What's it all about Alfie (Moon)?

Certainly with the advent of the Internet, there can’t be many anglers who haven’t heard of the moon phase theory, as most forums from time to time have threads on the subject. And as with most topics that attract opposing views, they usually end up quite heated. It’s not unusual to see a moon phase thread being locked by the moderators or even deleted.

How is it possible for something to be hailed as the most important factor in angling by some, yet totally dismissed as nothing more than mumbo jumbo by others? And for many anglers, they don’t know what to believe and so sit on the fence, totally unsure of where they are in regards to what is being preached.

In this series of short articles I want to share my own thoughts on the subject. The problem is many anglers that pass comment on the moon phase theory do so from a position of subjectivity. They are into it ‘big time’ and so will look for every opportunity to bang the lunar drum. Or else they have crossed swords with one of the champions of the cause, and so it has become in reality a personal crusade to discredit everything.

What I intend to do is to take an objective view of things, although it could be argued that the use of the word ‘theory’ in itself puts me in one camp. But you have to call it something, and that’s what I have gone with. It’s similar to a certain city in Ulster. You can’t refer to it as ‘that place near Lough Foyle which is close to the borders of County Donegal and County Tyrone’. Just call it Londonderry (or Derry), it’s much easier, even if you are giving the game away by which one you use.

First of all we need to look at what exactly the moon phase theory is. In a nutshell it is a belief that the phases of the moon have a direct bearing upon the feeding patterns of specimen fish. Therefore, fish at the right times and your chances of catching big fish are seriously increased. The gravitational pull of the moon upon the earth affects water, which is why we get tides. And because fish live in water, then they will be affected also.

It doesn’t matter whether the moon is visible or not – I have read comments by anglers saying that the moon was hidden behind clouds and therefore not applicable – because what is important is the position that it is in. Those who follow the moon theory will often use jargon such as ‘moon rise’, ‘moon set’ and ‘high point’ to describe the physical position that the moon occupies in the sky.

In addition the phases of the moon itself are key. Therefore expect the following to feature on a regular basis in the conversation of the devotees: new moon, first quarter, full moon and last quarter. It is because the moon is predictable in terms of where it will be at any given time that exact times are often quoted. For example, anglers will be encouraged to be fishing at 15.55 or 09.25 on particular days, as these will be times when everything comes together.

I was once on a river fishing when another angler arrived. I already knew him, and in particular his absolute devotion to the theory. As he had missed the hot-spot time by a few minutes due to delays in his journey, he was very negative about the prospects. In fact he decided that it wasn’t worth even bothering, and so he headed back to his car and drove home without even casting a line. The psychological hold that the moon phase theory has on certain anglers is indeed a very powerful one. They won’t even bother venturing out on ‘bad’ days, as it’s not even worth the effort. I will comment more on this later on in the series, but as a starter this short article is a very basic introduction.

Hope you like the title - a sort of Cilla Black meets Eastenders. And many anglers would say that just about sums up the moon phase theory –showbiz meets the escapism world of the soaps. But still attempting to be very objective, I intend to stick to the facts. And part of that approach will be when I compare my catches to predictions published on a web site run by one of the leading lights of the moonie movement.