Full moon shore fishing - yea or nea?

[JFigliuolo]

waiting for Rockfish9....3-2-1...

[Rockfish9]

Originally Posted by JFigliuolo

waiting for Rockfish9....3-2-1...

Waiting for what......Bass feed during the day don't they... only difference is that will come shallower at night... the timing of these tides is critical next week...I expect to hear of a lot of action.up and down the coastline..

for me.. I don't change a lot of tactics.. but the moon light gives you a fudge factor you don't get with the darkness of the new moon...the surfman's ( and boat fisherman's) nemesis "fire" is mitigated under the brightness of the full moon... fish just are not as spooky as they might be when it is real dark and still... I feel I can use bigger baits which in my mind = bigger fish... when it is dark... the fire often times means I need to go smaller to make the bait appear "normal".. I like my "blond" eels for these full moon ( and back side of the full) nights... they just seem to perform a little better on the bright nights...also.. under the light of the moon.. I can work my baits faster with less chance of spooking the fish.. thus covering more ground if need be... where in pitch dark... anything moving quickly is unnatural( or fearful it might give up it's location)... I've actually done damage with both surface poppers and tins under a bright moon..fish forget there are not supposed to eat a pencil after dark..
We've had a decent season up here.. it's been either feast or famine..but with a serious lack of truly large fish... for the first time in over 40 years.. I'm in jeopardy of not breaking 4olbs ... I'm counting on this moon to do the deed for me...

Now I'm officially on vacation... hammer time starts tomorrow night...

tight lines all
Roc

[numbskull]

Eels and skin plugs certainly improve your odds.

A boat makes a huge difference. I can do fine casting from a boat on a full moon but put me on the beach and have me cover the exact same water and I won't catch much.

I think this is because (in my experience at least) fish are much more likely to commit to hitting a plug going away from the shore rather than towards it. I think they know that when they have large prey pinned inside of them against the shore and visibility (i.e., light) is good they can take their time hitting it as it is not going anywhere. Alternatively, when their prey is outside of them moving towards deeper water they need to make a fast decision to hit it before it gets away.

It drives me crazy trying to catch fish from shore on plugs under a full moon (sans cloud cover). Sure I've had a few banner nights but for the most part it is a painfully slow pick of small fish. I don't understand why I can do better by daylight than under the moon. I suspect it has something to do with the plug's visibility from below. Still, I've tried surface plugs, thin leaders, and all sorts of colors without any reproducible success.

Bill Wetzel, in an OTW article, describes fishing shallow with white plugs and a fast retrieve. This makes some sense since a fast moving prey forces a fish to commit quickly rather than follow. Can't say I've tried it from shore, however, since my enthusiasm for shore fishing under a full moon is so low I typically go by boat if I go at all.

[rphud]

but then there is Monday night......I'm just saying. Likely look for speedsters in the daylight over the weekend and fish Monday night for larger fish. Would be nice to fish Tuesday night as well, but my boss would really hate that since it would mean not showing up to work until mid day Wednesday at best.

[piemma]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Eels and skin plugs certainly improve your odds.

A boat makes a huge difference. I can do fine casting from a boat on a full moon but put me on the beach and have me cover the exact same water and I won't catch much.

I think this is because (in my experience at least) fish are much more likely to commit to hitting a plug going away from the shore rather than towards it. I think they know that when they have large prey pinned inside of them against the shore and visibility (i.e., light) is good they can take their time hitting it as it is not going anywhere. Alternatively, when their prey is outside of them moving towards deeper water they need to make a fast decision to hit it before it gets away.

It drives me crazy trying to catch fish from shore on plugs under a full moon (sans cloud cover). Sure I've had a few banner nights but for the most part it is a painfully slow pick of small fish. I don't understand why I can do better by daylight than under the moon. I suspect it has something to do with the plug's visibility from below. Still, I've tried surface plugs, thin leaders, and all sorts of colors without any reproducible success.

Bill Wetzel, in an OTW article, describes fishing shallow with white plugs and a fast retrieve. This makes some sense since a fast moving prey forces a fish to commit quickly rather than follow. Can't say I've tried it from shore, however, since my enthusiasm for shore fishing under a full moon is so low I typically go by boat if I go at all.

Many years ago I hooked.....and lost one of the largest bass I ever had on a line. Full Moon, dead low tide and I'm out on the reef at Black Point. I'm throwing a black jointed metal lip swimmer that I made. Swirl the size of a bathtub and I'm on. 1208 Allstar and a VS 200. After about 5 minutes she dove and I could feel her rubbing the plug against the reef. Then....nothing. Plug came back with one tine on a VMC 3/0 4X straightened and the lip all bent. I still have the treble and lip in my office.
Full moon and a dead low tide on a flat calm night. Who would have thought.....