Lately I’ve been comparing my fishing results to the predictions on Tides4fishing.com and I seem to do better on the days with more solar (sun) and lunar (moon) activity. In simple terms, the position of the sun and moon affect tides and, it’s believed, fish activity.
Opelu victim #1
Opelu victim #2
This past week I fished 4 days after the full moon and Tides4fishing had a dismal prediction. To compound matters I fished the mid-morning last half of the falling tide and the wind was blowing 10 – 14 mph. The bite was really slow and I just had three 8 inch frozen opelu stripped at the gills. This happened at 70ft and twice at 30 ft, and I suspected a big kaku. Note that both fish just missed the second hook. I suspect the didn’t hit the baits hard, and just pulled the back half away.
The wind was much lighter 3 days later, 7 days after the full moon, and the solar/lunar activity was predicted to be much higher. I was able to fish the first half of the falling tide, and the current was almost too slack. To get a better shot at landing the bait stealer, I lengthened the line between the two hooks and buried the second hook in the tail.
My left hand was getting ready to pull its teeth out of my shin!
Sure enough, there was much more bait activity spotted on the fish finder, and 3 fish were solidly hooked. Unfortunately, the culprits were big aha or needlefish. All were hooked on the back hook and the first one eventually bit through the 40lb fluoro leader, which was fine with me. The second unhooked itself, even better. I couldn’t shake the 3rd and smallest of the 3 so I had to unhook it. I kept my feet out of the water and still, the aha rammed into the side of the kayak and then hit my shin with the underneath of its jaw. Glad it didn’t jump into the yak with its mouth open.
I also missed a couple more drag pullers while trolling, and had my baits pulled off with hard jerks when I bottom fished but couldn’t hook what I hope were small uku. The two days varied in wind speed and tidal movement phase so it wasn’t an apples to apples comparison, but I believe that the fish bit much better on the second outing because the moon was smaller and I was able to fish right at the high tide drop.
How does the size of the moon affect your catches?
This is a controversial one, and I think depends on the spot and style of fishing. Many inshore guys believe a big moon is bad news for shallow water fishing, and this is something I’ve heard since small kid time. Back when I dabbled in slide-bait fishing, the “prime” phase was considered to be 4-7 days after the full moon. As far as I know, this only applied to the east Oahu spots, where the waters are very deep. I’ve heard a lot of north shore ulua fisherman prefer the smaller moon. Their spots are usually shallower.
For oio fly-fishing, many do believe a big moon is bad. Not just here, but in other locales, such as the Bahamas or the Keys. That said, I’ve had great days around every part of the lunar cycle, including full and near-full and vice versa. I’ve heard the same from other fly guys as well, but there are also many who believe moon phase matters. There might be too many other variables to properly control for, so we may never know for sure. Bottom line is, you never know ‘til you go! Can’t catch sitting on the couch ?
Thanks for the well informed comment Jason! Regarding the 4-7 days after the full moon for deep water ulua fishing on the East Oahu spots, I’ve also heard that the deep water allows the big bodied ulua to stay hidden longer to ambush prey in the moon lighted nights. They’d have a much harder time sneaking up on prey in shallower water with so much light in the sky.
In my shoreline and kayak past outings, it seemed like the days leading up to the full moon were more productive than the first few days after the full moon. Dunno if anyone else has had that experience.
Dark moon the night before and rising tide seems the best, of course!
Another thing to consider is that the moon phase and tides are closely correlated, so it might be hard to know if it’s the tide being high or the moon phase. Using the ulua fishing example, 4-7 days after a full moon, at least at the Hanauma station during the summer, means the “big” high tide is in the evening. As summer progresses, it gradually moves later and later, but still occurs at night. Coincidence or not? who knows lol
Ahhh!! Great point.