Fishing during a full moon?

Does the full moon light have an influence on how fish bite when fishing? Some claim it is pointless to fish during a full moon, but others are adamant that their catches are particularly good during a full moon and can barely be surpassed.

It can be assumed that it is more the moonlight, which could bear an effect, rather than the astronomical event full moon itself (which can also take place during the day, as we have already outlined). Hence, it should hardly make a difference whether one goes fishing in the night before/after or during a full moon itself, because the amount of light is roughly the same and is more influenced by clouds and weather rather than by the exact constellation of planets.

The moonlight could have two different effects: on the one hand, nocturnal fish, like for example the eel, might be deterred from light, because they could be spotted much easier and therefore run into danger to be eaten by other predatory fish. On the other hand, diurnal fish might »think« it is daytime during a full moon and begin to behave more actively. There are such fish species that bite also at night, like for instance the pikeperch, carp or the occasional pike as well. However, whether this behaviour is enhanced by the moonlight, remains unclear.

But what does the angler has to say? Surveys show that opinions differ, whereby the majority of those questioned say that the fish bites worse during a full moon. This could stem from the above described deterring effect of the moonlight for nocturnal fish. The other large second group of anglers say that they don’t notice a difference between full moon and other lunar phases. Only a few anglers actually report good catches. That such a catch is obviously something spectacular during a full moon and remains in the memory, could explain the sensational character of these announcements.

By the way, in many regions in Germany, fishing at night is actually not permitted or restricted to specific species. This is mostly justified with the protection of water, nature and local residents. How this works in other countries, we have not been able to find out yet and are interested to know more about it. All readers can leave a comment underneath this article.

Whether fishing or not, whether during the day or during the night, whether full moon or new moon … we’ll wish you »tight lines«!