Fish bites and lunar heights
Frank Watson, Meteorologist

Recently, I took my daughter fishing at a time I was taught would be a poor time of day to catch fish. What happened that day piqued my interest in solunar (sun and moon) charts, which show the best times for fishing and hunting. Do they really work? The solar/lunar theory can include up to 33 factors.

If you lived near an ocean, you'd be aware of the effect that the moon plays on tides. Fishermen have relied on the timing of the tides to head out and set their nets. Since high and low tides depend on the position of the earth, sun and moon, could one conclude that fish and animals inland sense the gravitational pulls of these three objects?

When the moon is closest to the earth (perigee, see my weather column for moon dates), gravitational effects are greater. During the winter months, the sun is closer to the Earth, increasing its gravitational pull on tides. The result is greater tidal ranges. Inland, we're unable to see a visual effect such as tides, but wildlife may be more sensitive to such changes.

Solunar peak times (when fishing is expected to be good) are based on when the sun is either rising or setting, and that those peak times can be further enhanced with a rising or setting moon. If the moon is full or new during sunrise/sunset, supposedly this gives you an even greater chance for a full creel.

Solunar times run from 30 to 60 minutes, with weather factors either aiding or diminishing results and times. Low pressure, incoming cold fronts and falling pressure are bad. Rising air pressure and water temperature 15 degrees higher than air temperature seem to aid fishing success. Air pressure tends to fall ahead of a cold front, and rise behind it.

This all leads me back to what happened when I went fishing with my daughter. Like most kids, getting up early was out of the question, and in the late evening hours there are just to many mosquitoes, so we headed out mid-afternoon, the time I was always taught to stay away from. What happened? The fish were hitting like crazy. I barely had time to fix my pole before my daughter had one fish after another on her line.

A few days later, I was talking to a friend, and somehow the subject of solunar tables came up. I went to my calendar to check for the moon times. Sure enough, the moon was rising at the time we were out; plus, a morning rain fell, with a passing cold front, so we had a rising barometer--two good fishing indicators.

Did the fact that the moon and the barometer were rising at the time we were out help us? I would need to go fishing more and study my results.

I'm encouraging you to take the time to go fishing as often as possible, and write down your results. I'd like to hear from you. Meanwhile, I'll be out of the office fishing, uh, I mean doing research.

Frank Watson is a White Bear Lake, Minnesota meteorologist and can be found on the web at WeathermanWatson.com