Page 24 - Discover SPRING 2022

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because as it orbits the earth, and the portion consider it to be a moonlit night. It’s not the
that we see illuminated keeps changing. The light; it’s the gravitational pull of the moon
moon take 27.3 days to orbit the earth, but that affects the fish.
the lunar phases cycle (from new moon to
new moon) takes 29.5 days. The moon phase On a non-lit night (New Moon), skip
cycle takes an extra 2.5 days to “catch up”, the first 3 hours of daylight, and then fish the
because the Earth travels 45 million miles on next three. It’s always a 3 hour swing, which
its path around the sun during the same time is determined be the Moon phase.
that the moon completes one orbit around EXAMPLE: Full moon tonight, daybreak at
the Earth. 6 AM… Start fishing at 6 AM, and fish for 3
hours.
At the new moon phase, the moon is
so close to the sun in the sky that none of the One final note: When I say fish the
side facing the Earth is illuminated. In other first three hours, it means that fishing should
words, the moon is in between the Earth and be good within that three hour period. It may
the Sun. At first quarter, the half lit moon be for the entire three hours, but it also may
is highest in the sky at sunset, and then sets only be for some part of that time. Fishing
about 6 hours later. At full Moon, the Moon always requires patience, but using these
is behind Earth in space with respect to the guidelines will allow you to improve your
to the Sun. As the Sun sets, the Moon rises odds dramatically.
with the side that faces Earth fully exposed to
sunlight. Beginning March 15th, the water
temperature should reach 54 degrees, at
This information is relevant, because which point fishing along the banks, moving
tides have long been known as an important your bait slowly in shallow water, should
factor in saltwater fishing success, and produce good results. You can cast jigs, buck-
tides are connected with moon phases. It is tails, or swimming plugs; pulling planer
supposed that the relationship between the boards with live bait also works well. Going
Sun and the Moon, rather actual tidal stages, up until about July 5th, fishing at night works
might be what’s at play here, because it’s not very well, mostly after 9 PM through 3 AM.
only fish that are affected; many animals
are also influenced by the moon phases. The I hope that this has helped your fishing...
periods of greatest animal activity typically
I feel sure that it will if you do all these
last from 1.5 to 3 hours, depending on the
things. Take a kid fishing; they’ll love it, and
Moon’s relationship to the Sun.
so will you!
Now you know that if there is moon
light at night (any time about 7 days before to
7 days after a Full Moon), the fishing early in
the morning should be good within that first
3 hour period, and off for the next 3 hours.
But to be clear, if it’s cloudy and you can’t see
the light, for our purposes you should still

22 Discover Smith Mountain Lake SPRING 2022