So what is it about the full moon that drives fishermen crazy? Locally it seems that EVERYONE wants to fish on the full moon especially at night, bottom fishing. So what about those of us who chase top water game? What then?
Well if yesterday's effort was anything to go by, topwater fishing on the full moon is hard work. We set off mid morning due to unfavorable tides and started fishing about an hour and a half before low tide. As it turns out, this was the best fishing of the day.
There were several strikes from Emperor but no good hook ups until Naoko squealed as out of a school of competing Emperor a good sized GJF snatched her lure and took off. On 20lb line the fish put up a great fight but was eventually landed. First fish of the day and the best fish of the day!
Soon afterwards the rain came which put a damper on things for a couple of hours. Once the rain had cleared up we got back to fishing but with little luck. I personally fished 75% of my time with topwater lures and got skunked. Using the usually reliable Yo Zuri Hydro Popper, I caught zero fish. The other 25% of the time I fished several 4 inch soft plastics with better but not wonderful results. I landed around 20 fish of which about half were under 40cm and therefore released. The catch for the day included Green Job Fish, 2 types of Emperor, 4 types of Grouper (Black Grouper, Coral Trout and Coral Cod), Blue Finned Trevally and the always pesky Needle Fish (Long Tom/Datsu). As I fished the soft plastics, I switched back to poppers regularly and towards the end of the day, couldn't get a bite on the poppers to save my life. The fish weren't even following the lure but when I switch back to the plastics I would get bites straight away.
It got me to thinking, do the fish not attack on topwater so eagerly at the full moon? Or was it just coincidence that they were biting on plastics and not on poppers? Anecdotally I would say that when the fish are biting, poppers outfish plastics when it comes to size and quality of fish. Yesterday, the opposite was true. Was it the moon cycle or was there something else at play? What do you think? Let me know...
Well if yesterday's effort was anything to go by, topwater fishing on the full moon is hard work. We set off mid morning due to unfavorable tides and started fishing about an hour and a half before low tide. As it turns out, this was the best fishing of the day.
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| Naoko with a great Green Job Fish. A superb catch on topwater! |
Soon afterwards the rain came which put a damper on things for a couple of hours. Once the rain had cleared up we got back to fishing but with little luck. I personally fished 75% of my time with topwater lures and got skunked. Using the usually reliable Yo Zuri Hydro Popper, I caught zero fish. The other 25% of the time I fished several 4 inch soft plastics with better but not wonderful results. I landed around 20 fish of which about half were under 40cm and therefore released. The catch for the day included Green Job Fish, 2 types of Emperor, 4 types of Grouper (Black Grouper, Coral Trout and Coral Cod), Blue Finned Trevally and the always pesky Needle Fish (Long Tom/Datsu). As I fished the soft plastics, I switched back to poppers regularly and towards the end of the day, couldn't get a bite on the poppers to save my life. The fish weren't even following the lure but when I switch back to the plastics I would get bites straight away.
It got me to thinking, do the fish not attack on topwater so eagerly at the full moon? Or was it just coincidence that they were biting on plastics and not on poppers? Anecdotally I would say that when the fish are biting, poppers outfish plastics when it comes to size and quality of fish. Yesterday, the opposite was true. Was it the moon cycle or was there something else at play? What do you think? Let me know...
I find that the best time for poppers is the lead up 3 days to a new moon and the following 3 days after the moon, but not on the new moon. I am not sure if it is me and my luck or it has some basis on lunar cycle.
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Hey Fish Whisperer, Some local guys here say the same thing about the full moon. I will keep an eye out for the next new moon cycle and give it a shot. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
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