders, full moon periods are primetime for a night bite in the right weather and wind conditions. This may slightly decrease your chances for a bite during the day but not always. On lakes with heavy boat and fishing pressure, full moon periods are a great time to be out on the lake fishing since the full moon makes it easier for them to hunt prey. When theyre eating at night, they might be a little less prone to hit during the day. Its obviously not always the case but it makes sense. Always remember and follow the one rule... nothing trumps the weather. Good wind and weather conditions will trump the moon phases every time. Plus...its musky fishing and fish tend to buck trends just because thats how they are.
Well, I caught a nice girthy/robust girl with a bright blue bird sky.......a more than sufficient 30kt easterly wind. So, after that day any available time my schedule will permit, new moon or full moon, quarter moon what have you I fish. Musky's IMO,are like the flirtations I get or I think I get from the ladies at the health club. Should I smile back at the hot fit red-head who just smiled at me or just stand like I did(freeze like we might do when that big musky comes to follow that lure) their like an ass only to watch her run/swim away. A shake of my head.......a change of tactics. FIsh musky's when-ever and as much as you can and IMO you will succeed. Good luck my friend and always remember to smile regardless if you catch her or if she gets away.
As far as moon position i prefer moon over head or moon underneath. wether its during the day or at night. pay attention and you will notice that a lot of times the moons position does make a difference, I'm not exactly sure what it is but I've notice that I want to be on my good spots during those times.
Displaying 1 to 15 of 18 posts
