Full moon shore fishing - yea or nea?

[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.....