EVERYONE LOVES THE MOON

Since the beginning of our understanding of life on earth and its processes we have lived by the moon that was until some bright spark invented a clock.

The Humble Clock whilst being a very handy item  was based primarily around light and dark it didn't give any credence or had absolutely no relationship to moon phases,in organising our lives enabling us to get to work on time everyday it ignores  the very thing that dictates our moods ,our activity levels and our seasons.

None of this is new but in the Myopic scheme of things in today's hectic society it was largely ignored jn pursuit of a path of least resistance,it had a backlash though,you notice that some day's you bounce out of bed other days at the same time you feel like a brick .

Well prior to this ticking mishap the Moon governed all activity on Earth,we have all heard of ( and not necessarily understood ) Solunar periods, Indigenous and cultural fishing and planting tables, major and minor activity periods and the relevance of our Solstice and Equinoxes as the year progresses through its seasonal changes.

Well how does this relate to us Fly fishers, unless you have issues  where the Full moon and the Lunar-tic affect come in to play it means plenty.

Tides are in the main created by the moon ,as the depiction above shows. The waxing and the waning of the phases shows us the neap to spring variances on a monthly basis,the change in equinoxes as they occur in the early and late parts of the year that dictate the 4 tidal positions in any 24 hour period, changes occur to give our biggest lows in the dark between April and October, additionally the movement of a tide occurring at say 7am and 6 days later at midday.

Now before I'm accused of  baffling you with bullshit or losing the plot all in pursuit of a days fishing, how far down the Rabbit hole  do we need to go, that depends entirely on your own interest in this process.

For years confronted with  questions unanswered " last week they were on, why not this week, " how come fishing generally happens in short bursts" They have ignored me all day".

This changed for me when in the mid 80's I was given a book called Moon up Moon down it both intrigued and fascinated me and still does.In my own journey of discovery I designed my fishing trips and tours  to much of that  interpretation,outside of considering unusual weather patterns in wind and rain and temperature it worked for me

The real Gem in all of this is the Nocturnal and Diurnal Crossover. be it first light in the morning or last light in the evening, As a trout fisher I loved this period of activity and have exploited it in my Estuary career, again its also related to the waxing phases.

Finally the Pre-cession of the Equinox    explained as a slow wobble of the earth that takes 25,800 yrs to complete on its axis,this guarantees that in a 2150 year period there can never be one day exactly the same as another.

In a nutshell I like 7 days to a New or full Moon and home for  9 days in between, in this area its defined by the low tide  reaching midday that's when I go home.