ASK THE EXPERTS
This month's winning question:
Dear Panel,
What difference, if any, does the moon have on carp fishing as I am now unsure if a full moon or no moon would be the best as regards the carp’s feeding spells. I have seen the bit on the Mainline website home page but am still unsure of which moon cycle is best for catching carp.
Cheers, Steve Lewis
Steve
If you want some technical and pretty mind-warping information about moon cycles, then check out www.moonstrike.co.uk as it will tell you everything you could possibly want to know about moon cycles, and how it is believed these phases affect our quarry. It is a science, based on lunar and meteorological observations. What it doesn’t really tell you is the day-to-day reality of being an angler, and the pleasure of just being out on the bank, waiting and hoping. In my eyes, angling is very much an art, not a science, and I have to admit I am not a massive fan of the advances being made to make carp more and more catchable through science, underwater analysis, etc. It is interesting, yes, but I would rather there still be at least a little bit of mystery – old-fashioned maybe, but it’s what I believe.
A full moon whacker...
To answer your question a little more fully, I would say that yes, the moon can definitely have an impact on how catchable carp can be, particularly big fish. You will notice that there are certain small periods over the course of a year that produce unprecedented numbers of big fish. I haven’t noticed it to affect small carp as much as their larger brethren. My biggest UK carp was noted to have been caught previously on a full moon, and indeed, I caught it bang on the same moon phase the following month. Coincidence or not? It is not quite that simple apparently.
…however a supposedly poor moon phase produced this one
When the moonrise and moonset times of the full and new moons coincide with dusk and dawn, that is allegedly the prime time, as it is the rising and setting that triggers the feeding responses. I’ve no doubt whatsoever that there are certain times when chances are heightened, but as big carp do get caught at any time, in any weather, and during any moon phase, then it is clearly not so obvious. Check out www.moonconnection.com or www.timeanddate.com if you want to check out your past captures, just type in the month and year and the site calculates what the moon phase and rise/set was. To be honest, though, I’d ignore it all and just get yourself out on the bank, find some carp, and angle for them.
A lunar month; I just get out as often as I can, regardless of the phase
The reality for me is that I fish most weeks, and because of work commitments, like most, I cannot pick and choose the days I angle. If the moon phase is supposedly bad for the two days I’m supposed to fish, do I then not go? Of course I go, and I will angle with just as much confidence and intent as I would if the phase was supposedly spot on. As soon as you start to become clouded by moon phase information you will angle in a different way, and possibly, I believe, without as much confidence at certain times. If the phase coincides with my days on the bank then so be it, but I don’t plan my life around the moon phases, that is for certain.
Howling at the moon!
Be lucky,
Gaz
