[Andy Marquis]

Some more solunar stuff for you.

I have had a lot of bass this year, though most of them not very big, I do not fish at times to conincide with a solunar event or a large negative index, I fish when I fish, I blank, I catch, but I log it all and the graph is beginning to speak for itself... i also don't bother logging all the wrasse... Just the better ones, maybe over 3.5lb, hence the lack of them on the results. They are also easier to predict where bass are not.

 

[Andy Marquis]

Older thread here: http://www.thelureforum.com/showthread.php?t=2425&highlight=solunar

 

[Keith White]

I hope this thread gets another discussion going.

We put alot into solunar event timing.

Some, most in fact, of our biggest fish have fallen at such times.

 

[Toby Harnett]

Interesting Andy. I know nothing about this sort of thing......what exactly is 'solunar index' & how does it link in or how is it equivalent to the normal full moon/half moon etc expressions........or is it just a measure of the brightness of the moon? A search on Google did not seem to reveal much

Cheers

Toby

 

[Andy Marquis]

There's some reading here: http://www.solunar.com/the_solunar_theory.aspx

In very basic terms, the influence of the moon and sun on our waters. The moon has an effect even during the day, maybe when it is directly below us for example. but remember that the moon and sun can be both above us at the same time which gives a large positive effect which personally I have not found good. better when the moon and sun are below us (i.e. night on a spring tide), though we know that spring tides may give better fishing, there are other periods when the moon and sun work together, or against each other to give us good fishing. I'll see if I can find some graphs.

 

[Toby Harnett]

Just had a read of the other thread embedded into your first post Andy. Very interestingHowever I still don't get what the solunar index is or what its measuring. Is it just some magical mathemetical figure that, in theory when its really negative, the fishing is supposed to be good, day or night. Can you tell what it is just by looking out of the window or do you need the software to calculate it??

 

[Andy Marquis]

This is produced by FishInSight logging program which I use. Costs a few quid but brilliant tool IMO. This is Guernsey for today. note the position of the moon and sun and the effect they have on the tides.

 

[Andy Marquis]

I'm not smart enough to calculate it myself so i use a program.

Think I best go fishing this afternoon for moon set which is at about half tide today, when the water is running hardest.

 

[Mike Sullivan]

Right i have read through all of this and if i have understood this correctly then the best fishing time would be from 10am today through till the early hours of the moring if i am right that is with the combined solunar force being in the -8 = 0 range?

Where as before 10am we have a positive effect force rather than negative?

Have i understood this correctly?

 

[David Step]

I remember this one. I think the theory is backed up by a large study in the States
http://www.moonstrike.co.uk/

 

[Andy Marquis]

Right i have read through all of this and if i have understood this correctly then the best fishing time would be from 10am today through till the early hours of the moring if i am right that is with the combined solunar force being in the -8 = 0 range?

Where as before 10am we have a positive effect force rather than negative?

Have i understood this correctly?

pretty much yes. I guess that some places may find better fishing when the force is greater than zero but for me it's been better in the negative. Not that i caught this afternoon but with the force 7 South Easterly it's hard to get out of it.

 

[Mike Sullivan]

thought so i read more this afternoon and got me head around it a little more i had never heard thee term before so always interesting.
Thanks mate

 

[Toby Harnett]

when the force is greater than zero

This bit made me go all Star Wars.......:laserswords:......sorry, could not resist!:-D

Excellent post. Cheers Andy

 

[Jon Bunyard]

From my own observations, which were based around Solunar tables and peak fishing times - the best fishing should generally be during the a new moon or a full moon and when the moon is in transition (either directly overhead or directly under foot). This causes the highest Solunar effect and therefore the strongest tide movements which allow fish to move easier / further to hunt.

Interestingly Solunar is being applied to more than fishing now, e.g. American hunters have been switched onto it for quite some time. And then we get into the weirder stats - plants appear to grow stronger during periods of high solunar activity. Policing in town centres is generally increased over the full moon (a period of high solunar activity) as the frequency of violent behaviour increases. Hospitals increase staffing in maternity wards over full moons as well as they see an increase in birth rates. Unfortunately no-one has determined a scientific explanation to explain these observations which remain as myths.

BTW - whilst bait fishing I found a massive alignment between solunar peak fishing times and when I caught most and good fish. Fishing outside these times I often blanked, at peak times I caught. Also all the locals turned up at peak times as 'these are the tides that fished well'. I have seen very little alignment bewteen the times and catch rates when lure fishing for bass. Personally I put this down to me not being very good but there may be a correlation between bass not liking strong tide.

 

[David Step]

Interesting stuff Jon. A quick search for solunar effects will give loads of hits, many related to angling. Moon phase calenders are available online. There appears to be far too much evidence to dismiss it and it's good to read of individuals experiences.
I can remember fishing a large reservoir for carp during the eclipse. As the time of the eclipse approached the birds starting making a lot of noise, rats became active and a couple of pick ups occurred. During the period of darkness several anglers had pick ups which was a real rarity on this particular water. A couple even had two rods go at once. Afterwards things got back to normal. It was pretty weird stuff and left you thinking something you couldn’t really put a handle on had occurred for those fish to be caught. I understand the same phenomena happened on other waters.