The current moon phase is perhaps one of the most difficult things to nail down when it comes to choosing the best fishing times. Whether you’re targeting fresh- or salt-water fish, you’ll eventually notice some type of correlation between the current moon phases and your fishing success.
I’m a simple guy when it comes to fishing and I’ll be really honest with you on this one; you can get down in the weeds quick when it comes to your fishing success and moon phases. Fishing can be as complicated as you want to make it, so let’s stick with the basics in this section. If you follow these guidelines you’ll be just fine and catch plenty of fish.
New- and full-moon phases are outstanding times to fish, regardless of the species you might be targeting. You might think these conditions only affect the fish you’re targeting but I’m a firm believer that these two moon phases make a big impression on all animals; both domestic and wild.
For instance, my wife and I have a cat that was once feral but is now (somewhat) domesticated; she came to us while we were remodeling our house. Never having owned a cat before, we didn’t understand how much moon phases affected her. But through the years, we’ve noticed that throughout new- and full-moon phases, she acts like an absolute nut job whether she’s inside or outside of our house. Her eyes get big, she runs around like crazy and she doesn’t want anything to do with us.
As it turns out, when the cat starts acting like this during these moon phases, I’ve absolutely noticed that the fish start biting. There’s some sort of odd correlation between all wildlife that seems to make animals especially active during a new or full moon. So make sure to keep a close eye out for that throughout the year.
Throughout the spring months when the water is between roughly 55 and 70 degrees, a full moon will also bring thousands of bass to the shallows in their annual attempt to spawn. As they make nests and lay eggs, they become especially easy to target and the pull of the full moon is essentially their “green light” to move shallow execute their duties. Most of the huge weights you’ll see in local tournaments come from full-moon periods in the spring season, when the water temperatures are in the aforementioned range.
Crawfish behavior and color transitions—or crayfish, depending on where you live and how you prefer to say it—is also largely dictated by moon phases. They’ll come out of their hidey-holes in rocks, grass and other underwater cover and become more active and molt within a few days on either side of a full moon. They’ll pick around, change colors and become a major food source for big bass.
2024 FISHING MOON CALENDAR
- JANUARY — Full Moon – 6th / New Moon – 21st
- FEBRUARY — Full Moon – 5th / New Moon – 20th
- MARCH — Full Moon – 7th / New Moon – 21st
- APRIL — Full Moon – 5th / New Moon – 19th
- MAY — Full Moon – 5th / New Moon – 19th
- JUNE — Full Moon – 3rd / New Moon – 17th
- JULY — Full Moon – 3rd / New Moon – 17th
- AUGUST — Full Moon – 1st / New Moon – 16th / Full Moon – 30th
- SEPTEMBER — New Moon – 14th / Full Moon – 29th
- OCTOBER — New Moon – 14th / Full Moon – 28th
- NOVEMBER — New Moon – 13th / Full Moon – 27th
- DECEMBER — New Moon – 12th / Full Moon – 26th
