Most bass anglers agree that largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass all time their spawns to be on the new and full moons. If you ask a fishery biologist they may not confirm these beliefs but they also will not rule them out. Let’s take a look at how the moon phases make fish react.

We know that shellcrackers and other panfish spawn on the moon phases as do walleye. It has not been scientifically proven that bass spawn with the moon, but if you ask some serious bass anglers what they say you will usually get the same answer. I myself believe that bass are extremely affected by the moon and do spawn on new and full moon periods. I fish in Florida all the time and after a new full moon, look out! The big females are going to come shallow to spawn.

Some theorize that gravity levels are different on various moon periods, or that there is some electromagnetic influence. Whatever the reason the moon does seem to affect man and bass alike. Although let’s clarify that not every moon phase will trigger spawning activity, you will of course need the right water temperature for this to take place. The ideal temperature is 60 to 65 degrees. There are many factors that can stop the spawn dead in it’s tracks such as a massive cold front or heavy wind. About fifty percent of the month falls into what is called the strong moon phase, this is the three days before and after a full moon period.

If you do experience some type of weather or phase were the bass pull off the beds look to the closest deep water areas. Bas will not stray far from their nests and can be vulnerable to catch. Look for areas such as slight contour changes or thick grass close to the spawning area. Fish these areas with soft plastics such as a Gitem’ Bug or Warlock. Move slow and make several casts to cover and areas where you believe the bass have positioned themselves. Keep your distance and always work your way in to an area where you believe there is spawning activity.

If you do like to fish for bedding bass try and always keep them healthy and practice catch and release during this time of year. They will return the favor by producing thousands of new bass for you to catch in the future. So whatever you believe the moon phases do or do not affect it’s worth looking into and learning about, more knowledge can never hurt!

Keywords:  Moon Phases  |  bedding bass 

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 19th, 2007 at 5:00 am and is filed under Fishing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.