Bass Enthusiast - Moon Phases

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Moon Phases

Richie White discusses the ways that the moon and its phases affects bass and the best ways for a bass angler take advantage of it.

Moon Phases

It is a proven fact that our moon has an influence on fish. We know that the gravitational pull from the moon is the greatest influence on tidal activity found in the oceans. It is a natural observation that because the depth of the water fluxuates daily, saltwater fish will be influenced by the tides. We know from science that the bigger the body of water, the bigger the tidal influence. But what about fish in smaller bodies of water? What about largemouth bass in our home lakes and reservoirs? Is there enough tidal influence in our lakes to affect bass feeding and spawning behavior in freshwater lakes?

Many reputable outdoor publications include some sort of table that lists "peak times" according to the moon phases. Writers of these tables claim that wildlife activity is at a higher potential during these peak times. Is there any truth to these table? Could we improve our fishing by going when the fishing should be best?

These are some of the questions I have wrestled with in my fishing career. I always try to approach bass fishing with a scientific analysis. With my background in database programming and now guiding full time, it is becoming more feasible for me to gather data for statistics. I find myself constantly tracking more and more information in my database - always wishing I would have taken the time to record more in times past. In this series of articles on moon phases, I plan to share with you what I have learned about moon phases. In the next article, I discuss moon phases from the earth's perspective. There, I discuss what you would notice if you observed the moon every night without distraction. It differs from the article on "understanding moons" which explains what is really happening (while the earth is turning). I also include a whole page on terminology and eventually get around to discuss my findings. I hope you can learn something.

Earth Perspective

If you observed the moon every day, you would notice that it rises in the east and sets in the west approximately 30 minutes to an hour later every day. In actuality, it is the earth that is turning every day and not the moon. I will discuss what is really happening in my article on "understanding moons". However, knowing what the moon does from the perspective of an observer on the earth may be more useful. For purposes of this article, I will write about what appears to be happening.

On the night of the full moon, the moon rises at about the same time the sun sets. It also sets at about the same time as the sun rises in the morning. So, on the night of the full moon, not only do you have the whole moon but you also have it all night long. Conversely, on the night of the new (dark) moon, it rises at daybreak and sets at sundown. So, if you could see the new moon, you would only see it during the day. After the new (dark) moon, every day the moon gets a little fuller and comes out a little later. About a week after the new moon, there will be a half moon that comes out in the middle of the day and sets in the middle of the night. After another week of getting fuller and coming out later, it will be a full moon rising about sundown and setting at sunup. After the full moon, it will start getting smaller again and rising later every night. A week or so after the full moon, the half moon will rise in the middle of the night and set in the middle of the day.

This process repeats itself continuously. Every 29 1/2 days or so the moon will go from new (dark) to full and back to dark again. Since our calendar month is slightly more than 29 1/2 days, the full moon is approximately a day or so earlier every month. When the half moon is getting fuller, it will be shaped like a "D" (with the lighted side on the right). When it is getting smaller, it will be shaped like a "C" (with the lighted side on the left). So, a way to remember if the full moon is approaching or going away is to remember the word DOC (the O meaning full).

Another way to tell if the full moon is approaching or going away is when you see it. If you see a moon in the evening (before dark), you can be assured that it will get even fuller the next day. If you see a moon in the morning (after sunup), you can bet that it will be getting even smaller.

Phase Terminology

Knowing all the terminology probably won't make you a better fisherman, but it could help you interpret solunar tables and understand articles. Below is a list of words you may find in a solunar table or moon phase article and their definitions. I will discuss most of them in my article on "understanding moons".

Apogee - phase of the moon where the earth and moon are farest apart.

Crescent - less than 1/2 illuminated moon.

First quarter - 1/2 illuminated moon occuring about a week after the new moon. The right side is illuminated and will continue to get bigger until the full moon.

Full moon - 100% illuminated moon. Not only is the moon full, but it is out all night long.

Gibbous - more than 1/2 illuminated moon.

High tide - time of day when the tide is at it's highest point. Usually occurs twice a day.

Low tide - time of day when the tide is at it's lowest point. Usually occurs twice a day.

Neap tide - weak tides when the moon is 1/2 illuminated.

New moon - 0% illuminated moon. It is called the new moon because the phase starts over again at this point. Not only is the moon darkest during the new moon, but it is only out during the daylight hours.

Perigee - phase of the moon where the earth and moon are closest together.

Spring tide - Strong tides occuring when the earth, the sun, and the moon are in a line (has nothing to do with the season). Spring tides occur during the full moon and the new moon.

Third quarter - 1/2 illuminated moon occuring about a week after the full moon. The left side is illuminated and will continue to get smaller until the new moon.

Waning - the moon is getting less illuminated every day. This happens between the full moon and the new moon.

Waxing - the moon is getting fuller every day. This happens between the new moon and the full moon.

Understanding Them

Just looking at the moon from the earth, it would be almost impossible to figure out what is happening. It appears that the moon is orbiting around the earth about once a day. Science has proven that the moon does orbit the earth, but not once a day but closer to once a month. What is really happening is our earth is spinning once a day which makes it appear that the moon is going around us once a day.

The moon goes around the earth approximately one time every 29 1/2 days. The moon always shows the same side toward the earth. We never see the side facing away from us. The moon itself does not have any light. Its' light is reflected from the sun. The sun always shines on the moon and half of it is always illuminated. What we see depends on where the moon is in relation to us and the sun. When the moon is directly between earth and the sun, it is considered the new (dark) moon. During this phase, the sun shines its' light on the part of the moon we can't see, so we don't see any illumination. As the moon goes further around the earth, the sun shines its' light on more of the moon that we can see. When the moon moves half way around the earth, the earth is between the sun and moon. This is when the half that we see is totally illuminated, thus the full moon. One of the confusing things to me is the terminology of the quarters. The first quarter is really the first half moon and the third quarter is really the last half moon. It makes sense if you think about quarters being a fourth of the phase, but it is easy to try to associate quarter with amount of illumination instead of the actual phase. Another reason it is confusing is because the quarters start with zero (although you probably won't see it listed as a quarter). The first quarter starts at the half moon getting fuller (waxing) until the full moon. The second quarter starts at the full moon and the illumination gets smaller (waning) every day. The third quarter starts with the half moon waning and ends with the new moon. There is no "fourth quarter".

If you read the terminology in the previous article, I mentioned that the crescent is less than half illumination and gibbous is more than half illumination. We also saw that waxing means getting fuller and waning is just the opposite. Here is the complete phase with terminology:

1: New moon (dark)
2: Waxing crescent (less than half moon - right side illuminated)
3: 1st quarter (half moon - right side illuminated)
4: Waxing gibbous (more than half moon - right side illuminated)
5: Full moon (2nd quarter)
6: Waning gibbous (more than half moon - left side illuminated)
7: 3rd quarter (half moon - left side illuminated)
8: Waning crescent (less than half moon - left side illuminated)

Affect on Bass

I took the Texas top 50 bass and looked up the moon phase for each date and noted some interesting statistics. 23 of the top 50 were caught with at least 75% illumination, meaning they were close to a full moon. Only a fourth of the time is it 75% or more illumination. So almost half of the top 50 bass in Texas were caught in a fourth of the time. Could it be coincidence?

I did the same analysis with my personal top 50 and yielded similar results. 21 of my top 50 were caught with at least 75% moon.

Another observation I have noticed is that the full moon has less influence in the summer than other seasons. In fact, there is not a single entry in either the Texas top 50 or my own personal top 50 around the full moon in the summer. Of course, this is due partly because fish are not as big in summer as they are spring and winter, but there is a handful of top 50 entries around new or half moons in the summer - just not around the full moon. Based on this, I recommend fishing the half moon instead of the full moon if you fish at night and have the choice.

During the spawn, you hear a lot about the full moon bringing out new waves of fish on the beds. I have seen it happen and I have also seen it not happen. I can recall a time recently when my worst day in April was the day of the full moon. However, you can't deny the fact that a large number of big fish are caught around the full moon in the spring. Does that mean that we should only fish around the full moon in the spring? I don't think so! Those statistics are somewhat skewed because some people have to plan their trips in advance and plan them around the full moons. So, it is likely that more people are fishing around the full moon than other times. Also, I have found that monster bass are different creatures than smaller bass - even 8 and 9 pound bass. I often catch my biggest bass when the fishing is slow. So, fishing when the potential for bigger fish is best may not be the best time to catch lots of fish. You also have to consider factors that are more important than moon phases. Some examples are seasonal patterns, water temps, time of day, water clarity, cloud cover, etc.

In September, 2003, I started giving my trips a rating of 0 to 100 based on how I thought we did. That rating is subjective, but since it is the same person rating all the trips, it should give a reasonably accurate rating throughout the year (or years). In June, 2004, I decided to include another rating which I believe should be even more accurate. I call this a "potential" rating. I believe it should be more accurate because it is based on how the fish were biting, not how many we boated. If we lost some fish or if I saw other fishermen catching fish, the "potential" rating may be higher than my trip rating. I am currently tracking about 20 variables for each trip (water temp, wind dir, speed, best times, biggest fish, average weight, number of fish, etc.) I don't believe I have enough data yet to start crunching numbers, but soon I will analyze the data and share some graphs and statistics with you

Solunar Tables

Many of the popular outdoor magazines have some type of solunar tables. These tables work on the premise that feeding activity will be heaviest when the moon is directly overhead (major period) or directly underfoot (minor period). With this reasoning, the best fishing should be around midnight on the full moon, noon on the new moon, sundown on the first quarter (half moon waxing), and sunup on the third quarter (half moon waning).

My personal experience is that sometimes the solunar times are on the money and sometimes they are dead wrong. Unfortunately, it seems like they have more accuracy if I don't pay any attention to them until after I fish. That doesn't help much if the whole purpose is to know when to fish and when to sleep, eat, look for new spots, etc. But it seems like everytime I think I am onto something, I get thrown a loop and go back to the drawing board.

I believe that morning and evening are usually active periods. On the 1/2 moon, the morning and evening have the most lunar influence during those active periods. It seems to me that morning and evening truly are better during the 1/2 moon than new and full moons. So, in a sense, I believe in the solunar tables. On the other hand, I believe there is often a better feeding time when the moon first gets over the horizon. I believe the light of the moon is often a greater influence than the gravitational pull of the moon overhead. So, often the fishing is better the first couple of hours of moon up than it is when the moon is directly overhead (as the solunar tables say).

It seems like most every day there are 2 or 3 periods where most of the fish are caught. I have recently started tracking the two best periods of each trip. When I have enough data, I will share my conclusions with you.

Richie White