The moon's effect on fishing

Have you ever just looked up and saw the moon lighting up the sky and said to yourself tonight looks like a great night to be out fishing? 

Well truth to be told you may have been right, it was indeed a great night to fish. Now, this is my opinion as I have used the lunar cycle to pick out days to go out for snook fishing here in SE Florida. In my opinion, the times I am having more hookups seem to be when the Moon is present at dusk or dawn. The biggest days for me though, are Full Moons and New Moons. I found there are 2 sides to this story. 

Some people say the Moon cycle doesn't matter and some say it does make a difference. We will let you guys decide yay or nay. 

Getting to know the Moon Phases:

When applying the Moon’s phases to fishing there are four main Moon phases we are looking for: New Moon; First Quarter; Full Moon; Second Quarter

I have found that the best time is the New and Full Moons as this is where there will be the strongest and biggest tides of the month which are when the fish become more active. With Fishbrain Pro you can track fishing forecasts based on lunar cycle.

Lunar periods through the Day:

There are basically 4 periods over the course of 24 hours when the moon's influence will contribute to more bites. Which are at dusk and dawn but also during the moonset and moonrise. Dusk and Dawn would be considered a major period and the set and rise would be more of a minor period.  If you don’t have Fishbrain Pro, you can use tools found on the web to find these times. I have found during these times of the day the fish seem more active and feeding.

Determining the best times to fish:

After you do a little research see what phase of the moon you are in at the time and what time of day you are planning to go. You are going to want to look for the best fishing times 90 minutes around the 4 lunar periods of the day. Which means 45 minutes before and 45 minutes after. Also, the New Moon and Full Moon will generally have the biggest high tides which generally equal better fishing conditions. Remember this is all in theory. Just working these times doesn't always mean that you are going to get lucky. 

Hopefully, you can take a little something out of this and check out what lunar cycle we are in and see if it has any effect on the bite that day or night. Still a Full moon is the best time with a big high tide and that big bright moon. You won't know until you give a shot. Tight lines