Okay, I need all of your opinion on this...I have heard both sides of the story about the fact that it is not good or it is good to fish after a full moon.  I'm confused, which is true?  Last, when is the meat on the trout ever bad.  I happened to be cleaning one of the fish I caught today, and a small portion of the meat is like a tannish orange color while the rest of the meat is white.  Is it still good to eat or not?

I hope some of this answers your question. I still have a few cobwebs to clear out.

I just did some searches of my searches. This is a compilation I did recently of Doc over a number of posts.

From DrStressor


I have caught many of my biggest fish during the full moon and new moon. Large fish don't feed with the rest of the crowd

There are many other factors that affect fish feeding activity besides the solunars. I find that they predict bites best during periods of stable weather for example. All bets are off if there is a change. 




Best time periods
Most calenders list the days
Solunar major feeding period (moon overhead, moon directly on the other side of the earth, or the moon at either horizon) falls near dawn or dusk as best fishing days. 

The exact timing of the moon positions depends on your longitude.  But the start of each period is never more than 1 hr different from the best times listed on any solunar chart.  Weather and light conditions can move the best periods by more than an hour anyway, so you don't need to use a chart for your particular area

Angle of the light and Solunar periods

Well, since you fish Pyramid, you know that the fishing turns on and then slows down for a while.  The lake is full of fish, so why does the fishing pick up and slow down?  It has to do with the angle of the light and solunar periods.  There is always a bite at first light, regardless of anything else.  And there is always one in the evening, which is 2:00 - 3:00 PM this time of year (December). The fishing generally gets hot for a period of time during the day as well. That's a solunar effect.  You can use solunar tables, which also try to predict the best days to fish, or you can just use the moon like I do.  The bite is best when the moon is at the horizon, directly overhead, or directly under the earth. Because we have mountains blocking the horizon, you can't just look at the moon.

Here's how to figure it out without a table:

During a full moon, new moon, first or last quarter, the bite will be at about 6:00 AM, noon, and 6:00 PM. Between those moon phases the bite is about 1 hr latter each day. We had a quarter moon today, so I planned on a noon bite. The fish moved in close to shore to feed right on schedule. Unless the weather is changing, which affects the fishing, they bite as describe above. 

Simplest Bite Time Calculations
You really don't need a table.  The bite is around 6:00 AM, noon, and 6:30 PM on the day of the full moon and the new moon. 
It gets later by 1 hr each day. 
The best bites are: when the lunar phases
1.      moon over
2.      moon under
3.      moon at the horizon  take place when the sun is at the same position. 
The bites during the full moon and new moon are at about 6 AM, noon, 6 PM, and midnight. The bites are about 1 hour latter each day.


Plankton - aquatic insects - baitfish
The plankton and aquatic insects that many baitfish feed on are not active during the full moon period.  So the baitfish aren't feeding much. 

Whenever baitfish aren't feeding or mating or doing something that inhibits their predator avoidance behavior, they are very hard for predatory fish to target and catch.  So the bite slows down during the full moon because the bait isn't active.  That is the point of everything I've posted here.  The story about fish not biting during the day during the full moon because they feed all night is a myth that is not supported by any evidence for most species.

Insects and zooplankton: the week after the full moon

It's hard to make gross generalizations for all species of insects and zooplankton. However, a scan of the literature finds that many species of nocturnal foraging insects and other aquatic organisms have evolved behavior patterns that minimize their exposure to predation the week after the full moon.  This is best documented in streams where insect larvae disperse by releasing from the substrate and drifting downstream at night.  This activity is strongly suppressed the week after the full moon.  Similarly, certain species of large zooplankton that normally rise toward the surface to feed at night fail to do so the week after the full moon.

So why does this happen during the week after the full moon (when fishing is poor) and not the week before the full moon (when fishing is good)?  Well, the moon rises after sunset the week after the full moon.  Thus, nocturnal feeding organisms would find themselves suddenly vulnerable to sight feeding predators once a bright moon rises over the horizon.  Apparently, hundreds of millions of years of selective pressure has led to a behavioral pattern that keeps these organisms deep or attached to the substrate the week after the full moon where they are much less vulnerable to predation.

Studies on nocturnal flying insects show a similar pattern.  They fly less at night the week following the full moon.  The explanation is probably the same.


Trout don't feed at night during the full moon

Trout don't feed at night during the full moon.  fishing for them at night with a full moon is generally a waste of time.  The effect of the full moon is on insects and plankton.  They are not active during the full moon and that shuts down the food chain.  If trout aren't seeing bait, they stop feeding.  It's as simple as that.   

In my experience (only in lakes), the full moon effect only kicks in the day/night of the actual full moon.  Fishing is usually very good during the week right up to the full moon.  On the day of the full moon, the solunar periods are close to 6:00 AM, noon, and 6:30 PM.  As everyone has pointed out, the AM bite is almost always a bust. 

But the fish get hungry during the day, since there isn't much bait activity.  So later in the day On the day of the full moon, they are more likely to hit lures (even the wrong lure).  Fishing is slow because the bait activity that had been concentrating them in certain areas during the previous week has ceased.  So they scatter in search of food and are hard to target.

Anytime fish are scattered, fishing near the surface or the bottom of the lake is the best strategy. Fish can't swim through the surface or the bottom, so in the absence of food, these zones provide what little concentrating effects that are available.  Trolling the rest of the water column is generally slow as is fishing the areas that were hot before the full moon.

I find that the effect of the full moon only lasts for about 2 days at Pyramid and Eagle Lake.  The bait becomes active and starts to concentrate the trout in the normal areas after a few days.

To show you just how much I believe this stuff, we are going to fish Pyramid today.   I'm not wasting my time by fishing the morning bite, I'm wasting it by posting here.  We'll get them later this afternoon.

Highly productive lakes with lots of feed
The solunar effects at Eagle Lake are very strong.  Because it is a highly productive lake with lots of feed, the trout do not have to forage for food all day long.  So they tend to feed actively only during the major and minor solunar phases.  BiteMe II and I both noticed the great effect of the full moon at Eagle.  The fishing is really good right up until the night of the full moon.  Then the action shuts down pretty much for about 2 days.   The full moon slows down nocturnal insect and plankton activity, which translates through the food chain to the trout.

Doc is the man
Z

Z, thanks for that informative and helpful post.  I never really understood the full moon effect on trout till reading your post.  I truly appreciate your post.  Thanks, and FISH ON!

Z,great info as always,thanks for taken the time to research it an post it for all of us toread,Doc's info is always good.  Don

z thank you so much for that info wow!!

That info. is awesome but the way I see it is a fish is a bonus, the best time to fish is any time you aren't at work. But watching the calendar is a job done by most also.