The Age-Old Question
Every angler has heard it: “The solunar tables show a major feeding period at 2 PM, and the barometer is falling—the fish should be on fire.” Your buddy checks his phone, you reposition the boat, and you proceed to catch absolutely nothing for the next three hours. So much for science. But is the science actually wrong, or are we just interpreting it poorly? After years of tracking my catches against every predictive tool available, I have some thoughts.
Let me start by saying I’m a skeptic by nature but a data collector by habit. For the past eight years, I’ve logged every fishing trip with date, time, weather conditions, moon phase, barometric pressure, and catch results. That’s over 400 trips and roughly 2,500 fish, each with corresponding environmental data. It’s not a scientific study, but it’s enough to see patterns.
Solunar Tables: What They Actually Predict
Solunar theory, developed by John Alden Knight in the 1920s, suggests that fish (and game) activity peaks when the moon is directly overhead or directly underfoot, with minor periods at moonrise and moonset. Modern solunar apps overlay this with sunrise, sunset, and tide times to give you “peak feeding windows.”
In my data, solunar major periods correlate with better fishing about 55% of the time—slightly better than random chance, but not dramatically so. The correlation is strongest in stable weather and weakest during frontal passages or extreme conditions. This makes sense: solunar tables predict feeding inclination, but other factors can override that inclination.
Where solunar really seems to matter is in tidal fisheries. When lunar position drives tidal movement, and tidal movement drives bait positioning, the connection is mechanical rather than mystical. Fishing the Chesapeake Bay, I see clear patterns: major solunar periods that coincide with tide changes produce significantly better fishing than either factor alone.
Barometric Pressure: The Controversial One
Anglers obsess over barometric pressure, claiming fish bite better on falling barometers before fronts or steady high pressure after fronts pass. The science here is genuinely unclear. Fish have swim bladders that respond to pressure changes, but whether this affects feeding behavior is debated among researchers.
My data shows weak correlation between absolute pressure and catch rates. A reading of 30.2 isn’t inherently better than 29.8. What does seem to matter is the rate of change. Rapidly falling pressure—more than 0.1 inches per hour—correlates with shutdown conditions in my logs. Slowly falling or slowly rising pressure shows no significant effect. Stable pressure seems slightly favorable.
The problem with barometric rules is that pressure changes usually coincide with other changes—wind, cloud cover, temperature, precipitation—that also affect fishing. Separating the barometric effect from everything else is nearly impossible in real-world conditions.
What the Apps Get Right and Wrong
Modern fishing apps like Fishbrain, BassForecast, and Fishidy combine multiple factors into prediction scores. They’re convenient and sometimes useful, but they can’t account for local knowledge. An app might predict great fishing based on statewide conditions while missing the fact that a local tournament put 200 boats on your lake yesterday and pressured the fish into lockjaw.
The best use of predictive apps, in my experience, is planning trips several days out rather than making decisions in the moment. If the solunar tables show major periods at dawn rather than midday, and the barometer looks stable, maybe wake up early instead of sleeping in. But don’t abandon a spot that’s producing just because an app says a different location should be better.
The Variables That Actually Matter
After eight years of data, here’s what I’ve found correlates most strongly with catch rates: water temperature (for species-specific optimal ranges), wind direction and speed, time since last significant weather change, and recent fishing pressure. These factors dwarf solunar and barometric effects in my dataset.
Does that mean the moon and barometer don’t matter? No. But they’re refinements, not fundamentals. Get the fundamentals right—right place, right depth, right presentation—and the solunar boost is nice. Get the fundamentals wrong, and no amount of lunar alignment will save you.
My Recommendation
Use the apps and tables as planning tools, not rigid rules. Pay attention to local conditions that apps can’t measure. Keep your own log and look for patterns specific to your waters. And remember that the best time to go fishing is whenever you can—science be damned.
