Moon phases and offshore

[fynnhunter]

Question for those of you that fish offshore...do you think full and new moon stages affect bottom fishing offshore (from 20 miles and further out)....what about the effect on trolling?

 

[Pate55]

Of course it does. Full moon means more current but it also triggers fish to spawn and be more aggressive. Sometimes full moon is great, sometimes it’s ripping too hard to keep on bottom without throwing anchor Set the anchor wrong a couple times or get it stuck, you’ll be ready to head west….hit it right the first time , and you will be in for a great day.

 

[Michael F Sights]

Wahoo, Marlin bite better around Full Moon, but it makes current stronger for bottom fishing.

 

[GTMODawg]

Folks are all over the place about the moon and offshore fishing. In my experience it’s lousy but it could just be a coincidence. I had the great good fortune to live in the Caribbean for 3 years and fished most days of that period and bait disappears or at least disperses on a full moon and game fish seem to either go off their feed are they may just be moving more finding bait….whatever the reason I ALWAYS struggled to make bait during a full moon and therefore struggled to catch fish. It’s also MUCH harder to book a charter or a lodge during a new moon….to the point that many run specials on a full moon. Bottom fishing doesn’t seem to be impacred as much but sportfish are hard to catch on a full moon in my experience….

 

[FloppinBob]

Only thing good on a full moon is people watch at Walmart.

 

[Rabun]

I’ve brought this up on another thread. Personally I have struggled on a full moon...snapper and other reef fish but on the gulf side. I believe there is so much mating and spawning activity during the light of the moon daytime fishing suffers. I am scheduled for a week of snapper fishing in June during the full moon phase (like this year) and I plan on mixing things up a bit from the normal dead cigar minnows and pinfish. We’ll see if it makes any difference. One of our main issues this year were the goliaths...they move in on the reefs to spawn and devour other species and pretty much keep them hugging the reef instead of rising in the water column like normal. I’m all ears on opinions regarding reef fishing on the full moon phase that’s for sure.

 

[GeorgiaGlockMan]

Last time I went ocean fishing we went for a 2 day trip off the keys.

Full moon. Water truly like glass.

We absolutely tore them up. The fish too.

 

[Rabun]

Curious if they changes tactics at all during that phase. Was it an overnight trip and did u fish at night?

 

[GeorgiaGlockMan]

Curious if they changes tactics at all during that phase. Was it an overnight trip and did u fish at night?

Yes and yes. Left Friday and xame back Sunday.

At least 3 of us stayed up all night on night #2.

Buddy caught a 550 lb Goliath grouper that we had decked before we knew better. I caught 3 sharks over 6 ft long.

It's a miracle we caught anything that night as we drank one of the big bottles of ol'#7. We were down to mixing it with lemon-lime Gatorade. Gotta stay hydrated.

Only tactic change was when we started catching grouper, the captain moved the boat across "the in-season line" so we could keep them. Moved a couple times when dolphins (porpoise type) kept showing up.

Loads of fun and action.

 

[Seanote]

My experience tells me that the snapper bite will be bad because they like to feed at night and they will pig out on a full moon. Other species I don't see a big difference except the issues with current.