Crystal Ball - Predicting Fishing 2024
Violinguy reply :
I'm just curious. We have all read an article here and there on weather and fishing, and I'm not asking about weather conditions vs. good bite.
I'm just wondering if those silly graphs on weather.com that show active fishing periods throughout the day are at all accurate. Or any other of those websites or apps that predict active fish vs. inactive.
5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :
I have an app on my iPhone 5S called "fishing deluxe" It shows moon phases and barometric pressure graphs. The main idea is every day on the calendar is rated 1-5 stars with 5 being the best day.
Outcome:
I've been skunked on 5 star days and on a 1 star day I caught my biggest best ever. Go figure.
Violinguy reply :
Well, today was supposed to be most active first thing in the AM, 3-4PM and then just after dark. I got to the lake at 230 and caught one decent fish and lost a couple also. Then from 3-4 caught nothing. Hmmmm
flyingmonkie reply :
There have been several studies done on the impact of lunar cycles, and there is data that suggests that more bigger fish are caught during certain moon phases. The theory is that feeding may be triggered by certain moon events, just like it can be triggered by a wide variety of other natural events. Does it impact fish? Sure. Does it's impact trump any other environmental factors? Doubtful.
IMO: Lunar cycle is just ONE of the variables in our seemingly endless equation of fishing. Keep on calculating! 
5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :
Best chance to catch bass is to go out and fish. :-)
RoLo reply :
Kind Response:
My esteem for the Solunar Theory parallels that of a state lottery (benefiting from its intricate vagaries is highly elusive)
Harsh Response:
Man has proven himself unfit to manage his own affairs, like balancing the fiscal budget;
and predicting tomorrow's weather. Why would this same buffoon fancy the notion
that he's capable of timing natural events under the auspices of Mother Nature?
Roger
WRB reply :
Doug Hannon the late bass fishing guru has thousands of followers you believe his fishing charts based on solunar activity. The charts have been and continue to be published in several fishing magazines including Bassmaster called Astro tables.
It's another factor to consider along with weather and the other animal activity you observe.
I respect Hannon memory and his bass fishing skills.
Tom
Paul Roberts reply :
In my experience, immediate conditions affect fish most. Large scale catch-all's miss the important smaller scale stuff.
We all gravitate toward, look for, the easy and simple way out ... reminds me of the bubble headed girl selling some wonder health elixir at a local fair I met. She finished her perky spiel with a vacuous "It's simple! You know, nature's really simple when you get down to it", finishing with a cute, and emphatic, little shoulder twist. I had been politely half listening but I think my jaw dropped when she said that, and I could only respond, "No. No. It's not. It's very very very very ...complex."
Does this mean that all measures taken of natural phenomenon are useless? No. The devil is in the details and that's where the complexity begins to show. But some measures are more useful than others –notably the stuff you said you weren’t asking about: “conditions”. Understanding them -combining knowledge and personal experience- ARE the shortcuts. In no time in history are there more "shortcuts" available than now. They won't include running your finger down a magic table, or having your phone beep, and tell you it's time to cast.
Not meaning to sound short, but I guess I've jumped to the middle ground between Roger's kind and harsh responses.
nascar2428 reply :
Create a fishing log using the solunar tables as one of the parameters. See if your bites and catches correspond. Bottom line it's one of many tools available to anglers to possibly help improve catches. When I have the time to fish, I'm fishing,
Lund Explorer reply :
I'm going to give a thumbs up to Roger, Tom, and Paul.
I suggest that you go fishing, take whatever you want into calculating what it will take to catch a fish, and then do it.
There is one absolute that applies to bass fishing. Unless you see their tracks on the shoreline, the odds are that those fish are still in the same lake they were in the last time you went there. With all of it's shortcomings, the human mind does have the ability to reason. A bass? Not so much. They are creatures of habit based on their environment, and if you can locate them, it is possible to find something they might bite on.
Imagine how sad life would be if we all needed some silver bullet to tell us when to fish. You work all week and on Saturday morning the Solunar Tables say fishing was great on Wednesday but stinks on Saturday. Are you going to stay home and mow the lawn? What if you get to the lake and your Color-C-Lector tells you that you have to throw a "Bozo the Clown" color, and you don't have any. Do you give up and go shopping with the wife? The same goes with your PH Meter, Surface Temp Gauge, or any other toy sold to bass fishermen to supposedly stack the odd in your favor.
You go fishing when you can go fishing, and be happy with the fact that you'll never be there when all of these so-called stars are in perfect alignment.
SirSnookalot reply :
Bear with this as I'll be getting to bass at the end. Over the last 10 years I have fished just about 7 days a week year round, most people know it's saltwater for me. The moon phase affects the tide, the tide affects the bait and that affects the game fish. Each day later in the tide cycle the bite drops off until there is literally no bite. The days when I'm catching inshore fish I'm catching bass in the afternoon, the days I don't catch inshore fish bass are much tougher to come by. Whether my bass fishing is done at peak or non peak times I can't say. Based on my 10 years of experience today should be pretty good, with the tide change just after sunrise, later today I expect to do quite well bass fishing. Sounds simple but it isn't, what can't be factored in based on past experience is what the weather will be like today. Wind direction and strength affect water clarity and current speed, that might put a damper on my hopes for the day.
Bottom line, just go fishing.
5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :
I agree snook. The apps and such can help some, bit the fish aren't locked into those factors. Bottom line is true, just fish. :-)
Violinguy reply :
Yeah, I'm gong to continue to fish when I feel like it. Obviously, as the temperature continues to rise here in GA, the fish are tougher to get to, so first thing in the AM is going to work best. I was just wondering how much stock to put in some of the different apps and tables you see here and there. Maybe a little, but as you all pretty much said, actually fishing is the most important part.
Raul reply :
Here´s not a prediction, it´s a fact: you are not going to catch anything if you are not fishing.
Here´s a prediction: regardless of the conditions if you are not there you fishing are not going to catch anything.
Another prediction: go fishing as much as you can, that´s the only way you are going to catch them.
Paul Roberts reply :
No one's suggesting anyone not go fishing -except maybe the phone app. 
GeoffreyInLouisiana reply :
I have an app on my phone called Sportsman Tracker, yesterday was supposed to be a 4 star day but I only hooked one then it took me in a downed tree n had my line all wrapped around the tree. The thing that makes it really disappointing was it was a Strike King PPJ in Texas Craw. When I got it from Hattiesburg, MS the cashier was more worried bout playing with watch instead of making sure that he scanned my items. I didn't notice it until I got home and to put the stuff in my tackle box n realized that the receipt didn't add up to the price I had in my head. I tried to it again on Wal-Mart app but it says sold out n status unknown the stores. I couldn't the 3/8oz on Amazon smallest had was 1/2oz n it is $9.30. Hopefully I can get one soon. Even tho I got way off subject that sportsman tracker, it calculates the Barometric pressure, skies, fog, light rain, temp, season, time of day, moon phase. I've looked at it b4 I went out today and as I said a 4 star day but I only got that one bite. Sometimes I think it's game of chance. They may help some
scaleface reply :
I never take those charts into consideration . Fishing shuts off and turns on in an instant . Usually its weather related or how high the sun is . Weve all been on a hot bite then a wind shift shuts it down and vice versa . I go when I can and if the weather forecast is suitable to be out on the water .
tander reply :
Go when you can, go early, stay late, catch fish.
MFBAB reply :
On 5/17/2014 at 6:52 AM, Paul Roberts said:“conditions”. Understanding them -combining knowledge and personal experience- ARE the shortcuts. In no time in history are there more "shortcuts" available than now.
^^This.
Current Conditions. Water Color, Light, Wind, Current, Type of Lake, Seasonal Patterns, Grass or no Grass?, Bottom Composition?, Bait?.....you can make this list as long as you want to, and it will seem complicated at first, but if you start looking at the daily conditions and keeping notes, it doesn't take too long before most of what's on this list (as applicable to your fishing situation) is just running in the background of your mind as you fish, on auto pilot.
Even the studies that suggest that the Full and New moon produce most of the World Records or biggest fish (Hannon and others), they all seem to break down when you look at the data with even a tiny bit of scrutiny.
You see the words New and Full Moon, and something like 65% of the records are caught within 3 days of each. You instantly think, "This is simple, 65% of the fish are caught on just those 2 days"...But if you think it through, they said 3 days before and after each, so now we're talking about 3+1+3 (Full), and 3+1+3 (New) = 14 days. A lunar cycle is 29,5 days, so we're talking about basically half of the cycle (47%) produces 65% of the fish, which is really not that big of a deal, and it should also be noted that these studies always consider lots of other species besides bass, which to me weakens the case even further. And then, Hannon was hawking a calendar too, so there's that. I'd probably like it a little more if it weren't tied to a marketing scheme
In the end, you might be able to argue for a slight advantage to fishing the Full and New, but it's negligible at best and it will always be overpowered by current conditions anyway, so I go with that. And for what it's worth, I do absolutely believe that the Solunar periods have an effect on the fish and the bait, it has been proven in labs that they act differently during the high and low tides, etc...
An exception to my argument? The spawn. They all hit the bank on the full moons in the spring
scaleface reply :
On 2/13/2016 at 10:46 PM, MFBAB said:
You see the words New and Full Moon, and something like 65% of the records are caught within 3 days of each. You instantly think, "This is simple, 65% of the fish are caught on just those 2 days"...But if you think it through, they said 3 days before and after each, so now we're talking about 3+1+3 (Full), and 3+1+3 (New) = 14 days. A lunar cycle is 29,5 days, so we're talking about basically half of the cycle (47%) produces 65% of the fish, which is really not that big of a deal, and it should also be noted that these studies always consider lots of other species besides bass, which to me weakens the case even further. And then, Hannon was hawking a calendar too, so there's that. I'd probably like it a little more if it weren't tied to a marketing scheme
Maybe more people are fishing those days too because of the charts .
MFBAB reply :
On 2/13/2016 at 11:08 PM, scaleface said:Maybe more people are fishing those days too because of the charts .
I agree. And also, you can manipulate statistics to paint almost any picture you want if you're good at it.
Now, another one of these debates, the one about fishing midday goes against that theory (more fishermen) though. I've seen a good deal of data and also a lot of anecdotal references indicating that a disproportionately high percentage of larger bass are caught in the midday slot. There is no doubt that fewer fishermen are out at midday, but one good example is the BASS Lunker Club data set with several thousand entries of 10 lb LMB and 6+ Smallies, which indicates that the highest reported time slot for qualifying bass in their records is the 11 am hour! The most productive Lunker months by far are also the spawning months, Feb-April, which are the ones that I believe are the most tied in with the Full moons influence as well.
I dunno, paralysis by over-analysis starting to set in, I think I need to go fishing
WRB reply :
If you look at my Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar the moon phase is visually illustrated along with the Suns influence. I did this clock back in 1974 based on my experiences over 40 years ago. What I learned since then doesn't change anything, however you can't apply everything all the time. Moon phases have more bass behavior influence during pre spawn through post spawn and the suns horizon influence is prominate during the summer seasonal period or about 1/3rd of the year. Overhead sun during the cooler water periods can have a positive influence.
We evolve with wisdom over time.
Tom
cgolf reply :
I do know the Musky guys really seem to believe in it for big muskies, at least a couple of articles a year in Musky hunter about it. As for that stuff and Bass, I haven't seen any difference in the bite during the peak bite times even when I spend a week on a lake, 12 hours a day.
One thing I found that was interesting is that the peak times differ depending on the magazine you look at, so it isn't like there is one set theory on this.
MFBAB reply :
On 2/14/2016 at 12:58 AM, cgolf said:One thing I found that was interesting is that the peak times differ depending on the magazine you look at, so it isn't like there is one set theory on this.
I think latitude dictates that. In other words, sunrise time where I am and say an hour or 2 hours east will be different by a little. This is important for hunters to know because the legal shooting light times will vary The Solunar charts are based on the tide cycles (2 per day), and of course the lunar cycle which is 29.5 days.
This cycle just repeats over and over, if that ever changes we'll have bigger problems than fishing 
Team9nine reply :
On 5/17/2014 at 1:28 AM, Violinguy said:I'm just wondering if those silly graphs on weather.com that show active fishing periods throughout the day are at all accurate. Or any other of those websites or apps that predict active fish vs. inactive.
Who dug up this old post??? 
All those charts, graphs, and apps remind me of the old saying, "Even a broken clock is right twice a day."
-T9
Catt reply :
There have been numerous books, articles, charts, clocks, ect published on this great mystery of bass fishing. A lot of the authors of these publications go through great lengths explaining how difficult it is to determine these times. It is really quite simple to determine these times for yourself with a little inside information. River & salt water publications go through great lengths explaining how difficult it is to determine tidal movements. The reality is that these best times & tidal movements are related to the moon's phases.
People in animal husbandry, farming, hunting, & fishing have used the moon's phases for centuries. One of the oldest publications is the "Poor Richard's Almanic" by Benjamin Franklin 1759.
The moon's phases are divided into four quarters, two of which are major times & two of which are minor times. The major times are the new & full moons.
The times for the major periods are as follows.
1 1/2 hours prior to the moon reaching its apex
1 1/2 hours prior to the moon reaching its perigee.
The times for the minor periods are as follows.
1 1/2 hours prior to the moon raising of the moon on the horizon.
1 1/2 hours prior to the settings of the moon on the horizon.
We could also add 1 1/2 hours after each of the above which gives us 12 hours out of 24 hours...no exactly nailing it!
A-Jay reply :
On 2/14/2016 at 3:34 AM, Catt said:There have been numerous books, articles, charts, clocks, ect published on this great mystery of bass fishing. A lot of the authors of these publications go through great lengths explaining how difficult it is to determine these times. It is really quite simple to determine these times for yourself with a little inside information. River & salt water publications go through great lengths explaining how difficult it is to determine tidal movements. The reality is that these best times & tidal movements are related to the moon's phases.
People in animal husbandry, farming, hunting, & fishing have used the moon's phases for centuries. One of the oldest publications is the "Poor Richard's Almanic" by Benjamin Franklin 1759.
The moon's phases are divided into four quarters, two of which are major times & two of which are minor times. The major times are the new & full moons.
The times for the major periods are as follows.
1 1/2 hours prior to the moon reaching its apex
1 1/2 hours prior to the moon reaching its perigee.
The times for the minor periods are as follows.
1 1/2 hours prior to the moon raising of the moon on the horizon.
1 1/2 hours prior to the settings of the moon on the horizon.
We could also add 1 1/2 hours after each of the above which gives us 12 hours out of 24 hours...no exactly nailing it!
~ X2 . . . .
After spending many years chasing several different species of fish in all kinds of fresh, salt & brackish water environments that include but may not be limited to lakes, reservoirs, rivers, streams, ponds & puddles, inshore, the surf and well offshore, I've come to realize that there really is only one single factor that catching fish successfully in all these situations has in common, including bass fishing . . . . .. . . . .
I have to be there. So, I just go fishing.
A-Jay
ClackerBuzz reply :
stay away from those charts. horoscopes and astrology have netted me 4 ex-wives
Paul Roberts reply :
On 2/13/2016 at 10:46 PM, MFBAB said:...
You see the words New and Full Moon, and something like 65% of the records are caught within 3 days of each. You instantly think, "This is simple, 65% of the fish are caught on just those 2 days"...But if you think it through, they said 3 days before and after each, so now we're talking about 3+1+3 (Full), and 3+1+3 (New) = 14 days. ...
They actually also included the day of the quarter moons, adding two days to the tally, which occupies now better than half of the lunar month. Why did they add quarters? Well... there are some moon theorist anglers that like the quarter, and it just so happens a few record catches happened to fall on the quarter day.
Interestingly, and either confoundingly or tellingly, there have been moon theories proposed by a number of well-known/respected anglers that, if taken all into account, essentially cover the entire lunar month.
On 2/13/2016 at 11:54 PM, MFBAB said:...
Now, another one of these debates, the one about fishing midday goes against that theory (more fishermen) though. I've seen a good deal of data and also a lot of anecdotal references indicating that a disproportionately high percentage of larger bass are caught in the midday slot. There is no doubt that fewer fishermen are out at midday, but one good example is the BASS Lunker Club data set with several thousand entries of 10 lb LMB and 6+ Smallies, which indicates that the highest reported time slot for qualifying bass in their records is the 11 am hour! The most productive Lunker months by far are also the spawning months, Feb-April, which are the ones that I believe are the most tied in with the Full moons influence as well.
...
My response from a previous thread on the mid-day subject:
There is good info in that video, such as the general idea that large bass are successful predators, and there is research to suggest that aggressive individuals do grow faster and have a better chance at getting big –provided the food is there, and angling pressure and associated mortality is low.
But, do big bass feed more at midday? Are more big bass caught at midday? Are big bass more vulnerable to angling at midday? Are these even the same questions? I’m not sure we can actually get at the first question or third questions by answering the second.
-First, saying anything about “big bass” is a statistical nightmare –most often comprising low number data sets. Second, angling success data offers precious little control, even recognition, of the possible variables involved. Collecting angling data across the continent, (and ignoring season, weather, sky and water conditions, prey type, availability and vulnerability, angling pressure, angler habits, angler effort, etc), is a recipe for chaos.
-Bass vision: There is a fair amount of research that pertains to bass behavior and lighting, and some of it doesn’t really jive with what is stated in the video. The fact that bass have color vision does not mean they cannot hunt in low light or are even less efficient –esp compared to their prey. According to some research I’ve seen bass can see much better than bluegills in low light. Many small prey fish species head for cover or shelter for the night -for good reason. Telemetry studies have shown increased crepuscular and nocturnal activity in bass in many waters. Probably depends a lot on season, prey, angling pressure.
-Prey vulnerability to bass. There is research that has looked at hunting success by LM under different lighting. One in particular found that under brighter lighting bluegills were able to avoid LM and capture rates by the bass fell. During low light bass could approach closer and capture rates increased. I’ve seen this type of thing myself on ponds I fish where I purposely watch bass hunt from high banks. Under brilliant sun, bass make fewer chases and time and again I’ve seen bass enter a cove and see the bluegills stream away and into cover well out ahead of the cruising bass. It’s apparent that they can see the bass from a long ways out.
Now, one could argue that these are not “big” bass. Yet they are the largest and oldest bass in these small ponds. Thus they should also conform to Hannon’s suggestion that these are the “rule followers” –the one’s that have survived. There’s a hole I see in the “rule follower” idea that assumes that there is one set of rules that bass follow, as if every year or every season would be the same. Prey abundance, prey vulnerability, cover density, and other factors can vary greatly year to year. One set of “rules” may not pan out the next season, much less the next year. Becoming “big” is not a formula that is met at all times. And being an “aggressive individual” carries tremendous risks. There is some research in brown trout too -a fish that has the ability to diverge in growth pattern from cohorts due in large part to aggressiveness in feeding- and many of these individuals burn out and die depending on what’s available to support such growth. Growing “big” is, in large part, luck.
-Bass vulnerability to angling: I think it’s safe to say that, at least for northern largemouths, large bass are most vulnerable during the cold water periods. In the north, sun angle can be low enough that the prime periods tend to shift to midday. Dunno how this pans out for floridanus, and I know Hannon has written that he caught most of his big bass in summer. His experience is with Florida strain largemouth. Maybe floridanus is different? Certainly sun angle, and water temps, would be different. Roger?
-Angler effort weighs in heavy. I remember all the excitement around the Texas Sharelunker program catch rate and moon phase comparison. At one point early on, a poorly done statistical investigation suggested that catches of lunker bass clustered around the full and new moons. Well, that ended up being wrong. Catches were pretty much evenly distributed against moon phases. The most solid conclusion that could be drawn turned out to be that the most significant period to catch a Sharelunker qualified bass in Texas was … on a weekend.
How does angler effort vary across the day on each water body? As to time of day, how many anglers get up at 3 or 4am to be on the lake at sunrise? Also, I don’t know about you but it often takes me some time to get my act together, figure out what’s going on for the day, and then to revisit those good locations ferreted out for the day. By then, it’s not 9am anymore. Does time to get to casting change with age? Do older, and presumably more experienced, anglers tend to fish later in the day than many gung-ho younger anglers –if so, maybe it’s more a matter of energetics than it is success rate on “big” bass. I wonder how success rate on big bass would compare between night and day, if corrected for effort?
Do big bass feed more at midday? How would we know?
MFBAB reply :
I always Love your perspective Paul!!
Also, on the Full moon deal, as scaleface pointed out, maybe more guys are fishing during those periods...
Also, something that occurred to me that probably accounts for that "marginal" advantage that *Hannon, etal try to play up, is that during the spring there really is a big advantage to the Full Moon (IMO and supportable by some data referenced above), and that is probably enough to skew the numbers slightly higher for the whole year.
*I went back and re-read Hannon's Moon section in "Big Bass Magic", and he clearly cherry-picked a block of years (8 year period) for his record-catch results, and as I said before, it was all species, not just bass. It just smacks of marketing to me.
It's like the X files, I want to believe
yugrac reply :
I have had some of my best days when the "book" says dont even bother going, and been skunked on days that should have been perfect, and thrown every lure, style, and water depth and clarity there was on sometimes more than one lake, with no results. The thing about weather conditions is the are very localized. I was fishing with my son last spring on a local reservoir, from 6am to 11am, nothing. Loaded up the boat and went to a lake straight south about 15 miles and picked up a couple dozen largemouth using the same lures and methods. The moon phases effecting the tide? Yes, I will buy that BUT, how much tidal effect do you get on a 60 acre lake? same thing with the baro pressure, I had read a report someone had done on how it effects water pressure and how it had an effect on the pressure in fish swim bladders, however this study was done on a large saltwater fish that had a huge swim bladder, and the biologist who did the report said it would have no or little effect on any freshwater sport fish. I think local weather conditions have the most effect on the lake your on at the time,as far as what they want. My son and I last spring were on Lake Erie, Presque Isle Bay, and then on a lake in Waterford Pa. and its creek outlet before we started getting on fish. If we would have stayed in one place maybe by that time of day we would have caught fish there, who knows. As far as the baro and moon charts go, I look at them, but I dont pay any attention to them. I only get to go 20 to 24 times a year due to my work and taking care of my home and cars, ect. so I go when ever I get the chance. As my son always says, you never know if you dont go.
Lil Joe The Grinder reply :
I've tried to get a pattern on all that stuff for a loooong time. Best way to disprove it all and catch fish at the same time is to go as often as you can. I've been guilty of letting that stuff get in my head and possibly effecting when and how I fish. No more. This last weekend was opposite of what it was "suppose to be" in every aspect. For me, from now on, it's fish everyday for as long as I can.
Fishinthefish reply :
I honestly only consider wind speed when it affects the waters drastically, sun vs dark is fairly important when it comes to my color choice. Other than that I don't take too much stock in the weather. I've gone out on days after the water has gone up and caught fish in the shallows one after another and times during the same time of year where I couldn't find any fish at all.
Nitrofreak reply :
"There is an app for that"...
It makes no difference, if you are not fishing where the fish are, your chances are slim to none.
If you are fishing where the fish are, there is an old adage that may apply to this conversation, "I would much rather throw the wrong bait in the right place than throw the right bait in the wrong place".
yugrac reply :
On 2/18/2016 at 5:39 AM, Nitrofreak said:"There is an app for that"...
It makes no difference, if you are not fishing where the fish are, your chances are slim to none.
If you are fishing where the fish are, there is an old adage that may apply to this conversation, "I would much rather throw the wrong bait in the right place than throw the right bait in the wrong place".
Well, a few years ago, a Indiana fish biologist who had a website called "Big Indiana Bass" addressed the issue of "no fish here" He said during electroshock surveys, there was never a shoreline, on any lake they surveyed, that did not have fish come to the top. My daughter and her husband both work for the National Forest service. They work in a national forest in California. Due to the drought conditions the last few years, some river fish on the threatened list had to be relocated due to falling water levels. I asked her about this, and she told me they brought up fish through electroshock on every stretch of river they worked. So just because you dont catch fish there, does not mean they are not there.
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