Prime Time - The Moon & The Tides

THE MOON & THE TIDES

While you’re getting your equipment together you should consider when you’re going to use it, which depends on the moon, tides and weather.

e) PRIME TIME – THE MOON

When you commit yourself to a task such as this you have to fish the moons and the tides as they come and go. Two days before, the day of and two days after the full and new moon is PRIME TIME, and I’ll be out there catching some really nice bass.

There is nothing that governs salt water fishing more than the phases of the moon.

No matter where you are fishing, the moon rules. Not only for stripers, but for all other species as well.

My theory as to why is that during a new and full moons the tides run much harder and faster, is starting at the beginning of the food chain, micro organisms feed on the grass shrimp, the shiners and so on down the line. They in turn feed the smaller blues, weakfish, bass and so on. They in turn feed the larger fish, allowing frequent frenzies around the bridges.

Eat, swim and make babies, that’s all fish do. Except for bluefish, fish will not expend more energy than it takes to survive.

Everything must spend much more energy to survive the hard currents, especially currents that occur around bridges in particular, where the tides run the hardest, but around any structures where the currents run strong, or are funneled through smaller places.

Therefore, I spend my time working the clocks when the tides are on the moons. However, I will still go hit the deep water at the stand.

The stand is the last stages of an in or out tide. It generally lasts about 15 minutes. This is the time of the Blitz.

No matter where the fish are hanging out during the full run of any tide, strong or weak, this is Prime Time – the time to catch as many fish as possible.

These days I am always as well prepared as possible for this special time.