I started off the series by stating that I intended to be as objective as possible, but of course sooner or later you do have to declare which side of the fence you are on. And as long as individuals reach a conclusion based on an open mind, then that’s all that we can ask. As far as I am concerned, although I do not embrace the theory, it doesn’t bother me if others do. I certainly don’t get upset about it – unlike some individuals who do take it all to heart and treat every rejection of it as a personal insult.

One of the reasons why I feel that the theory has such a strong hold upon anglers is that we are more susceptible to walking the path of peer influence than people who engage in other hobbies and pastimes. In other words, because angling is very much a confidence thing, we take on board what we see and hear much more easily than perhaps others do in their activities.

An example is when someone will post a question on an Internet site, asking for information on choice of hooks, line, bait or whatever. When replies are received that brand ‘a’ is the business and don’t touch brand ‘b’ with a barge pole, the individual is more than likely to go with that advice without question. Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t embrace what others say, because there is value in opinion, but keep in mind that’s all it is – opinion.

For example, I read a thread recently where someone asked about the choice of mono as a hook length and Drennan Double Strength was mentioned. Post after post was added which basically said – throw it away, it’s no good. Yet, for me it is my chosen brand! Now how many people will read that thread and come to the conclusion that DDS is useless? And so they too will pass on the information that we should steer clear of it, even though they may not have used it themselves.

And this is my point about the moon theory. How many anglers have taken on board the sell and applied it into their fishing, but haven’t really given it an objective and thorough critique? They read articles presented as if they are fact, and so they take everything as gospel truth, without stepping back and finding out for themselves if the facts really as such.

What happens in the case of many anglers is that they do attempt to put the theory to the test, but because the seeds of suggestion have been sown, the bias has already been established in their minds. So what they do is either venture out on ‘bad’ days with a ‘it won’t happen today’ mentality or else they choose when they will fish and therefore only go on ‘excellent’ days. And that’s where the self-fulfilling prophecies come in, as we often unwittingly endorse the theory by our prejudiced approach.

And I know that to be true because I see it in others, and also that’s the way I subconsciously felt myself for a while as I investigated it; although I wouldn’t described myself as one that was hooked, just influenced. There is no doubt that it does have a powerful hold on people though, and once it takes root it has the potential to control an angler and dictate as and when he goes fishing.

Not that I got anywhere near that stage, but I did think to myself ‘must go next Wednesday’ or ‘Friday is not worth it, so I’ll wait until Monday instead’. But many anglers are firmly in the grip of the moon god in the same way that some people’s lives are dictated to by horoscopes.

So every time we catch a decent fish on an ‘excellent’ day, then that is another cast-iron confirmation that it all works. But what we forget to mention is that we only fish on ‘excellent’ days and therefore it’s logical that we only catch fish then. And even if we do venture out on ‘bad’ days, we do so with an approach that says ‘I don’t know why I’m bothering as I won’t catch anyway’. And because of the role that confidence has to play in angling, we don’t.