The right time
For bite time Some fishers don’t believe in bite times; others swear fish come on the bite at certain phases of the sun and moon.
Every Saturday morning on the Radiolive Sport Fishing Show my fellow presenters and I would broadcast bite times for the weekend, along with weather information, fishing reports, tips and advice. Sadly Radiolive Sport is no more and the Fishing Show is looking for a new home, but bite times are as relevant as ever to many anglers around the country.
It is undeniable that on some days the fishing is good, while on others it is bad, often for no apparent reason. In addition, on any given day there are periods when fish bite more freely. Over the years, anglers looked for patterns in an effort to predict the best times to fish. They noticed a correlation between fishing success and the behaviour of the sun and moon – specifically the interactions between sunset and sunrise, and moonset and moonrise.
In many traditional societies, hunting and crop planting cycles were based on observations of the sun and moon. For example, more than 1000 years ago ancient Mayans calculated detailed solunar tables to predict the best times to plant and harvest crops, as well as hunt wild animals.
Modern fishing calendars predict good and bad fishing days based on phases of the moon and the position of the sun, with different calendars attributing more or less influence to the sun and the moon relative to one another. Some also predict bite times for each day. Bite times are the periods during every 24-hour day when fish are said to bite most freely.
The Maori fishing calendar suggests fishing is usually worst in the middle of the lunar cycle, but begins to improve a few days before or after the full moon, and most fishing calendars agree that the three or four days either side of the new moon provide the best catches of the month.
Bite times rely on the principle that the phase and the position of the moon influences the behaviour of animals and fish, including how they feed. Most calendars identify two main feeding periods in every 24-hour day. These occur when the moon is directly overhead – the major bite; and directly underfoot – the minor bite. Bite periods can last from a few minutes to several hours.
The most popular and, some would say, the most accurate bite times are calculated using solunar tables, which tabulate when the sun and moon rise and set. Solunar tables have been popular with hunters and fishermen in the United States for many years. A comprehensive local version is published by Oceanfun Publishing in Blenheim, which also produces the Tide Times Calendar listing bite times and best/worst days for fishing. Similar tables based on the same calculations are published online and in a variety of print media.
Fishers fall into two camps: those who swear by bite times and those who think they’re a load of rubbish. For the believers there are many sources of bite time information available, including apps for your phone or tablet.
Personally I wouldn’t cancel a fishing expedition because the