Lunar cycles and pike feeding patterns

There was an interesting letter in the Angling Times this week. The author thought that the main factors influencing pike feeding was weather and the lunar cycle.

Now I agree with weather - I usually catch more pike on a mild overcast winter's day than on a cold one with snow on the ground.

I'm not so sure about the lunar cycle. I've heard of the theory before, but I'm not convinced.

Do any forum members have views on the lunar cycle and pike ?

When I was much younger, a lot of my fishing was based around Menstruation cycles.










I'll go get my Kotex ]

Get a copy of Ray Webb and Barrie Rickards book: "Fishing for Big Pike"

It's a classic and there is a lot in it about moon cycles etc.

Merv your fishing should be based around menstruation cycles, it's the one week in the month where there really is nothing better to do ;-)

keith,if you see the moon at 9 o'clock in the morning at about 180 degrees to the sun you ain't gonna catch two things jack and shit.the powerful affect that the moon has on earth isn't fully understood,we do know it affects the tides,and it affects to a degree all living creatures on the planet.
if you can see the moon in the daytime it usually is not a good omen as you have the gravitational pull of the sun on one hand,and,the gravitational pull of the moon on the other.this upsets the fish and does throw them off balance slightly.instead of the fishes sitting vertical at 12o'clock they slightly keel to one side-the greater gravitional force wins.it also affects how fish feed.
nasa performed a test in the 70's with a variey of lab animals and there was a marked effect in the animals behaviour during a lunar phase.the animals could not see the moon.

i have a pond and fish tank,the pond has a few tench and goldfish in and the tank has tropical fish in,both the fish in the tank and the fish in the pond will not feed during a lunar phase.
one of the best places on the net was
www.moonstrike.co.uk
if you want a lunar cycle then grab hold of old moore's almanac.frank warwick and one of his friends fished using the almanac a few years ago and the conclusion was that the anglers fared better during the times given in the almanac.

"When I was much younger, a lot of my fishing was based around Menstruation cycles."

Merv, you beat me to it.

Ron, I've read the Webb and Rickards classic, and I've got a copy of the update which Barrry Rickards published a few years ago.

William, are you sure that fish keel to one side when the moon is visible ? Have you ever actually seen it happen ? And if they do keel over, why should it reduce their feeding instinct ? If fish keel over under certain conditions, why don't humans and other terrestrial animals ?

i keep pond fish and i keep both tropicals and gold fish in tanks.
the only time my fish do not feed is when i have not put any food in the tank.

no matter what direction the moon is in or its phase my fish will feed if i open the tank lid and put some food in.

you may notice that there is never any mention of the phase of the moon on any of the aquarist sites such as pfk or such like,
this has drawn me to the conclusion that the people who go on about moon phases should be added to the list of new age loonies along with the tree huggers, vegetarians, and people who belive in the healing power of crystals, leprechauns and the fairies.

I looked into moon phases by comparing them against my results over 5 years, result: nothing that I could say was definate! One of my friends is quite keen on the idea, but I have come to the conclusion that 95% of anglers just fish when they can, very few of us can drop everything at a moments notice, and the fact that whether it wasn't a full, new, last quarter or whatever is irrelavant, we just go anyway.

keith you have the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun,this is what the fish dislike.
jason how dare you call me a tree huggger i've taken a chainsaw to more trees than you could count to.as for being a veggie?
though i did see a fairie once(wanna see the photos?)