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Barbel and moon phases

B

Ben Jennings

Senior Member
Has anyone noticed a link between barbel and moon phases? I know a little while ago when I was heavily into carping people used to go a lot on moon phases. To be honest I never took much notice as my time is limited and seeing its the wrong sort of moon when I managed to get away would put me into a negative frame of mind from the start. However today I was chatting to a chap who had fished the river for 20+ years and he said that between a half and a full moon the river fishes poor however you'd get the odd chance in the middle of the day. When I last went out 3-4 weeks ago it was the same moon and my only bite was 1pm on a red hot day. So I was wondering if any of you guys have noticed anything similar?
 
Ben, only my opinion but the moon phase was Chris Lyons huge thing in the mail or times, I think he has a site under moonstrike. He has a few vids on youtube trying to prove it i think.
My take on things is if it looks good it COULD produce. but what you have to provoke is a feeding frenzy, and thats it really. Get them to compete and you will catch.:cool:
 
I have recorded moon phase for all my captures over the last few years and referenced to a fish predictor app ( wonders of iPhones!) that accounts for cycle, percentage, rise and fall. Not enough data to draw a scientific conclusion, the one main factor seems to be a show stopper is moon bright on the water . Dark / darker nights seem successful, other more important factors seem to be flow, colour and weather/ pressure. Get a low with a SW blowing, add some water on and the moon won't matter!! There is an informative article on another barbel site worth a look.
 
The American hunting and fishing communities promote the use of moon phase data... There are numerous gadgets to predict best fishing and hunting times, like there would be a good time to go shooting bears!
My own personal opinion is it probably does have an effect but so does barometric pressure, angling pressure and probably a host of other things specific to wherever you might be fishing. Fish a swim on the best predicted day of the year that has been hammered for the previous week and had a ton of pellet pumped in could be a struggle. A failure of the moon phase theory or just bad luck....
 
Hi men,

Ben , did you bump into me and Sue Saturday ?. Was discussing it , but in a way I'm better off not knowing as with our limited time we have to go whenever we can . The thought of the moon/pressure putting us off would just add to all the other problems we have before we even set off :D , ignorance is bliss sometimes.

Hatter
 
moonstrike was his bfw nickname, he caused a few raised hackles on here at one time with his passion and temper about his theory:eek:
 
Mark Anderson said:
Hi men,

Ben , did you bump into me and Sue Saturday ?. Was discussing it , but in a way I'm better off not knowing as with our limited time we have to go whenever we can . The thought of the moon/pressure putting us off would just add to all the other problems we have before we even set off :D , ignorance is bliss sometimes.

Hatter
Click to expand...

Hi Mark no I was on the kennet on Sunday. Have to admit I have always tried to avoid looking at the moon as my sessions are limited and short so add trying to fit in with the correct moon phase I'd never get out. Will admit think the high temperatures and lack of flow i think have also been a factor to my 3 sessions so far being tricky to say the least.
 
I am at a stage where I cannot be dictated to by any fairy tales.i am happy going at any time of day and over the years I have caught my fair share of barbel in all sorts of conditions.john walker is on the mark about this.
Albert::p
 
Moonstrike is a very interesting website and some of the evidence Chris Lyons has gathered is thought provoking to say the least. However, as John says, he does not take disagreement lightly! I actually think the peak times he talks about have more influence on feeding than the actual moon phase, but that is just my limited findings when I actually make the effort to look at moon times/phases.
 
A fishing friend swears by Moonstrike....

home


and he is a very successful barbel angler. Evidently a lot depends on the time that the moon rises.

I just fish whenever I can and have caught big barbel when the river is floodlit by a full moon.

On the Kennet I have caught them in moonlight bright enough for the fish to be observed in the streamer weed.

On the Lower Thames we always found that the barbel went off the feed when the moon shone on the river.

On a slightly different tack, a friend caught an eleven pound barel from a Thames tributary just after a firework display had finished on the opposite bank.

The thing is that barbel do not read the same books as we do.


Regards,


Hugo



 
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