The Outdoor Line Forum

So I just got done tellin a buddy that I was headin to forks this weekend to play with some steelys. He asked me how I do when I fish in a full moon(apparently theres a full moon tomorrow.) So this is my question...Anybody against fishing in a full moon? Ever notice it shut a bite off? Ive heard of this before but I dont really pay attention to it. I check the flows if Im river fishin and the tides in the salt and thats about it. Ive also heard stories about Barometric Pressure and when a Low rolls in it will shut a bite off. Just wonderin if anybody has in stories they wanna share. Ive never payed attention to really any of it. Thanks Brandon

Hey Brandon,
The full moon phenomena has a basis in fact.
If the full moon coincides with clear skies then those anglers and hunters hoping to take advantage of a stark change in light levels at dawn have less "darkness" to work with.
Fish have less opportunities to feed in total darkness and a full moon provides enough light for most predatory species to find groceries.

That all makes sence to me. Ive never done night fishing. I guess what I was trying to say was does any of that have an overall effect on the fishing. Ive heard guys mention this before. Just wanted to know if its a bunch of BS or theres somethin behind it.

I didn't notice much change on the river on a full moon. In the saltwater it can slow the bite a bit when the skies are clear and the "change of light" bite is super short first thing in the morning. I always liked steady low pressure on the river, as steelhead move quite a bit on a low pressure front. Not a huge low pressure drop...just the low steady, drizzly rainy deal that you find in Forks 360 days a year

.just the low steady, drizzly rainy deal that you find in Forks 360 days a year

So whatdya supposed to do the other five days?

I guess the full moon today is being called a "super moon" it suppose to be closer to Earth than it has in 18 years. Not sure how that will
effect the fishing but I'm going to give it a shot here in a bit.

I'm not sure Ruckus...never seen the sunshine in Forks

Lakes and saltwater it seems to make a bit of a difference. I wouldn't ever worry about the full moon for river fishing as Robbo said!

Listen up though! The one nemesis to anyone's day of catching no matter where the heck ya go is a warm east wind! Don't even bother headin' out. Not joking!

Roger that Cobble Cruiser...the east wind is a rally killer every time. Fishing blackmouth in a NE wind...forget it

I agree with Rob and Danny...haven't noticed moon phases affecting river fishing much, if at all...and off all the weather phenomena that we get to deal with here in the PNW, when it comes to steelhead fishing there's only one thing that can really screw it up, and that's rapidly changing pressure gradients, especially going from high to low. Besides changing the oxygen content of the water (more oxygen in water at higher pressures), it usually comes with weather fronts that change the physical nature of the rivers, too...like blowing them out from too much rain! On some smaller streams I've found that any change is good, even the "bad" pressure change...on bigger streams, that dropping pressure combined with a rising river, no matter how slight, is a recipe for a nice float trip uninterupted by the hookup

Fish on...

Todd